Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of April 20, 2019
My first-in was 12ac (ESCAPOLOGY) which set the stage for quickly completing the right half of the puzzle. The left half took longer, especially the top left, with 4dn (LAUREATE) my last-in.
My favourite clue is 24ac (SKIP BAIL) and I also like 10ac (ACRIMONY), 15dn (EYE SOCKET) and 25,22 (PANACHE) .
| Across | ||
| 1 | BUNGALOW | Bribe given to a mean 23 (8) |
| BUNG (bribe) + A (a) + LOW (mean) with “23” referring to 23 down (HOUSE). I was unaware of the usage of ‘bung’ in the sense intended here, which one dictionary gives as, “a tip given for service that is greater than an amount agreed upon”. | ||
| 6 | SPARSE | Boxes finally become infrequent (6) |
| SPARS (boxes) + [becom]E | ||
| 9 | APERCU | No case for paper cup in this outline (6) |
| [p]APER CU[p]. An apercu is a short synopsis. | ||
| 10 | ACRIMONY | Goliath is overwhelmed by a friend’s belligerence (8) |
| IM (Goliath is) in (overwhelmed by) A CRONY (a friend) | ||
| 11 | See 16 | |
| 12 | ESCAPOLOGY | Eurovision Song Contest starts and I am truly sorry for one trying to wriggle out (10) |
| E[urovision] S[ong] C[ontest] + APOLOGY (I am truly sorry for one) | ||
| 14 | DEMENTIA | Time and energy primarily needed for treatment of this condition (8) |
| Anagram (needed for treatment) of TIME AND E (energy) | ||
| 16, 11 | NO-GO AREA | Snogs boy hard? Yes! Way out of bounds? Yes! (2-2,4) |
| [s]NOG[s] [b]O[y] [h]AR[d] [y]E[s] [w]A[y]. So, “out of bounds” tells us to remove the boundary letters from the previous words. | ||
| 18 | ZEBU | In a daze, buy some cattle (4) |
| Hidden word | ||
| 19 | ANOINTED | Blessed having it end badly after a rejection (8) |
| A (a) + NO (rejection) + anagram (badly) of IT END | ||
| 21 | POMPOUS ASS | Most of search party touring America led by Englishman – Colonel Blimp? (7,3) |
| POM (Englishman) + USA (America) in (touring) POSS[e] (most of search party) | ||
| 22 | See 25 | |
| 24 | SKIP BAIL | Escapee said to get entangled with poor alibi and fail to appear in court (4,4) |
| S K P (escapee said!) anagrammed with (to get entangled with) anagram (poor) of ALIBI | ||
| 26 | MAKE-UP | Manufacture foundation? (4-2) |
| Double definition | ||
| 27 | STINGY | Mean poisoner’s no artist (6) |
| STING[ra]Y (poisoner’s no artist) | ||
| 28 | TWENTIES | Left in knots for a decade (8) |
| WENT (left) in (in) TIES (knots) | ||
| Down | ||
| 2, 23 | UPPER HOUSE | Europe push around a section of parliament (5,5) |
| Anagram (around) of EUROPE PUSH | ||
| 3 | GARBAGE DUMP | Dress mature politician, accepting initially useful tip (7,4) |
| GARB (dress) + AGED (mature) + U[useful] + MP (politician) | ||
| 4 | LAUREATE | Acclaimed pacifist, possibly Labour, lost heart getting endlessly beaten (8) |
| LA[bo]UR + [b]EATE[n] | ||
| 5 | WHATCHAMACALLIT | Opening in the morning: a visit inside comedian’s widget (15) |
| HATCH (opening) + AM (in the morning) + A (a) + CALL (visit) all in (inside) WIT (comedian) | ||
| 6 | SERAPH | Angel being quiet about cutback (6) |
| PARE (cut…) backwards (…back) in (about) SH (quiet) | ||
| 7 | ARM | A marine weapon (3) |
| A (a) + RM (marine, i.e. Royal Marine) | ||
| 8 | SYNAGOGUE | Reported crime stunned worshippers here (9) |
| SYN (homophone of “sin” = crime) + AGOGUE (homophone of “agog” = stunned) | ||
| 13 | LINEN BASKET | Where to put sheets and blankets in place, finally organised (5,6) |
| Anagram (organised) of BLANKETS IN [plac]E | ||
| 15 | EYE SOCKET | Announced where to plug iPhone charger in orbit? (3,6) |
| Homophone (announced) of “iSocket” (where to plug in iPhone charger!!!) | ||
| 17 | CONSOMME | Tory battle starter (8) |
| CON (Tory) + SOMME (battle) | ||
| 20 | SUGARY | The FT backing Lineker being sentimental (6) |
| US (the FT) backwards (backing) + GARY (Lineker) | ||
| 23 | See 2 | |
| 25, 22 | PANACHE | Cheap with an extraordinary style (7) |
| Anagram (extraordinary) of CHEAP AN | ||
Thanks Pete Maclean and Goliath.
Enjoyable, indeed.
I will add CONSOMME to the list.
Thanks Goliath and Pete
An entertaining crossword that I started with a short look that filled in half a dozen answers and took all of the 40 minute trip into work on Monday morning to finish off. Different solve pattern where I started in the top right corner with ARM, wandered down to the bottom left, zig-zagged all over the place and finished with ESCAPOLOGY, LINEN BASKET and ANOINTED.
NO GO AREA raised a grin, liked CONSOMMÉ and thought that the ‘i-socket’ at 15d made it the cod.
Thanks to Pete and Goliath
A bit of a strange one for a prize. A couple of what seemed like experimental clues – 16,11 I’m still not really sure where the def is. Double duty for out of bounds or is it simply YES?. 10a my Chambers gives 22 synonyms for ACRIMONY and BELLIGERENCE isn’t one of them.
In 6a FINALLY refers to the following word, but in 13d to the preceeding.
Enjoyable enough but too many spare words and bizarre surfaces for a Saturday.
A small point: there was surely no need for the ‘primarily’ in 14ac. e is a perfectly acceptable abbreviation for energy. Why clutter the crossword with one of those messy giveaway words like initially or primarily?
Wil, good point! Thank you for making it.