Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of September 28, 2019
Here Mudd gives us a very fine &Lit. at 6ac (GANDHI), fewer double definitions than usual and one hidden-word clue that I especially like (25dn, AVE). I also like 16ac (CHIP), 28ac (NATURIST) and 23dn (NOSES).
| Across | ||
| 1 | CARDINAL | I’d backed into animal first (8) |
| ID (I’d) reversed (backed) in (into) CARNAL (animal) | ||
| 6 | GANDHI | Mighty heart, leader in India? (6) |
| G AND H (mighty heart) + I (leader in India) and &Lit. Gandhi was honoured with the title Mahatma which means great soul (from maha meaning big and atma meaning soul). Now “great soul” may not exactly match “mighty heart” but I’ll buy it. | ||
| 9 | DAMMIT | Contrarily, Tiny boy furious I tell you! (6) |
| TIM (Tiny boy) + MAD (furious) all backwards (contrarily) | ||
| 10 | APERTURE | A fresh river mouth, say? (8) |
| A (a) + PERT (fresh) + URE (river) | ||
| 11 | THIN | Slender article detailed? (4) |
| THIN[g] | ||
| 12 | HAIRSTREAK | Delicate creature, I ask rather weakly (10) |
| Anagram (weakly) of I ASK RATHER. A hairstreak is a small butterfly. | ||
| 14 | FOOTSLOG | Diary of an ex-Labour leader? Tramp! (8) |
| FOOT’S LOG (diary of an ex-Labour leader, referring to Michael Foot who was leader of the Labour Party from 1980 to 1983) | ||
| 16 | CHIP | Hot potato cold, then cool (4) |
| C (cold) + HIP (cool) | ||
| 18 | WHOA | Question a command from rider (4) |
| WHO (question) + A (a) | ||
| 19 | UP IN ARMS | Indignant, carrying more weapons? (2,2,4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 21 | BRIEFCASES | Carriers, temporary patients (10) |
| BRIEF (temporary) + CASES (patients) | ||
| 22 | GANG | Joke about northern band (4) |
| N (northern) in (about) GAG (joke) | ||
| 24 | MACARONI | A king opening French wine, one getting Italian food (8) |
| A (a) + R (king) together in (opening) MAÇON (French wine) + I (one) | ||
| 26 | ENLIST | Take on fashion lines with tank top (6) |
| Anagram (fashion) of LINES + T[ank] | ||
| 27 | OFFEND | Upset beyond the extreme? (6) |
| OFF (beyond) + END (the extreme) | ||
| 28 | NATURIST | Misplaced trust in a person forgetting kit (8) |
| Anagram (misplaced) of TRUST IN A | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | ABASH | Shame in a party (5) |
| A (a) + BASH (party) | ||
| 3 | DEMONSTRATE | Prove moves not mastered (11) |
| Anagram (moves) of NOT MASTERED | ||
| 4 | NUTSHELL | Bananas above bottomless pit in fruit container (8) |
| NUTS (bananas) + HELL (bottomless pit) | ||
| 5 | LEADING QUESTION | Equation singled out where the answer’s obvious (7,8) |
| Anagram (out) of EQUATION SINGLED | ||
| 6 | GREASY | Dull coats as slick (6) |
| AS (as) in (coats) GREY (dull) | ||
| 7 | NET | Bag all the Commandments up (3) |
| TEN (all the Commandments) backwards (up) | ||
| 8 | HERBARIUM | That person’s element of a meal where dried plants found (9) |
| HER (that person’s) + BARIUM (element of a meal). ‘Element’ by itself would surely be sufficient to clue BARIUM but ‘element of a meal’ is a clever twist based on the use of barium in medical imaging. A “barium meal” is a measure of the element ingested to serve as a contrast material in X-raying of the digestive system. | ||
| 13 | RECTANGULAR | Shade under a hundred standard rings of a particular shape (11) |
| C (a hundred) + TAN (shade) together in (rings) REGULAR (standard) | ||
| 15 | OTHER HALF | Wife, say, alternatively drinking the small beer (5,4) |
| THE (the) in (drinking) OR (alternative) + HALF (small beer) | ||
| 17 | MISSPENT | Girl in jail, wasted (8) |
| MISS (girl) + PENT (in jail) | ||
| 20 | ACCORD | A group of notes read out in agreement (6) |
| A (a) + homophone (read out) of “chord” (group of notes) | ||
| 23 | NOSES | Runners in chase so nimbly going uphill (5) |
| Reverse (going uphill) hidden word (in) | ||
| 25 | AVE | Prayer, gravestone’s inscription? (3) |
| Hidden word | ||
Thanks Pete and Mudd.
Loved GANDHI.
Mighty heart,indeed. His 150th birth anniversary was on Oct 2.
Thanks Mudd and Pete
Really enjoyable puzzle that was over much quicker than normal for this setter Was able to work out HAIRSTREAK easily enough from the word play but had to look to find the butterfly that I hadn’t heard of before.
GANDHI was a classic and thought that the concise clueing, including a great anagram and brilliant surface, was a very, very close second to my clue of the day.
Finished down the bottom with the clever MISSPENT and another great surfaced clue in BRIEFCASES as the last one in.
Oops … LEADING QUESTION was the very close second clue.