Non-prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of March 27, 2021
I think this was a top-notch puzzle from Mudd with some sly clues and good double definitions. My favourites are 1dn (FLOURISH), 14 (FORTUNE) which was my last-in, 20 (THIRSTY), 22 (NOD OFF) and 29 (MUESLI).
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | FIDDLE |
Instrument with a neck that’s crooked (6)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 4 | STOCK CAR |
Race vehicle’s cost adjusted, frame knocked about (5,3)
|
| Anagram (adjusted) of COST + RACK (frame) backwards (knocked about) | ||
| 9 | OCTANE |
Fuel ingredient at once unstable (6)
|
| Anagram (unstable) of AT ONCE | ||
| 10 | MISTRUST |
Be wary of banal truism written by saint (8)
|
| Anagram (banal) of TRUISM + ST (saint) | ||
| 12 | RENDERED |
King almost stopped taking wine, plastered (8)
|
| R (king) + ENDE[d] (almost stopped) + RED (wine)
To render a wall means to cover it with a layer of plaster or cement |
||
| 13 | SHAMAN |
Healer put on a nightie for a start (6)
|
| SHAM (put on) + A (a) + N[ightie] | ||
| 15 | SATE |
Fill day with energy (4)
|
| SAT (day) + E (energy) | ||
| 16 | ASTOUND |
Bowl over, and opener for Somerset out, regrettably (7)
|
| Anagram (regrettably) of AND S[omerset] OUT | ||
| 20 | THIRSTY |
Figure cups useless ultimately – in need of a jar? (7)
|
| [useles]S in (cups) THIRTY (figure) | ||
| 21 | FAIR |
Lawful appealing (4)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 25 | OTHERS |
Rest horse, originally tired out (6)
|
| Anagram (out) of HORSE T[ired] | ||
| 26 | KNICKERS |
Item worn, darn it! (8)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 28 | OVERUSED |
Budgie in the end devours nuts, stale (8)
|
| Anagram (nuts) of [budgi]E DEVOURS | ||
| 29 | MUESLI |
Breakfast table finally covered in endless cloth (6)
|
| [tabl]E in (covered in) MUSLI[n] (endless cloth) | ||
| 30 | FETCHING |
Attractive ability of trained dog? (8)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 31 | STRING |
Actor’s back in smart series (6)
|
| [acto]R in (in) STING (smart) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | FLOURISH |
Blossom like white powder? (8)
|
| Double definition (with the second belonging perhaps to the Uxbridge English Dictionary) | ||
| 2 | DETONATE |
See walls in school explode (8)
|
| ETON (school) in (in) DATE (see) | ||
| 3 | LINDEN |
Tree planted in school in Denmark (6)
|
| Hidden word (planted in) | ||
| 5 | TWIG |
Suddenly get a little bit of wood (4)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 6 | CATCHING |
Communicable skill of fielders (8)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 7 | CRUMMY |
Chelsea’s first game, awful (6)
|
| C[helsea] + RUMMY (game) | ||
| 8 | ROTUND |
Big barrel grabbed by stick (6)
|
| TUN (barrel) in (grabbed by) ROD (stick) | ||
| 11 | DESSERT |
Charlotte, perhaps, with hair up (7)
|
| TRESSED (with hair) backwards (up) | ||
| 14 | FORTUNE |
Packet designed to hold air (7)
|
| FOR (designed to hold) + TUNE (air) | ||
| 17 | THOROUGH |
House with trench on the perimeter, detailed (8)
|
| HO (house) in (on the perimeter) TROUGH (trench)
I do not often see this abbreviation for ‘house’ but it is in Collins |
||
| 18 | WATER-SKI |
Participate in sport with a brutal strike (5-3)
|
| W (with) + A (a) + anagram (brutal) of STRIKE | ||
| 19 | FROSTING |
Pond life eating lice up, topping! (8)
|
| NITS (lice) backwards (up) in FROG (pond life) | ||
| 22 | NOD OFF |
Fond of bubbly, slowly lose consciousness (3,3)
|
| Anagram (bubbly) of FOND OF | ||
| 23 | THREAT |
Menace source of terror, heart pounded (6)
|
| Anagram (pounded) of T[error] HEART | ||
| 24 | ACQUIT |
Clear desert after Adriatic drained (6)
|
| A[driati]C + QUIT (desert) | ||
| 27 | VEIN |
Vessel above internal features (4)
|
| HIdden word |
I remember enjoying this and being surprised by the abundance of double definitions: TWIG was my favourite but there was a pleasing rhythm to FETCHING and CATCHING. Also liked STOCK CAR for its surface and THIRSTY. Completed swiftly but needed Pete’s clarification for FROSTING and FORTUNE. Thanks both to Mudd and Pete.
