Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of December 16, 2017
I found this puzzle moderately challenging and very likable, as usual with Goliath. I especially applaud 13dn (AMOUR), 17dn (ANYTHING) and 18dn (LIKELIER).
| Across | ||
| 8 | IDOL | Vows left to false god (4) |
| I DO (vow) + L (left) | ||
| 9 | NOSY PARKER | It’s standard in Orkneys, perhaps, to be a curtain twitcher (4,6) |
| PAR (standard) in anagram (perhaps) of ORKNEYS | ||
| 10 | XERXES | King rejecting the other king (6) |
| SEX (the other) + REX (king) together backwards (rejecting) | ||
| 11 | ELLIPSIS | Possible clue for S . . . (8) |
| ‘S’ is dit dit dit (…) in Morse code | ||
| 12 | CAMBODIA | Assist old boy with coat heading to West Country (8) |
| AID (assist) + OB (old boy) + MAC (coat) all backwards (heading to west) | ||
| 14 | IDYLLS | Silly dunderhead’s rewritten lines (6) |
| Anagram (rewritten) of SILLY D[underhead] | ||
| 16 | HIVE | Nest – having more than one would be rash (4) |
| HIVES refers to a skin rash. I originally posted the answer as PILE while noting that ‘piles’ means something that is not exactly a rash. Several commenters suggested HIVE instead and I am satisfied that that must be the right answer. I knew that people sometimes suffered something called hives as the result of allergies but I did not know what it meant. Of course I might not have thought of it even if I had. | ||
| 17 | AMONG | Within a second, nosebag is empty (5) |
| A (a) + MO (second) + N[oseba]G | ||
| 18 | LYNX | Golf course reported wild animal (4) |
| Homophone (reported) of LINKS (golf course) | ||
| 19 | HEYDAY | Perhaps heady years to begin with? (6) |
| Anagram (perhaps) of HEADY + Y[ears] &Lit. | ||
| 21 | REEF KNOT | No granny may be free to kiss Nick or Tom’s heads (4,4) |
| Anagram (may be) of FREE + K[iss] N[ick] O[r] T[om] | ||
| 23 | SHANGHAI | Coerce into serving the city (8) |
| Double definition | ||
| 26 | UPLIFT | Increase the minimum of unleaded petrol left in fuel tank (6) |
| U[nleaded] P[etrol] L[eft] I[n] F[uel] T[ank] | ||
| 27 | ATTAINMENT | Participating in the regatta in Menton is a feat (10) |
| Hidden word | ||
| 28 | EURO | Port Suez returns endless money (4) |
| [p]OR[t] [s]UE[z] backwards (returns). My first answer for this clue and indeed my first-in was LEUS which also fits the wordplay. The leu is a currency unit of Romania and Moldova. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | ADRENALINE | Excitement of a geek about some cocaine (10) |
| A (a) + NERD (geek) backwards (about) + A LINE (some cocaine) | ||
| 2 | FLEXIBLE | Spot Mrs Fawlty in audition being versatile (8) |
| Homophones of “fleck Sybil” (spot, Mrs Fawlty) | ||
| 3 | UNUSED | New wounds caused bleeding hearts (6) |
| [wo]UN[ds] [ca]US[ed] [ble]ED[ing] | ||
| 4 | I SEE | Ninety-nine received and understood (1,3) |
| Homophone of “IC” (ninety-nine — in Roman numerals) | ||
| 5 | SPELLING | TV producer calling one character at a time (8) |
| Double definition, the first referring to the late Aaron Spelling | ||
| 6 | DROPSY | Works in arid condition (6) |
| OPS (works) in (in) DRY (arid) | ||
| 7 | DELI | Find cheese, basil, salami at the back of the shop (4) |
| [fin]D [chees]E [basi]L [salam]I. Possible &lit? | ||
| 13 | AMOUR | Damn your bra! All clothing comes off in this sort of relationship (5) |
| [d]AM[n] [y]OU[r] [b]R[a]. I think this is a fine clue but it does break convention in that, if you see the definition as I have marked it, “all clothing comes off” serves two purposes. Goliath may, of course, intend that “sort of relationship” to be the definition by itself although that would leave ‘this’ a bit hanging. | ||
