Peto provides this morning’s headscratcher in the FT.
Although the answers to this puzzle went in fairly quickly, my early morning brain struggled with some of the parsings, but I got there in the end (with the exception of 25ac) where I can’t think of an example of ROUND and CATCH being synonymous.
Thanks, Peto.
| Across | ||
| 1 | BACKSIDE | Support needed by team coming from behind (8) |
| BACK (“support”) by SIDE (“team”) | ||
| 5 | ODDS-ON | Strange boy’s most likely to succeed (4-2) |
| ODD (“strange”) + SON (“boy”) | ||
| 9 | RUN ALONG | Rule throughout after peacekeepers leave (3,5) |
| R (rule) + ALONG (“throughout”) after UN (United Nations, so “peacekeepers”) | ||
| 10 | PSEUDO | Mock additional information on European Union act (6) |
| PS (postscript, so “additional information”) + EU (European Union) + DO (“act”) | ||
| 12 | ENTRY | Seconds away from guard’s admission (5) |
| (s)ENTRY (“guard” with S (seconds) away) | ||
| 13 | INFORMANT | Books on playing well on the earliest of artificial grass (9) |
| NT (New Testament, so “books”) on IN FORM (“playing well”) on [the earliest of] A(rtificial) | ||
| 14 | SIMPLE | Unpretentious headdress with a hint of severity for wife (6) |
| (w)(S)IMPLE (“headdress” (WIMPLE) with [a hint of] S(everity) for (i.e. replacing) W(wife) | ||
| 16 | YARDARM | An indicator of rum times? (7) |
| Cryptic definition.
In the days of rum rationing on board ships, the first ration was provided once the sun was over the yardarm (ie had risen above the yardarm) |
||
| 19 | OUTCOME | Consequence of celestial body’s tail disappearing revealed earlier (7) |
| COME(t) (“celestial body” with tail disappearing) with OUT (“revealed”) earlier | ||
| 21 | BOTTOM | Stamina shown by Pole in race? Just the opposite (6) |
| TT (Tourist Trophy, so “race”) in BOOM (“pole”) | ||
| 23 | COMMOTION | Fuss about poet receiving award (9) |
| C (circa, so “about”) + (Andrew) MOTION (“poet”) receiving OM (Order of Merit, so “award”) | ||
| 25 | CATCH | Haul round (5) |
| I think this is a double defintion, but can’t think of a situation where ROUND and CATCH are synonymous? | ||
| 26 | EQUINE | Earl mostly calm about bit of noise affecting horses (6) |
| E (earl) + [mostly] QUIE(t) (“calm”) about [bit of] N(oise) | ||
| 27 | TACITURN | Disinclined to speak of it with Bill going into shock (8) |
| IT with A/c (account, so “bill”) going into TURN (“shock”) | ||
| 28 | ENTREE | Starter for ten about the beginnings of Russia’s eastern expansion (6) |
| *(ten) + [the beginnings of] R(ussia’s) E(astern) E(xpansion) | ||
| 29 | RETAINER | Volunteers to split control with the Queen’s servant (8) |
| TA (Territorial Army, so “volunteers”) to split REIN (“control”) with ER (“the Queen”) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | BORDER | Bound to get second class degree (6) |
| B (“second class”) + ORDER (“degree”) | ||
| 2 | CONSTRICT | Against reaching absolute limit (9) |
| CON (“against”) reaching STRICT (“absolute”) | ||
| 3 | SPLAY | Turn out theatrical productions ultimately getting to the top (5) |
| PLAYS (“theatrical productions”) with its last letter [ultimately] getting to the top, so S-PLAY | ||
| 4 | DENTINE | Ted, nine, to play part of Gnasher (7) |
| *(ted nine) | ||
| 6 | DESERT RAT | Virtue shown by sailor, sent up by soldier (6,3) |
| DESERT (“virtue”, as in merit) + <=TAR (“sailor” sent up) | ||
| 7 | SOUSA | Donuts regularly consumed by South American composer (5) |
| (d)O(n)U(t)S [regularly] consumed by S.A. (South American)
John Philip Sousa (1854-1932) was an American composer, noted for his marches, who helped to develop the sousaphone. |
||
| 8 | NOONTIME | Issue raised after a refusal to get going by midday (8) |
| <=ITEM (“issue” raised) after NO (“a refusal”) to get ON (“going”), so NO-ON-TIME | ||
| 11 | IFFY | Uncertain a short time after losing head (4) |
| (j)IFFY (“a short time” losing head) | ||
| 15 | PRONOUNCE | Utter rubbish at first about breaking spring (9) |
| R(ubbish) [at first] + ON (“about”) breaking POUNCE (“spring”) | ||
| 17 | ABOUT TURN | A fight to reverse complete change of policy (5,4) |
| A + BOUT (“fight”) + TURN (“to reverse”) | ||
| 18 | CONCRETE | Able to be experienced by prisoner on island (8) |
| CON (“prisoner”) on CRETE (“island”) | ||
| 20 | EXIT | Departure times appearing on it after the introduction of electricity (4) |
| X (“times”) appearing on IT after [the introduction of] E(lectricity) | ||
| 21 | BONDAGE | Gonad damaged during extremely bizarre sexual practice (7) |
| *(gonad) during [extremely] B(izarr)E | ||
| 22 | SHINER | Black eye for pop singer reportedly boxing at home (6) |
| Homophone of CHER [reportedly] boxing IN (“at home”) | ||
| 24 | MOUNT | Get up on stage (5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 25 | CHINA | Country hotel popular in California (5) |
| H (hotel) + IN (“popular”) in Ca. (California) | ||
*anagram
Catch is a type of song: “a round for three or more voices, often deriving comic effect from the interweaving of the words”.
In 8d, it is EMIT not ITEM that is raised.
Lots of unexpected meanings in this which I had to look up to check, such as catch/round, bottom/stamina. Some others I did know such as virtue/desert, bound/border. Didn’t understand YARDARM so thanks for the explanation. Also thanks to Peto for the entertainment and for the education.
Thanks to Peto and loonapick. I do not normally comment on the FT (do not get it all the time), however really enjoyed this even though it was tough parsing in places. I took catch in the sense of cowboys “rounding up cattle”, though Andrews explanation seems valid enough. I liked yardarm (well I would being in the navy the time of rum rations), informant run along. Thanks again to Peto and loonapick.
Thanks both.
For 1d, I think “ second class decree” would have been better than “….degree”. Really fun puzzle!
Thanks to Peto and loonapick. Lots of fun. I had trouble with BOTTOM=stamina and took a long time spotting BORDER. Re “catch”: Shakespeare uses the term in The Tempest, 3.2 for the song sung by Stephano, Trinculo, and Caliban.
Typo in your 8d explanation: EMIT is issue, raised to give TIME. Thanks for the insight on some esoteric meanings.
Thanks Peto and loonapick
An old undone one that I got to on holidays a week or so back and only got to check it off now. Was an interesting one in a number of ways – those less obvious definitions of common word and the double use of CON and TURN, with different definitions for them too, in the word play of a couple of clues.
Apart from the more uncommon definitions of BOTTOM, CATCH and DESERT, I’d also forgotten (from past puzzles) the poet laureate at 23a.
Finished in the NE corner with BORDER, RUN ALONG and SPLAY the last few in.