Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of October 20, 2018
My clue of the week is 18ac (LURCHER) and I also applaud the inspired 26ac (IDIOT).
| Across | ||
| 1 | TICK TOCK | Check off merchandise, seconds gone – time sensed passing? (4,4) |
| TICK (check off) + [s]TOCK (merchandise, seconds gone) | ||
| 5 | STAMEN | Last of balls brown, setter potted – some plant! (6) |
| [ball]S + ME (setter) in (potted) TAN (brown) | ||
| 10 | RISER | Part of a step in error is eradicated (5) |
| Hidden word | ||
| 11 | ATHEISTIC | In Greek, man is lacking belief (9) |
| HE (man) + IS (is) together in ATTIC (Greek) | ||
| 12 | BLUE WHALE | Giant teary, cry audibly (4,5) |
| BLUE (teary) + WHALE (homophone of “wail”) | ||
| 13 | TRENT | River Test’s first opening (5) |
| T[est} + RENT (opening) | ||
| 14 | FIANCE | Steering mechanism inspiring a church, as intended (6) |
| A (a) in (inspiring) FIN (steering mechanism) + CE (church) | ||
| 15 | DUSTPAN | Brown boxes thrown past waste collector (7) |
| Anagram (thrown) of PAST in DUN (brown) | ||
| 18 | LURCHER | Dog initially can’t hear piercing siren? (7) |
| C[an’t] H[ear] in (piercing) LURER (siren) | ||
| 20 | JUMPER | Top steeplechaser, perhaps? (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 22 | INGOT | Brick I picked up on back of van (5) |
| I (I) + [va]N + GOT (picked up) | ||
| 24 | SECATEURS | Sharp tool caught in posterior, sure painful (9) |
| C (caught) in SEAT (posterior) + anagram (painful) of SURE. I believe Americans know this tool as a pruner or pruning shears. Do we like ‘painful’ as an anagram indicator? | ||
| 25 | SCREWED UP | Pseud out to impress team, failed miserably (7,2) |
| CREW (team) in (to impress) anagram (out) of PSEUD | ||
| 26 | IDIOT | Clown Grimaldi used gladioli to squirt every one at the back (5) |
| [grimald]I [use]D [gladiol]I [t]O [squir]T | ||
| 27 | STEELY | Tough swimmer in dirty hole (6) |
| EEL (swimmer) in STY (dirty hole) | ||
| 28 | STAGGERS | Disease in animals causes amazement (8) |
| Double definition. The first refers to any of several parasitic or acute deficiency diseases of farm animals characterized by staggering or loss of balance. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | THROBS | Opening of Bolero in short stressed beats (6) |
| B[olero] in anagram (stressed) of SHORT | ||
| 2 | COSTUMIER | Clothes designer more comfortable holding in stomach (9) |
| TUM (stomach) in (holding in) COSIER (more comfortable) | ||
| 3 | THROW IN THE TOWEL | Concede when low, with three not out (5,2,3,5) |
| Anagram (out) of LOW WITH THREE NOT | ||
| 4 | CHARADE | In extremes of cowardice, trying to defend a pretence (7) |
| A (a) in (to defend) HARD (trying) together in C[owardic]E | ||
| 6 | THIRTY-SOMETHING | Bully got shirty about me, fine young adult! (6-9) |
| ME (me) + THIN (fine) together in (about) anagram (bully) of GOT SHIRTY | ||
| 7 | MITRE | Joint that goes to a bishop’s head! (5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 8 | NICOTINE | Old money invested in particular drug (8) |
| O (old) + TIN (money) together in (invested in) NICE (particular) | ||
| 9 | SHIELD | Defensive cover thrown around legionary’s head (6) |
| L[egionary] in SHIED (thrown) | ||
| 16 | PREJUDICE | Colour in jogging top due to change in cost (9) |
| J[ogging] + anagram (to change) of DUE in PRICE (cost) | ||
| 17 | ELLIPSIS | Light head in mountain climbing, relative indication something amiss? (8) |
| L[ight] in (in) PILE (mountain) backwards (climbing) + SIS (relative) | ||
| 19 | RESIDE | On TV channel, live! (6) |
| RE (on) + SIDE (TV channel). While we have seen ‘side’ used in this sense here before, non-Brits may be unfamiliar with the usage. As far as I know and can remember, in the old days when there were only two television channels in Britain and one was watching one of them, someone might ask, “what is on the other side” meaning the other channel. | ||
| 20 | JACKPOT | White ball to sink for the biggest prize (7) |
| JACK (white ball, as in bowls) + POT (sink, as in snooker or billiards) | ||
| 21 | AS IT IS | Lie, one covered up by principals in approved school already (2,2,2) |
| SIT (lie) + I (one) in (covered up by) A[pproved] S[chool] | ||
| 23 | GORGE | Tipple in the main thrown up, ultimate in crude stuff (5) |
| GROG (tipple in the main) backwards (thrown up) + [crud]E | ||
Thanks Mudd and Pete
A good level prize puzzle from Mudd here I thought that took a little longer than normal to complete.
Thanks for the explanation of SIDE for channel – hadn’t heard of that and couldn’t only find it a long way down the definitions in the online Collins dictionary – was good to see the context of it. Talking of which, when looking up GROG to see why it related to a ‘tipple in the main’, I discovered that the watered down rum used in the navy was named after the British admiral, Edward Vernon, whose nickname was “Old Grog”, that came about from his grogram cloak. Amazing what you learn from crosswords 🙂 . It was actually my last clue in.
Aha! I knew GROG as a rum-based drink drunk by sailors but had not known the origin of the word. Thanks!
Thanks, Pete for SIDE in 19d. I would have never known that ever!
But I remember in India a single Govt. TV channel, that broadcast from 6 pm to 10 pm, I think. It was all one-sided, shall we say?!