Non-prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of April 25, 2020
Several of our bloggers here at FifteenSquared have been lucky enough to meet some of the setters in the flesh. I have not had that good fortune but I did recently have the opportunity to meet John Halpern (our Mudd and the Guardian’s Paul) online in a group Zoom meeting. John held this to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the publication of his first crossword, which appeared in the Guardian. And now, after solving his FT puzzles since his days as BATS, I finally have a sense of the man, a very friendly and jolly fellow. I have a new outlook on his puzzles and an added pleasure in blogging them. By the way, I asked John what his favourite word is. He did not answer directly but told us that he had once asked that same question of John Graham (Cinephile/Araucaria), who had been something of a mentor to him, and received the answer ‘river’.
So to this weekend’s puzzle which was another that flowed well for me with just a couple of hiccups in the area of 14ac, 14dn, and 25ac. My clue of the week is 28ac (DESPERATE) and I also like 9ac (INTER), the playful 15ac (HAIRCUT) and the saintly 8dn (PEDOMETER). Thank you, Mudd.
| Across | ||
| 1 | SPORTS CAR | One’s quick to display mark (6,3) |
| SPORT (display) + SCAR (mark) | ||
| 6 | PUT-UP | Construct that’s reversible? (3,2) |
| Palindrome (that’s reversible) | ||
| 9 | INTER | Bury – not AC Milan! (5) |
| Inter [Milan] (not AC Milan) | ||
| 10 | CATNAPPED | Beaten about at start of night, rested for a while (9) |
| AT (at) + N[ight] together in CAPPED (beaten) | ||
| 11 | ELEVEN PLUS | Test football team (and substitutes?) (6,4) |
| ELEVEN (football team) + PLUS (substitutes?)
For non-Brits who may be unfamiliar with it, the Eleven Plus is, to quote from Wikipedia: “an examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academic selection. The name derives from the age group for secondary entry: 11–12 years.” This exam was once given to all schoolchildren — I vividly remember taking it — but now is used in only a few schools. |
||
| 12 | PROM | Dance for money, primarily (4) |
| PRO (for) + M[oney] | ||
| 14 | FLAT OUT | Very quickly shattered (4,3) |
| Double definition. The second one is new to me and, as best I can determine, is not common. | ||
| 15 | HAIRCUT | Bob perhaps, lion’s man? (7) |
| HAIR CUT (lion’s man[E]) | ||
| 17 | SALIENT | Remarkable tales in novel (7) |
| Anagram (novel) of TALES IN | ||
| 19 | TEARIER | Listener involved in row getting more upset (7) |
| EAR (listener) in (involved in) TIER (row) | ||
| 20 | ELBA | Island equipped for revolution (4) |
| ABLE (equipped for) backwards (revolution) | ||
| 22 | BROWNED OFF | Annoyed – having been grilled? (7,3) |
| Double definition | ||
| 25 | MACARTHUR | General damage filing account a day later (9) |
| AC (account) in (filing) MAR (damage) + THUR (a day). The general in question is of course the American Douglas MacArthur. | ||
| 26 | QUAIL | Pull back layer (5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 27 | NASTY | Vicious characters in inquisition as tyrannous? (5) |
| Hidden word | ||
| 28 | DESPERATE | Reckless speed, speed reckless! (9) |
| Anagram (reckless) of SPEED + RATE (speed) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | SUITE | Apartment delightful, by the sound of it? (5) |
| Homophone (by the sound of it) of “sweet” (delightful) | ||
| 2 | ON THE BALL | Quick to respond, getting one’s kicks? (2,3,4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 3 | THREESOMES | Small groups here written about, first of several in books (10) |
| Anagram (written about) of HERE + S[everal] in (in) TOMES (books) | ||
| 4 | COCKPIT | Lift and tilt up part of plane (7) |
| COCK (lift) + TIP (tilt) backwards (up). I am having trouble seeing how ‘lift’ can clue COCK. It seems to me that ’tilt’ would clue COCK just as well if not better than ‘tip’. | ||
| 5 | RETOUCH | Correct chute, or incorrect? (7) |
| Anagram (incorrect) of CHUTE OR | ||
| 6 | PLAN | Draft factory contracts (4) |
| PLAN[t] (factory contracts) | ||
| 7 | TOPER | Drunkard on marijuana turns up (5) |
| RE (on) + POT (marijuana) all backwards (turn up) | ||
| 8 | PEDOMETER | Saint passing round cupola, one can tell how far he walked? (9) |
| DOME (cupola) in (passing round) PETER (saint). My parents were great walkers and used pedometers. I have become rather fond of them myself. | ||
| 13 | PICARESQUE | Roguish squire, cape abandoned (10) |
| Anagram (abandoned) of SQUIRE CAPE | ||
| 14 | FISHERMAN | Raise provided with general net-worker? (9) |
| IF (provided) backwards (raise) + SHERMAN (general) | ||
| 16 | CHIPOLATA | Chapati about to be stuffed with short old sausage (9) |
| OL[d] in (to be stuffed) anagram (about) of CHAPATI
A chipolata is a thin sausage that is popular in the UK. It originated in France but has a name derived from Italian. |
||
| 18 | TORCHED | About a hundred red hot switches lit up (7) |
| C (a hundred) in (about) anagram (switches) of RED HOT | ||
| 19 | TOWARDS | Where inpatients are taken, just before (7) |
| TO WARDS (where inpatients are taken) | ||
| 21 | BUCKS | County resists (5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 23 | FALSE | Mock exams seeming laughable at first, initially upset (5) |
| F[irst] A[t] L[aughable] S[eeming] E[xams]. I rarely see reverse acrostics like this. | ||
| 24 | TROY | Play about Romeo where great beauty held captive (4) |
| R (Romeo) in (about) TOY (play) | ||
Thanks as ever Pete. This one I managed.
I wonder if “flat out” in the sense of shattered is regional. I am familiar with it. One example is from the action of some athletes who, on completing their run, collapse to the floor shattered, or “flat out`’ and it has moved in to more general usage.
Thanks Mudd and Pete
Was able to complete this in the single session with the usual level of wit and clever clues.
The Collins online has COCK as ‘to raise in an erect position’ as in a dog with its ears – thought that was close enough to ‘lift’. Hadn’t seen the second meaning of FLAT OUT.
Finished in the NW corner with THREESOME, the previously unknown ELEVEN PLUS and SUITE as the last few in. Marked HAIRCUT as my favourite, but there emwere other very good clues.
Malcolm, Thank you for your observations on ‘flat out’. It is certainly a usage that makes sense.
Bruce, You give a good example with a dog cocking its ears. Thanks!
Good fun as Mudd always is. Like the succinct ones like PUT UP and BUCKS. Enjoyed THREESOMES and HAIRCUT after the latter was parsed — thanks Pete.
Thanks for your tribute, Pete. Mudd has always been my favourite weekend setter: urbane and witty. Today was no exception.
Thanks to both. I am a bit late checking things this week, so here is my penny’s worth. That second meaning of FLAT OUT does make sense but I am unfamiliar with it and feel the reverse word order might make more sense. When you COCK a gun you lift the hammer (or whatever that part of the mechanism is called) off the back of the cartridge.
Needless to say I enjoyed this.