| 15 | LINE OF FIRE | In enemy retreat with rifle shot cover here (4,2,4) |
| IN (in) + FOE (enemy) backwards (retreat) together in anagram (shot) of RIFLE. How does “cover here” define line of fire? Seems to me that being in the line of fire means exactly the opposite, having no cover. | ||
| 17 | ANYTHING | Whatever’s like seeing a show on Broadway? (8) |
| A NY THING (like seeing a show on Broadway?) | ||
| 18 | LIKELIER | Killer on the loose? Admit that’s not so far-fetched (8) |
| IE (that’s) in (admit) anagram (on the loose) of KILLER | ||
| 20 | DENIAL | Rejection of 7 down an abomination (6) |
| Anagram (abomination) of DELI (7 down) AN (an) | ||
| 22 | EQUITY | Part of me quit yearning for union (6) |
| Hidden word | ||
| 24 | HATE | The American leader is drunk and can’t stand (4) |
| Anagram (is drunk) of THE A[merican] | ||
| 25 | IDEA | Near-perfect concept (4) |
| IDEA[l] (near perfect) | ||
Thanks Goliath and Pete
Was able to complete this a little quicker than normal for this setter although I didn’t see the … Morse code for S trick – the second time that I’ve fallen for the same logic this month.
I think that you might be off the mark at 16a – think that the answer is HIVE which is a bee’s nest (of sorts) and hives is an allergic skin condition that has an itching, burning type of rash – thankfully one that I’ve not experienced.
Can only think that 15d is again some kind of &lit type of clue where the whole clue gives a better definition of being in the LINE OF FIRE. Still not totally convinced.
XERXES was my favourite and finished with Aaron SPELLING whom I didn’t know, but a lot of whose work that I did when I looked him up.
Happy New Year, Pete, and look forward to your Saturday blogs in 2018.
As Bruce@1, I didn’t know the morse code for S and had HIVE for 16a.
Wasn’t sure about 15d. I decided that cover was referring to the area covered by the shooter rather than cover for the shootee (is that a word?j.
Finally, I know this is brought up frequently, but I believe ninety nine in Roman numerals is XCIX not IC, as in 4d.
Always enjoy Goliath, so thanks to him and to Pete for the blog.
On the minus side, I am not a fan of nounal indicators as used in 15d (‘retreat’), also 99 is indeed not IC as Hovis says (and ask Monk!). Not sure whether 2d (FLEXIBLE) is a good homophone as the emphasis in clue and answer is different (but I’m not a member of the infamous homophone police).
On the plus side, I must say that it was enjoyable as ever – not very hard, just nice and adventurous in places.
I had no problem with both 13d and 15d. ‘All clothing comes off in this’ is the indicator that tells us what to with ‘Damn your bra’, ‘sort of relationship’ remains as the definition. In 15d ‘cover’ is part of the wordplay as to indicate that the anagram of ‘rifle’ goes around ‘in + >foe’. Not a convincing containment indicator as it’s nounal again, while the definition [just ‘here’] is – as others made clear – also not brilliant.
One of Goliath’s trademarks is the use of multiple fodders. Today we didn’t have one or two but six!! 21ac, 26ac, 28ac, 3d, 7d, 13d. Slightly over the top, in my opinion.
But altogether, good puzzle (for which thanks to Goliath). Many thanks to you too, Pete.
Thanks for HEYDAY and DENIAL which had eluded me.
I am also posting in support of HIVE.
Al.
Another vote for HIVE. But perhaps that’s just because it’s the answer I put in. PILE didn’t even occur to me.
Thank you all for alerting me to HIVE which I am now satisfied is the right answer.
Regarding 4d and Roman enumeration, according to Wikipedia, while IC for 99 is not standard it is a known (and therefore, presumably, accepted) alternative.