Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of November 9, 2019
I finished this puzzle quickly and easily, needing help only with my last-in which was 12 (TENANCIES). I especially like the pair of similar clues 1dn (PESETA) and 13ac (KRONE) which both work with the whole clue taken as definition (which I trust is what Mudd intended). My other favourites are 4 (WITTIER), 9 (WARSAW) and 25 (SEMICOLON).
Thank you Mudd (a.k.a. John Halpern) for so many great crosswords over so many years in this space. I have been enjoying them since John started setting for the FT under the name Bats. As many of you will know, he is one of the most prolific setters in the business. And he has been doing it with sterling consistency for an impressive number of years.
| Across | ||
| 1 | PIPE DOWN | Sewer underground? Shut it (4,4) |
| PIPE (sewer) + DOWN (underground) | ||
| 5 | ESPRIT | Vitality, special power slowing (6) |
| ESP (special power) + RIT (slowing). Rit. is an abbreviation to mean slowing in music. | ||
| 10 | STAFF | Club personnel (5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 11 | TRADESMEN | More than one merchant butcher mastered profession, finally (9) |
| Anagram (butcher) of MASTERED + [professio]N | ||
| 12 | TENANCIES | Ace sent in to work – more than one occupation? (9) |
| Anagram (to work) of ACE SENT IN | ||
| 13 | KRONE | Some investment back in Bergen or Kristiansand? (5) |
| Reverse hidden word. Bergen and Kristiansand are two cities in Norway, a country where the main currency unit is the krone. | ||
| 14 | BITTER | “Beer please”, did German say? (6) |
| Homophone (say) of BITTE (please, German) | ||
| 15 | WINSOME | Appealing, be successful occasionally? (7) |
| WIN SOME (be successful occasionally) | ||
| 18 | OFFHAND | Not at work, employee rude (7) |
| OFF (not at work) + HAND (employee) | ||
| 20 | PETREL | Cockatoo perhaps regarding large bird (6) |
| PET (cockatoo perhaps) + RE (regarding) + L (large) | ||
| 22 | TIGHT | Cramped under the table (5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 24 | POTHUNTER | Person trying to win prizes, Spooner’s excited gambler? (9) |
| Spoonerism of HOT (excited) + PUNTER (gambler). I do not recall hearing the term ‘pothunter’ before. While it makes sense, it surprises me that it can be written as a single word. | ||
| 25 | SEMICOLON | Mark house somewhere in Panama (9) |
| SEMI (house) + COLON (somewhere in Panama) | ||
| 26 | PLANT | Hide conspiracy, heading for trial (5) |
| PLAN (conspiracy) + T[rial] | ||
| 27 | ANTLER | Rental impossible, one seen in a rut? (6) |
| Anagram (impossible) of RENTAL with a clever cryptic definition | ||
| 28 | WANTONLY | Pale boy drinking last of mescal in careless manner (8) |
| WAN (pale) + [mesca]L in (drinking) TONY (boy) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | PESETA | Money once in Europe set aside (6) |
| Hidden word. The peseta was the main unit of currency of Spain before the Euro took over. One bit of trivia: it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra. | ||
| 2 | PLAINTIFF | Obvious fit, someone bringing a case (9) |
| PLAIN (obvious) + TIFF (fit). The more common meaning of ‘tiff’ is a minor quarrel but Chambers assures me that it can mean a fit too (in the sense of a pet or a huff). | ||
| 3 | DEFINITE ARTICLE | The fool captured in citadel free, I suspect (8,7) |
| NIT (fool) in (captured in) anagram (suspect) of CITADEL I FREE | ||
| 4 | WITTIER | More amusing, I go on tours (7) |
| I (I) in (tours) WITTER (go on) | ||
| 6 | SPEAKING TRUMPET | Instrument amplifying voice, reaching top volume in harlot (8,7) |
| PEAKING (reaching top volume) in (in) STRUMPET (harlot) | ||
| 7 | ROMEO | Don Juan, setter wearing small jumper (5) |
| ME (setter) in (wearing) ROO (small jumper) | ||
| 8 | TINKERED | One leaving worried kid in tree messed around (8) |
| Anagram (worried) of KID [i]N TREE | ||
| 9 | WARSAW | Capital then is now cooked up? (6) |
| WAS RAW (then is now cooked) backwards (up) | ||
| 16 | OVERTRAIN | Beginning of operation on very difficult terrain, exercise too much (9) |
| O[peration] + V (very) + anagram (difficult) of TERRAIN | ||
| 17 | CONTESSA | Noble sting, something of value lifted (8) |
| CON (sting) + ASSET (something of value) backwards (lifted) | ||
| 19 | DAPPLE | Spot last of old fruit (6) |
| [ol]D + APPLE (fruit) | ||
| 20 | PETUNIA | Flower – part of it briefly taken round university (7) |
| UNI (university) in (taken round) PETA[l] (part of it briefly) | ||
| 21 | PRETTY | Rather cute (6) |
| Double definition. | ||
| 23 | GAMUT | Compass shows mother in boat going north (5) |
| MA (mother) in TUG (boat) all backwards (going north) | ||
Thanks to both setter and blogger. My wife and I do the FT crossword every day over tea and a biscuit, though sometimes have to continue to a glass of wine, but are still “catching up” hence this being our first comment. We’re in California, (though I’m a Brit), so my wife sometimes struggles with the cultural references and cricketing terms. We found this puzzle fairly straightforward though struggled to parse ESPRIT and took a ridiculously long time to arrive at ANTLER. Favorites were SEMICOLON and WINSOME. Incidentally, the term “pot hunting” was a somewhat derogatory term we used to use at school to describe how some of the traditionally strong rowing schools would approach the regatta season.
Greetings J&C, Welcome to the blog and thank you for commenting. I am likewise a Brit who lives in the U.S. I was in California (San Francisco and San Jose) for 20 years but now live in Virginia. I have a solving buddy who is American and whom I sometimes help exactly with British and cricketing terms. My wife-to-be is a writer and a polyglot who, sadly for me, has developed not the slightest interest in crosswords.
Lovely intro, Pete. I haven’t been solving as long as you but am amazed at how he keeps coming up with such inventive clueing.
Found this reasonably easy although I am never too keen on “roo” given as “small jumper”. It’s not wrong, of course, when you take small to refer to an abbreviation. It’s just because people often confuse roo with joey and this clueing doesn’t help.
That aside, thanks to Mudd for the entertainment and to Pete for the blog.
Thank you, Hovis. And I take your point about ‘roo’.
Thanks Mudd and Pete
Always been a fan of JH in all his guises both here and in the Guardian (when I used to do them on a more regular basis). Found this one slightly on the easier end of his difficulty spectrum and was able to complete it with a couple of short looks early on and finished off over lunch.
Liked the &lit Norse touch in 13a. Had a bit of trouble understanding the workings of ESPRIT until I put the ‘special power’ altogether and not play with ES and P.
Finished as per normal in the SW corner with SEMICOLON, CONTESSA and the very cleverly defined ANTLER as the last one in.