Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of January 25, 2020
I made a fast start with this but finishing it off took a while, especially completing the bottom-left quadrant. My favourite clues are 16ac (GARBLED) and 15dn (BRAIN CELL). I am unsure if I have parsed 23dn (SLIGHT) correctly and have a concern about the wordplay in 18dn (ROUGHAGE).
| Across | ||
| 1 | RESOLVED | Settled lovers broken up by journalist (8) |
| Anagram (broken up) of LOVERS + ED (journalist) | ||
| 5 | ACTS UP | Book finished, throws a tantrum (4,2) |
| ACTS (book, of the Bible that is) + UP (finished) | ||
| 9 | PROVERBS | Further note about dog breeder’s first book (8) |
| ROVER (dog) + B[reeder] in (about) PS (further note) | ||
| 10 | ERRATA | Mistakes strike-breaker found in time (6) |
| RAT (strike-breaker) in (found in) ERA (time) | ||
| 12 | IN GENERAL | Where army should have faith, as a rule? (2,7) |
| Double definition | ||
| 13 | SEBUM | Oil on skin, use sponge, wiping face (5) |
| [u]SE (use…wiping face) + BUM (sponge) | ||
| 14 | EBRO | Ebbing in Windsor, beautiful river (4) |
| Reverse (ebbing) hidden word (in). The Ebro is a river in Spain. | ||
| 16 | GARBLED | Hard to understand English from translation in Belgrade (7) |
| Anagram (translation in) of B[e]LGRADE | ||
| 19 | LEOTARD | Stretcher put on back of cart in terrible ordeal (7) |
| [car]T in (in) anagram (terrible) of ORDEAL | ||
| 21 | FOWL | Chicken perhaps yucky, it’s said? (4) |
| Homophone (it’s said) of “foul” (yucky) | ||
| 24 | PUGIN | Architect happy to knock back drink (5) |
| UP (happy) backwards (to knock back) + GIN (drink). The architect is Augustus Pugin (1812-1852), an Englishman who played a prominent role in the 19th century revival of Gothic architecture. | ||
| 25 | PRINCIPAL | Cardinal rule for audition? (9) |
| Homophone (for audition) of “principle” (rule) | ||
| 27 | ROARED | Blade puncturing sore, howled! (6) |
| OAR (blade) in (puncturing) RED (sore) | ||
| 28 | STARLING | Best fish for bird (8) |
| STAR (best) + LING (fish) | ||
| 29 | PUEBLO | In control, be upbeat about foreign settlement (6) |
| Reverse (about) hidden word (in) | ||
| 30 | ORNAMENT | Famous person not losing heart with other ranks on deck (8) |
| OR (other ranks) + NAME (famous person) + NT (not losing hearr) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | REPAIR | Leave about two (6) |
| RE (about) + PAIR (two) | ||
| 2 | STODGE | Heavy table, say, marks when lifted (6) |
| EG (say) + DOTS (marks) all backwards (when lifted) | ||
| 3 | LIE-IN | Lazy morning, story with it (3-2) |
| LIE (story) + IN (with it) | ||
| 4 | EMBARGO | Yours truly rolling up to pub, try prohibition (7) |
| ME (yours truly) backwards (rolling up) + BAR (pub) + GO (try) | ||
| 6 | CORKSCREW | Prison officer from southern Ireland? One’s taken to the bottle (9) |
| Double definition | ||
| 7 | SEAT BELT | Securing wobbly table, firm strap (4,4) |
| Anagram (wobbly) of TABLE in (securing) SET (firm) | ||
| 8 | PSALMODY | Singing hymns, my lad so drunk under piano (8) |
| P (piano) + anagram (drunk) of MY LAD SO | ||
| 11 | PLUG | Stop promotion (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 15 | BRAIN CELL | Incarcerated supporter possibly, bit of a thinker (5,4) |
| BRA (supporter) + IN CELL (incarcerated) | ||
| 17 | CLAPTRAP | Flannel perhaps, bang on mouth (8) |
| CLAP (bang) + TRAP (mouth) | ||
| 18 | ROUGHAGE | Fibre approximately how old? (8) |
| ROUGH (approximately) + AGE (how old). How does ‘approximately’ clue ROUGH, as opposed to ROUGHLY? Maybe Mudd has some example of a sentence in which “approximately how old” can be replaced by “rough age”, but I cannot come up with one. | ||
| 20 | DOPE | Dummy drugs (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 21 | FRITTER | Waste food? (7) |
| Double definition | ||
| 22 | SPLICE | Power cut’s welcomed? Form a union (6) |
| P (power) in (welcomed) SLICE (cut) | ||
| 23 | BLIGHT | Minimum of blasphemy, mild curse (6) |
| B[lasphemy] + LIGHT (mild)
I originally had a wrong answer for this one, SLIGHT. I was unable to connect the wordplay to this in a fully satisfactory manner and wondered what I might be missing. Obviously now, what I was missing was the possibility that I had a wrong answer! My thanks to Sil for setting me straight. |
||
| 26 | CIRCA | Initially clueless in recruiting candidates, ask around (5) |
| C[lueless] I[n] R[ecruiting] C[andidates] A[sk] | ||
Thanks, Pete, for the blog.
I think 23d should be BLIGHT: B[lasphemy] + LIGHT (mild); def: curse.
As to 18d, you should see it as a whole (‘rough age’).
Parsed as Sil @1. Personally, I wouldn’t call CORKSCREW a DD since the first part would be two words.
Thank you, Sil. I have corrected 23d.
Hovis, I thought a lot about whether 6d was properly a double definition when I solved it and I have thought more about it now in light of your comment. I acknowledge that the first definition would define CORK SCREW, two words, but I still cannot see it as anything but a DD.
I also had slight for 23d, but couldn’t understand why, so was waiting for Pete to enlighten me and now I know what was wrong. Thank you Pete and mudd.
Although I missed PUGIN and CLAPTRAP I did get BLIGHT; I thought of “slight” but I couldn’t fit blasphemy into the parsing. Thanks to Mudd for yet another fine crossword and to Pete for the blog.
Thanks Mudd and Pete
This took well over the hour last Sunday morning and was also held up in the SW corner.
Typically well constructed clues with his share of double definitions, but must agree with Hovis that CORKSCREW wasn’t one of them. Did get BLIGHT although had to look up to confirm that definition of it.
Finished with ROUGH AGE (where I considered ROUGH AGE to equate with ‘approx. How old’), PUGIN (whom I didn’t know) anx ROARED (where itvtook ages to equate RED with sore).
Perhaps you could see CORKSCREW as a double definition where one of them is whimsical; or alternatively as definition: ‘One’s taken to the bottle’ and the rest of it as wordplay, a ‘Cork screw’ being a way of regarding the Irish prison officer.
I can easily see a police officer filling in a form about a suspect and asking a third party ‘Approximately how old?’/’Rough age?’.
Good crossword, but I had trouble finishing it off with PUEBLO, a word I wasn’t very familiar with. And I was doubtful about leave = repair in 1dn. ‘I shall repair to the kitchen’ doesn’t help: how else (with this sort of meaning) can one use ‘repair’?
Thanks to both. An enjoyable solve.
I agree with the first two paragraphs of Wil@7. My eChambers has the leave use of REPAIR as the second definition although “leave” is not specifically mentioned. And I did get BLIGHT as Sil@1. The rest dropped in nicely, eventually.
I like Wil’s example of “rough age” and withdraw my objection to the clue. Thanks, Wil.