Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of January 19, 2019
Dare I say that I think this is one of Mudd’s finest puzzles. My clue of the week is 20ac (NOSE JOB) and I also applaud 1dn (SHOTGUN WEDDING), 11ac (TAIGA), 18ac (DRACULA) and 24ac (GANGLY). Thank you, Mudd.
| Across | ||
| 7 | HANGOVER | Good visiting house, pain the morning after? (8) |
| G (good) in (visiting) HANOVER (house) | ||
| 8 | BICARB | Baking compound I see in something sharp (6) |
| I (I) + C (see) in BARB (something sharp) | ||
| 11 | TAIGA | Sound of wildcat in northern forest (5) |
| Homophone (sound of) of TIGER (wildcat) | ||
| 12 | INANIMATE | Couple punched by granny, friend unable to move (9) |
| NAN (granny) in II (couple) + MATE (friend) | ||
| 13 | UTENSIL | Hollow tool in use, flexible tool (7) |
| Anagram (flexible) of T[oo]L IN USE | ||
| 14 | TANKARD | Brown and black tea for landlord ends in beer mug (7) |
| TAN (brown) + [blac]K [te]A [fo]R [landlor]D | ||
| 15 | WHATS YOUR POISON | Local offer in our shop, say, two free (5,4,6) |
| Anagram (free) of IN OUR SHOP SAY TWO | ||
| 18 | DRACULA | Count 10, possibly, backwards, before Cockney dance? (7) |
| CARD (10, possibly) reversed (backwards) + ‘ULA (Cockney dance) | ||
| 20 | NOSE JOB | Report is aware of patient chap seeking operation (4,3) |
| NOSE (homophone of “knows”) + JOB (patient chap, as in the bible). Perhaps just as well that the chap is patient if he is having it on the NHS 😉 | ||
| 22 | INDRAUGHT | Entering current nadir, thug beaten up (9) |
| Anagram (beaten up) of NADIR THUG. ‘Indraught’ is not a word I would easily think of but I believe I have come across it used in reference to fires. | ||
| 23 | AUGHT | Anything I don’t like that’s within the limits of agreement? (5) |
| UGH (I don’t like that) in A[greemen]T | ||
| 24 | GANGLY | Awkward, like a group of criminals? (6) |
| GANG-LY (like a group of criminals?) | ||
| 25 | BALL GAME | A gamble mixing with dash of lemon squash, perhaps? (4,4) |
| L[emon] in anagram (mixing) of A GAMBLE | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | SHOTGUN WEDDING | Occasion where the woman’s expecting two arms to enfold English daughters (7,7) |
| E (English) + DD (daughters) together in SHOTGUN WING (two arms) | ||
| 2 | INSIDE | Batting team being held (6) |
| IN (batting) + SIDE (team) | ||
| 3 | MOLASSES | Syrup: odd bits disappearing in bowl, a lot on the outside (8) |
| [b]O[w]L in (on the outside) MASSES (a lot) | ||
| 4 | SEVILLE ORANGE | Fruit is lifted over sign on field (7,6) |
| LIVES (is) backwards (lifted) + LEO (sign) + RANGE (field) | ||
| 5 | SIMIAN | Ape is upright, one in homo sapiens (6) |
| IS (is) backwards (upright) + I (one) in MAN (homo sapiens) | ||
| 6 | CARAVANS | Travellers, a party briefly stuck in toilets (8) |
| A (a) + RAV[e] (party briefly) in (stuck in) CANS (toilets) | ||
| 9 | BREAD-AND-BUTTER | Basic type of accommodation incorporating study, say (5-3-6) |
| READ (study) in B AND B (type of accommodation) + UTTER (say) | ||
| 10 | EAST GRINSTEAD | Stage plays heading for Reading as a substitute for Sussex town (4,9) |
| EAST G (stage plays) + R[eading] + INSTEAD (as a substitute) | ||
| 16 | AWARDING | Handing out silver, charge in to bank (8) |
| WARD (charge) + IN (in) together in (to bank) AG (silver) | ||
| 17 | OBSTACLE | Bar – joint virtually packed with jazz fans, turned over (8) |
| CATS (jazz fans) in ELBO[w] (joint virtually) all backwards (turned over) | ||
| 19 | USABLE | Posh fur can be exploited (6) |
| U (posh) + SABLE (fur) | ||
| 21 | JIGSAW | Jerk dated tool (6) |
| JIG (jerk) + SAW (dated) | ||
Thanks Mudd and Pete
An entertaining puzzle as per normal from this setter that took a couple of sittings to get completed. Missed the proper parsing of HANGOVER – opting to look at HAN as the house and forgetting to go back and understand where the OVER was coming from. Thought that all of the long clues were good, particularly the SHOTGUN WEDDING.
Finished with MOLASSES, the cleverly defined WHAT’S YOUR POISON and EAST GRINSTEAD (which I hadn’t heard of before) as the last few in.
I always like a “Mudd” that I can finish. Got 23 ac wrong though. didn’t understand all the answers (nothing new there) so thanks as ever Pete.
Thanks to Mudd and Pete. Lots f fun. I had to check EAST GRINSTEAD, TAIGA, and INDRAUGHT, but I managed to get through – and I especially liked SHOTGUN WEDDING.
Thanks Mudd and Pete
I think I found this quite a good puzzle from a setter whom I find can be exasperatingly variable.
On the other hand, I did think that having INDRAUGHT and AUGHT as adjacent solutions was somewhat sloppy, and having INSIDE as the solution immediately followed by a clue containing OUTSIDE was unfortunate.
Bruce, I knew the name East Grinstead but still had to look up a list of Sussex towns to answer 10dn.