Non-prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of February 6, 2021
Typically we see Chalmie in this space only once or twice a year. This one has the charm of a bunch of clues related to the name Rossetti (which is the answer to 29ac): BLEAK, CHRISTINA, DANTE, GABRIEL, GOBLIN, MIDWINTER and possibly ARTS. I did not recognize all of these and thank BruceW for pointing out some.
Another clue I especially like is 2dn (BIRD TABLE).
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | NEBULA |
Unable to resolve galaxy (6)
|
| Anagram (to resolve) of UNABLE | ||
| 4 | UNWISDOM |
Foolishness as 25 swim off (8)
|
| Anagram (off) of UNDO (25) SWIM. I do not recall coming across the word ‘unwisdom’ before but solved the clue by the wordplay. ‘Unwisdom’ is in the dictionary (well, Collins anyway) but seems an unwieldy term to me. | ||
| 10 | CHRISTINA |
Woman is right outside breaking crockery (9)
|
| IS (is) in (outside) RT (right) in (breaking) CHINA (crockery)
I do not remember coming across many nested inclusions as we have here. |
||
| 11 | SANER |
Getting rid of the director is smoother and more reasonable (5)
|
| SANDER (smoother) with the ‘D’ (director) removed (getting rid of)
If my understanding of the wordplay is correct then it would seem to be of questionable acceptability. The ‘is’ is very awkward. Am I seeing this wrongly? |
||
| 12 | ARTS |
Faculty splits when Pence disappears (4)
|
| [p]ARTS (splits when pence disappears)
For the benefit of Americans and possibly others who are not accustomed to ‘faculty’ meaning what it does in this clue, I would note that, in the context of a university, Brits use the term to refer to a school within it and not to the academic staff (as Americans do). Thus my alma mater, Glasgow University, has a Faculty of Arts, a Faculty of Science, a Faculty of Medicine, and so on.
|
||
| 13 | ANTIFREEZE |
Faint stirring with light wind eradicating black car chemical (10)
|
| Anagram (stirring) of FAINT + [b]REEZE (light wind eradicating black) | ||
| 15 | GABRIEL |
Angel chewing a gerbil (7)
|
| Anagram (chewing) of A GERBIL | ||
| 16 | GOBLIN |
Almost lose sight of evil sprite (6)
|
| GO BLIN[d] (almost lose sight) | ||
| 19 | WELLED |
Bond’s report came up (6)
|
| Homophone (report) of “weld” (bond) | ||
| 21 | BUNGLED |
Made a complete mess of connecting light to plug (7)
|
| BUNG (plug) + LED (light) | ||
| 23 | IMPRISONED |
Surprisingly dim person I locked up (10)
|
| Anagram (surprisingly) of DIM PERSON I | ||
| 25 | UNDO |
Oddly missing turn, idiot has to reverse (4)
|
| [t]U[r]N [i]D[i]O[t] | ||
| 27 | BLEAK |
Cold and windswept lake Bill crosses (5)
|
| L (lake) in (crosses) BEAK (bill) | ||
| 28 | MIDWINTER |
In very cold conditions I’d win term after advancing money (9)
|
| ID (I’d) + WIN (win) + TERM (term) with the ‘M’ moved to the front (after advancing money) | ||
| 29 | ROSSETTI |
Some macros set time at 10 or 7:15 (8)
|
| Hidden word (some) with two definitions: “at 10” referring to the English poet Christina Georgina Rossetti and “7:15” to her brother Dante Gabriel Rossetti the English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and founder member of the Pre-Raphaelites.
|
||
| 30 | FEINTS |
One German paper includes small deceptive attacks (6)
|
| EIN (one German) in (includes) FT (paper) + S (small) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | NO CHANGE |
All the same, exact fare only (2,6)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 2 | BIRD TABLE |
Book about way volunteers make garden’s social hub (4,5)
|
| RD (way) + TA (volunteers) together in (about) BIBLE (book) | ||
| 3, 26 | LOSE TIME |
Old group dressed in green to be delayed (4,4)
|
| O (old) + SET (group) in (dressed in) LIME (green) | ||
| 5 | NEARING |
New trial doesn’t start getting close (7)
|
| N (new) + [h]EARING (trial doesn’t start) | ||
| 6 | INSCRIBING |
Bring in Chief Inspector’s terrible writing (10)
|
| Anagram (terrible) of BRING IN CIS | ||
| 7 | DANTE |
See about northern poet (5)
|
| N (northern) in (about) DATE (see) | ||
| 8 | MARKET |
Notice central Exeter’s shopping area (6)
|
| MARK (notice) + [ex]ET[er] | ||
| 9 | SIGNAL |
Perhaps Leo and Al will send a message (6)
|
| SIGN (perhaps Leo) + AL (al) | ||
| 14 | DILL PICKLE |
Preserved cucumber offered – I’ll pick Lebanese bottles (4,6)
|
| Hidden words (bottles) | ||
| 17 | ISLINGTON |
Possibly 15 here not getting up after one cocktail (9)
|
| I (one) + SLING (cocktail) + NOT (not) backwards (getting up)
If you do not understand the definition, please see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel%2C_London |
||
| 18 | ADJOURNS |
Commercial magazines pulling out nearly all stops for a bit (8)
|
| AD (commercial) + JOURN[al]S (magazines pulling out nearly all) | ||
| 20 | DOORMAT |
Cross about initially making advances to boss’s poodle (7)
|
| ROOD (cross) backwards (about) + M[aking] A[dvances] T[o] | ||
| 21 | BREEDS |
Grows British clarinets? (6)
|
| B (British) + REEDS (clarinets?) | ||
| 22 | TIMBER |
Superb finish stopping clock beam (6)
|
| [super]B in (stopping) TIMER (clock) | ||
| 24 | PLEAS |
Entreaties mostly make someone happy (5)
|
| PLEAS[e] (mostly make someone happy) | ||
| 26 |
See 3
|
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Thanks Chalmie and Pete
An enjoyable puzzle, as normal, from this setter with the mini theme around the ROSSETTI brother and sister. There is a couple of their works in GOBLIN MARKET and IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER hidden amongst the answers – couldn’t find any others. A very interesting and innovative clue at 29a to define them and liked it a lot. Thought that 18d was pretty good as well.
