Financial Times 16,071 by CRUX

by

A straightforward Tuesday offering, not without its moments but with some curiously unsatifying cryptic definitions. 

Flew through this until held up in SE corner, for no good reason as it turned out, although I resisted ‘grandmasterly’ until the death. Thanks to Crux for the work-out.

completed grid
Across
1 CUPBOARD LOVE Hypocritical and acquisitive affection (8,4)
  Cryptic – although not very – definition.
10 UPSIDES Positive aspects of Union power, right and left (7)
  U[nion] + P[ower] + SIDES (‘right & left’).
11 MEANDER Jerome and Eric get trapped wind (7)
  Inclusion (‘trapped’) in ‘jeroME AND ERic’. ‘Wind’ as verb.
12 MIAOW It could be a queen’s demand (5)
  Cryptic def.
13 ON THE RUN Like fugitives, one after the other (2,3,3)
  Double def.
15 RETALIATES Fights back at earliest upset (10)
  Anagram (‘upset’) of AT EARLIEST.
16 GERM Bug starts to get everyone really morbid (4)
  1st letters (‘starts’) of last 4 words.
18 USED Ill-treated sailor, deserting, given employment (4)
  abUSED (‘ill-treated’) minus AB (‘sailor’).
20 SPIDER-NETS Flycatchers – the stationary kind (6-4)
  Again, not-so-cryptic def.
22 DECEMBER Deceased associate wasted millions this month (8)
  DEC[eased] + mEMBER (‘associate’) without M[illions].
24   See 23
 
26 NUT-TREE Teachers Peg, including Romeo and Hazel, say (3-4)
  N[ational] U[nion] of T[eachers] + TEE (‘peg’) includes R[omeo] (radio code).
27 APPAREL Fancy gear mostly obvious on the left (7)
  Most of APPAREnt (‘obvious’) + L[eft], ‘apparel’ being a ‘fancy’ word for clothes, we take it.
28 SOLITARINESS Arsonists lie about beiing lonely (12)
  Anagram (‘about’) of ARSONISTS LIE.
Down
2 UPSTART Social climber has to jump on horseback first! (7)
  START (‘jump’) after UP (‘on horseback’).
3 BODE WELL Show promise with Blake’s first poem On Spring (4,4)
  B (‘Blake’s first’) + ODE (‘poem’) + WELL (a ‘spring’).
4 ALSO Too partial in a trial sometimes (4)
  Inclusion (‘partial in…’) ‘triAL SOmetimes’.
5 DIMINUENDO Stupid suggestion heard for how lullaby’s to be played (10)
  DIM (‘stupid’) + homophone of ‘innuendo’ (‘suggestion’), def meaning ‘quieter & quieter until the little darling gently nods off.’ As if.
6 OMAGH Ulster town’s old periodical (Hibernian originally) (5)
  O[ld] + MAG (‘periodical’) + 1st letter of Hibernian.
7 ENDORSE Back the last runner? It fails to start! (7)
  END (‘the last’) + hORSE (‘runner’) without 1st letter.
8 SUMMER PUDDING Winter starter? On the contrary! (6,7)
  Cryptic def.
9 GRANDMASTERLY Describes international chess matches we presume (13)
  Presume away. I’ve never seen this rather ungainly word & it’s not in Chambers. And once more, a very un-cryptic def. H’m.
14 HAPPY EVENT Labour’s aim seen as light- hearted competition (5,5)
  Nice cryptic def (of birth) this time. That’s more like it.
17 DRIFTPIN Split in head of door nail that makes holes bigger (8)
  RIFT (‘split’) in D(oor) + PIN (‘nail’). Used, inter alia, for reaming holes for guitar end-pegs, which is how I knew it.
19 EXCITES Thrills with old spectacles reportedly (7)
  EX (‘old’) + homophone of ‘sights’ (‘spectacles’).
21 EMBARKS Boards require English grades to contain a B (7)
  E[nglish] + MARKS (‘grades’) including ‘B’.
23, 24 MORAL FIBRE For me, Blair can show guts (5,5)
  Anagram (‘can show’) of FOR ME BLAIR.
25 LAIR Where to hide from landlord when penniless (4)
  LAIRd (‘Scottish ‘landlord’) without D (old penny).

*anagram

14 comments on “Financial Times 16,071 by CRUX”

  1. 9 dn is not a word. Even the ‘we presume’ cannot make it one. Also I am not sure I get 12 ac. Has it do with the nursery rhyme? Rather disappointing clue.

  2. All fairly straightforward except for 9d. I’m with you GB. I knew the answer must be grandmasterly but resisted entering it until the rest of the grid was completed.

    Thanks Grant and apart from 9d, thanks Crux.

  5. Death beat me to GRANDMASTERLY but I liked the cryptic defs for MIAOW and DIMINUENDO, and learnt a few new words/terms in CUPBOARD LOVE and DRIFTPIN before the final curtain.

    Thanks, from the other side, to Crux and Grant

  6. Thanks to Grant and Crux

    I spent a little time looking for some wordplay in 1a as otherwise it seems to be a straightforward definition, but if there is any it evades me. I liked some other clues very much though e.g 5 and 14d. Collins does give DRIFTPIN as one word and the SOED lists GRANDMASTERLY

  8. I had SPIDER WEBS also (didn’t notice blog was different). Never heard of SPIDER-NETS and not in Chambers. Equally, never seen SPIDER WEBS hyphenated. I just put it down as one of my long list of poor clues: GRANDMASTERLY, CUPBOARD LOVE, APPAREL…

  9. Thanks to Crux and Grant. I’m yet another who waited to the end to settle for GRANDMASTERLY and opted for SPIDER-WEBS. CUPBOARD LOVE and DRIFTPIN were new to me and I took a while getting the PUDDING in 8 down (“ending” did not work). Overall, a struggle.

  10. Unlike Hovis (and perhaps others) I don’t see why this is a contender for the worst CotY.

    I think there was a lot to like here (not 27ac, indeed) but the real crux with Crux is, in my opinion, his inability to write proper cryptic definitions. Many years ago when I blogged his puzzles, that was already his (or perhaps my) main problem. These CDs are, IMHO, generally very weak, spoiling his otherwise nice (and often adventurous) puzzles considerably. In this respect, my view on setting is: if you can’t write cryptic definitions, don’t write them. Not everyone’s a Rufus.

    Well, that’s what I think.

    Many thanks to Grant & Crux.

     

  11. Just to follow up on Sil’s comment. I find very few cryptics have clues that I class as being particularly weak and often have some really excellent clues. For me, this crossword has several weak clues (yes, the CDs) and, although the rest were mainly fine, nothing really struck me as excellent. As such, not a terrible crossword but still a contender for worst CotY.

  12. To sum up:

    SPIDERS WEB is clearly correct. Mea culpa.

    5d DIMINUENDO
    ‘Stupid suggestion heard for how lullaby’s to be played (10)’
    Despite the universal (mine included)) condemnations of Crux’s cryptic defs, this, for the reasons explained in the blog – noting the word ‘stupid’ but ignoring ‘we hear’ – is pretty much an ‘&lit’.

  13. Thanks for the blog, Grant Baynham.

    ‘curiously unsatifying cryptic definitions’ indeed! How terribly polite of you.

Comments are closed.