The top half and the bottom-left quadrant went well, then the bottom-right section took a substantial investment of time. I am not sure what happened. In hindsight, the clues in that segment seem no more difficult than the rest of the puzzle…….
Similar to Diane, FROSTING alluded me. I thought of FROG and I separately thought of NITS, but I did not manage to put the two thoughts together. Then I came up with DRESSING as the answer, and spent a long time wondering why I could not parse the clue. (NITS are not lice, by the way, unless chickens are eggs).
I liked FETCHING, FLOURISH, THIRSTY and VEIN. I am always fascinated to see words that can be read backwards – so I liked DESSERT too.
Thanks to Mudd and Pete
Thanks Mudd and Pete
Found this one quite tough, starting it on a train ride home, having another crack that night and needing a third session to finish it off the next day. Finished NE, SE and SW corners well enough but initially messed up FLOURISH with something I can’t read now in the NW. The four central clues took the longest though, eventually finishing with FORTUNE (with its tricky definition) and THIRSTY the last couple in.
Thanks for the blog, lots to enjoy here, FLOURISH was the pick for me. I am probably the last person in the world who still says KNICKERS in the sense of darn it.
Minor quibble time – should banal really be used to indicate an anagram ?
Got stuck in SE corner. 21ac I have difficulty in seeing “fair” as a synonym for “lawful”. I cannot see anyone suggesting that “unfair” would be “unlawful”. Different connotations altogether.
I loved your reference, Pete, to the Uxbridge English Dictionary. “I’m sorry I haven’t a clue” is entirely appropriate for crossword (non)solvers!
Thanks to Mudd and Pete, but I have one quibble with the explanation to 13 across. Doesn’t it need the A from “a nightie”?
Thanks, Mudd, and as usual, thanks to Pete for your excellent explanation.
3/4 of the puzzle came quickly, and I loved FLOURISH and DESSERT.
Martyn@2, Malcolm@5 – the SE corner completely stumped me. I had STOCKING for 26ac (when a stocking gets worn, you “darn” it?) and thus FORTUNE and others didn’t come until the blog. I also had “accede” instead of “acquit” at 24d. All makes sense now.
EdK@USA, Thanks for spotting that error in 13ac. Now fixed.
Roz, You raise the question “should banal really be used to indicate an anagram?” I often despair at the lengths some setters go to in picking indicators, especially reversal indicators. In the case of “banal” I think it is a considerable stretch but maybe marginally acceptable given that ‘banal’ can mean unoriginal.
I don’t like to nitpick and it was very good overall. I am on the liberal side, more Torquemada than Ximenes , but banal is a stretch too far for me.
This was a bit more difficult for me than the usual Mudd crossword — there were several I could not get and I still don’t get packet = FORTUNE. I still found much to enjoy with FROSTING being my favourite. Thanks to both.
Hi Tony
Both packet and fortune are terms that mean ‘a lot of money’.
As ‘she made a fortune’ and ‘it cost a ‘packet’.
bruce@aus @12: Thanks. I had never heard packet used for a lot of money but it makes sense; it’s more common in the US to say, “it cost a bundle.”
I was also very fond of ‘flourish’ but had issues with ‘muesli’ as a synonym for breakfast.
I wondered about MUESLI too in that respect but in the end said nothing about it because Mudd has a tradition of such looseness. In FT 14,221 he used “Old contact not entirely consuming continental breakfast (8)” to clue OMELETTE and in FT 14,038 had “breakfast item” cluing CRUMPET. I did comment on the latter as I think of crumpets as something for tea, not breakfast.