Didn’t spot the ‘is’ bit in 11a – looks like it should be more like ‘in’, which would muck up the surface reading a bit.
Finished on the left hand side with DOORMAT, SIGNAL and WELLED the last few in.
I feel like I write “enjoyable puzzle” every week, no matter who the setter. This was certainly no exception
I must confess, I did not see the Rosetti connection before Pete pointed it out. Indeed, 29ac is the first time ever I parsed the cryptic part of a clue without understanding the “straight” bit. (I am sure there must be a technical word for this, and happy to be corrected).
BUNGLED was a favourite. For 22d, the appearance of I and B raised hopes the answer might be “gibbet”, but TIMBER it was. Similar to Pete, I found “UNWISDOM” a bit of a stretch, and similar to brucew, I struggled with DOOR MAT in 20dn. In fact, I am still not entirely sure what “boss’s poodle” means. This was my first encounter with a BIRD TABLE, too, but I now know there is a huge range for sale on the internet. Similar again to brucew, WELLED was my LOI.
FWIW, I parsed 11ac the same way as Pete.
One question – why does TA mean volunteers in 2dn? I managed to guess it, and I assume it is an abbreviation, but do not know what it stands for.
I am off to read some poetry….. Thanks Pete and Chalmie
Most enjoyable — thanks Chalmie. I liked GOBLIN, BUNGLED, DOORMAT, and the cleverly hidden DILL PICKLE. On my copy of the crossword I noted next to 11a (SANER) that I thought the clue should somehow be rewritten so I share your question Pete. Thanks for the blog.
Martyn @2 in the UK TA stands for Territorial Army – volunteer reserve soldiers.
Thanks Pete and Chalmie for a very enjoyable puzzle.
Got everything except 19 ac. Couldn’t get James out of my head. Thought 9dn suitably misleading.
Thanks for the fun Chalmie and the explanations Pete.
11a seems to have the words in the wrong order and is an awkward construction. Yes, UNWISDOM is another odd word but the wordplay led straight to it, even though I had to check it existed.
But I am less happy with 1a. A NEBULA is part of a galaxy and not a galaxy itself. One is considerably larger than the other.
Still, it was a pleasant solve.
Thanks, Chalmie and Pete. Loved the theme. In the Bleak Midwinter is a favorite Christmas hymn. I guessed ISLINGTON from crossers, and only found out later about the “Angel” connection. DILL PICKLE was very clever!
Mystogre@6, correct about nebula/galaxy. However, some galaxies are informally called nebulae, such as the “Andromeda nebula” – before large telescopes revealed that they were separate galaxies, they were thought of as nebulae, and the naming has persisted. I don’t know UK usage, but Merriam-Webster has “Galaxy” as second def of “nebula”, but “not used technically.”
Bruce, Thanks for pointing out some Rossetti references that I missed.
Annie, Thanks for filling in the TA stuff.
Having studied a little astronomy I also wondered about GALAXY/NEBULA but figured it worked in a non-technical context.
Thanks Pete and all.
OK, 11 wasn’t a great clue. And I hadn’t realised that Andromeda isn’t a nebula any more, though I did know it was a galaxy. I think I also had some dim idea that a nebula was the remains of a galaxy which had decayed. Oh well, can’t win ’em all.
I also enjoyed this very clever puzzle with its multiple Rossetti references. I was quite dismayed by 11ac too, and simply didn’t get it. Can anyone explain why ‘D’ is allowable for ‘director’?
I think now that I should have addressed this question earlier because it did arise in my mind too. Looking at Collins and a couple of other online dictionaries, I find no support for ‘D’ cluing director. We are all familiar with “M.D.” standing for Managing Director but such a thing does not by itself justify one letter alone standing for the word that it stands for in combination.