Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of January 6, 2017
I found this puzzle tricky and slow-going but satisfying. My clue of the week is 9dn (SKIRTING BOARDS). Thank you, Redshank.
| Across | ||
| 1 | CLEMATIS | Climate changes beginning to startle climber (8) |
| Anagram (changes) of CLIMATE + S[tartle]. I have been waiting for a clue that uses “climate change(s)” in this manner. | ||
| 5 | CLEAVE | Article penned by endlessly crafty hack (6) |
| A (article) in (penned by) CLEVE[r] (endlessly crafty) | ||
| 10 | HARPIST | Musician has time to go over price index (7) |
| RPI ([retail] price index) in HAS (has) + T (time) | ||
| 11 | KON-TIKI | I think it’s OK at sea without this raft (3-4) |
| Anagram (at sea) of I [thi]NK IT[s] OK | ||
| 12 | RONDO | Royal function involves performing music (5) |
| R (royal) + ON (performing) + DO (function) | ||
| 13 | TURBOPROP | In which to fly fish, not entirely upright (9) |
| TURBO[t] (fish, not entirely) + PROP (upright) | ||
| 14 | TIME WILL TELL | Clock marksman in due course (4,4,4) |
| TIME (clock) + WILL[iam] TELL (marksman) | ||
| 18 | HONEY BADGERS | Love emblems incorporating rare animals (5,7) |
| HONEY (love) + R (rare) in BADGES (emblems) | ||
| 21 | DERRING-DO | Died ordering different bottle (7-2) |
| Anagram (different) of D (died) ORDERING | ||
| 23 | NAAFI | One admirer returns carrying a canteen (5) |
| A (a) in (carrying) I FAN (one admirer) backwards (returns). NAAFI stands for Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes an organisation that runs establishments needed by the British Armed Forces to sell goods and services to servicemen and their families. Colloquially, NAAFI usually means the canteen. | ||
| 24 | NAIROBI | Healthy bird’s last to head for capital (7) |
| AI (healthy) + ROBIN (bird) with the ‘N’ (bird’s last) moved to the front (to head) | ||
| 25 | RETREAT | Pair of soaks hire a sanctuary (7) |
| RET (one soak) + A (a) in RET (another soak). ‘Ret’ means to soak flax, hemp or jute in liquid to loosen fibers from the woody material. | ||
| 26 | TOY BOY | Escort model over visiting Times (3,3) |
| TOY (model) + O (over) in (visiting) BY (times, as in multiplication). I do not much like ‘visiting’ as an insertion indicator; it always reminds me of Monopoly which makes a sharp distinction between being in jail and “just visiting”. | ||
| 27 | AS LEVELS | School tests quantities of arsenic (2,6) |
| AS (arsenic) + LEVELS (quantities). The term refers to a set of examinations and qualifications that are part of secondary education in Britain and certain other countries. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | COHORT | Cold old house right for group of statisticians (6) |
| C (cold) + O (old) + HO (house) + RT (right) with a rather fun cryptic definition. ‘Cohort’ is used in statistics to refer to a group of subjects that share a defining characteristic. Which is something I had not known although I once studied statistics. | ||
| 2 | ERRAND | Mission Spain oversaw gets in the way (6) |
| E (Spain) + RAN (oversaw) in (gets in the) RD (way, i.e. road) | ||
| 3 | ANIMOSITY | Dislike a pose adopted by actor Leonard (9) |
| A (a) + SIT (pose) in (adopted by) NIMOY (actor Leonard) | ||
| 4 | INTO THE BARGAIN | Where to go for drinks and return as well (4,3,7) |
| INTO THE BAR (where to go for drinks) + GAIN (return) | ||
| 6 | LINGO | It can be hard to understand rambling old cops (5) |
| Hidden word | ||
| 7 | APIARIES | A good sign: lots of social workers here (8) |
| A (a) + PI (good, as in pious) + ARIES (sign) | ||
| 8 | EXIT POLL | Leave head early indicator of result? (4,4) |
| EXIT (leave) + POLL (head) | ||
| 9 | SKIRTING BOARDS | They run round the room avoiding the stage (8,6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 15 | LORGNETTE | See raddled regent swigging first of tall glasses (9) |
| LO (see) + T[all] in anagram (raddled) of REGENT | ||
| 16 | WHODUNIT | Barking hound implicated in comic mystery (8) |
| Anagram (barking) of HOUND in WIT (comic) | ||
| 17 | ENORMITY | Outrage troops breaching 3 (8) |
| OR (troops, i.e. other ranks) in ENMITY (3 = animosity) | ||
| 19 | MANEGE | Where staff, say, get introduction to equines (6) |
| MAN (staff) + EG (say) + E[quines]. A manege is a school for teaching horsemanship and for training horses. This was one I had to look up. | ||
| 20 | HIATUS | Strike American defending a gap (6) |
| A (a) in HIT (strike) + US (American) | ||
| 22 | IROKO | Irish love importing fine timber (5) |
| IR (Irish) + OK (fine) + O (love). The iroko is a West African tree that provides a very good wood. I happened to know it because I have spent time in the region. | ||
Thanks Pete Maclean and Redshank.
Couldn’t parse TOYBOY.
INTO THE BARGAIN we had just seen in a Nutmeg puzzle Gdn with a very similar clue.
Thanks Redshank and Pete
A very entertaining puzzle that took a number of sittings to get out and twice as long as normal. The fact that the hidden LINGO was my last one in showed how the setter had been able to use his craft to misdirect to maximum effect!
A clever mix of clue devices and some new terms (NAAFI, AS LEVELS (although I knew about A and O- levels), that meaning of COHORT (I’d also studied statistics) and IROKO) had me having to think hard throughout the solve.
Particularly liked several of the long ones – SKIRTING BOARDS, INTO THE BARGAIN and TIME WILL TELL.
A late comment but I have never heard the expression “into the bargain” nor can I see why it means “as well”. I managed the rest of the puzzle which is rare for me.
While familiar with the expression, I have to say that I have no idea either why it should mean “as well”.
I really liked skirting boards – made me smile. Iroko is certainly a word for the scrabble board.
Ah, yes, a good one to know for Scrabble. Thanks for commenting, Julie.