Financial Times 16,984 by MUDD

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I have not blogged a Mudd puzzle for ages. I had forgotten how entertaining they are. Thank you Mudd.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1 LICKETY-SPLIT
Beat hopeless types flaming quickly (7-5)

LICK (beat) then anagram (hopeless) of TYPES followed by LIT (flaming) – for years I have mistakenly heard this as lickety-spit
10 LOFTING
Sending up children’s author (7)

double definition – Hugh Lofting, author of Doctor Dolittle
11 RAVIOLI
Packages from Italy are almost back, item in case seen shortly (7)

ARe (almost all of) reversed (back) then VIOLIn (item in case shortened, shortly)

12 NORTH
Pole, British PM once (5)

double definition – Frederick North Prime Minister form 1770-1782
13 SPORADIC
Very occasional wounding of picadors (8)

anagram (wounding) of PICADORS
15 EXONERATED
Cleared of blame, English XI perhaps admired (10)

E (English) X followed by ONE (I) then RATED a (admired)
16 IRIS
Flag is raised in Spain, primarily (4)

first letters (primarily) of Is Raised In Spain
18 SIRE
Father shackled by mother, I solemnly recalled (4)

found reversed (recalled) inside (shackled by) mothER I Solemnly
20 BRASSED OFF
Underwear removed including smalls, editor unhappy (7,3)

BRA (underwear) OFF (removed) including S S (small, twice) and ED (editor)
22 INDECENT
At start of winter, perhaps, ten turned blue (8)

IN DEC (in December, at start of winter) then anagram (turned) of TEN
24 SINAI
Mount tethered by equestrian I see, from behind (5)

found reversed (from behind) inside (tethered by) equestrIAN I See
26 CHATEAU
French castle: discussion on content of its moat? (7)

CHAT (discussion) then EAU (water, the contents of a French castle's moat)
27 CHERISH
Old PM discards that, his awful prize (7)

thatCHER (Margaret Thatcher, old PM) missing THAT then anagram (awful) of HIS
28 DUTCH COURAGE
Bottle bottle? (5,7)

a (just about) double definition – drink and the bravery gained therefrom
DOWN
2 INFERNO
On fire, conflagration ultimately out of control – is it? (7)

anagram (out of control) of ON FIRE with last letter (finally) of conflagratioN – an INFERNO is probably a fire out of control
3 KNIGHTED
The king proving corrupt, daughter given honour (8)

anagram (proving corrupt) of THE KING followed by D (daughter)
4 TOGO
Country on the way out? (4)

TO GO (on the way out)

5 STRIPTEASE
Earl Grey and others entertained by band – exciting show? (10)

TEAS (Earl Grey and others) inside (entertained by) STRIPE (band)
6 LOVER
O Romeo, Romeo! (5)

LOVE (O, zero score) then R (Romeo, phonetic alphabet)
7 TO ORDER
Cherry tree’s part dug up, as requested (2,5)

RED (cherry) ROOT (tree's part) reversed (dug up)
8 BLANKET STITCH
How material may be reinforced, repairing belt with thin tacks (7,6)

anagram (repairing) BELT with THIN TACKS
9 PIECES OF EIGHT
Coins 1, 2 and 5 perhaps? (6,2,5)

1 + 2 + 5 = 8, so individually they might be considered pieces of eight
14 FAIR ENOUGH
Requiring no further peroxide treatment? I guess that’s OK (4,6)

double definition
17 MENSWEAR
Sew near hem he’s left, after repairing trousers etc (8)

anagram (after repairing) of SEW NEAR heM missing HE

19 RED CARD
Vehicle beginning to drive after stop signal – that signal says ‘go’! (3,4)

CAR (vehicle) and first letter (beginning to) of Drive following RED (stop signal) – a signal that a player must go off the pitch
21 OINKING
Nothing in family good – sounding like a swine? (7)

O (nothing) IN KIN (family) G (good)
23 CLEFT
Conservative and Socialist split (5)

C (conservative) and LEFT (socialist)
25 ECHO
Repeat the music with gusto, finally (4)

last letters (finally) of thE musiC witH gustO

9 comments on “Financial Times 16,984 by MUDD”

  2. Yes, copmus, I didn’t spot that – clever or coincidence? I wonder.
    Nice crossword – a pleasure to solve, even if I did have an unparsed ‘lifting’ @ 10 having nho (or not registered) the author of Dr Dolittle.
    Thanks both.

  4. Surprised to see Mudd on a Wednesday but enjoyed the diversion with typically pithy clues such as ‘bottle bottle’ and ‘O Romeo, Romeo’.
    CHERISH and BRASSED OFF were favourites.
    I admit I was among those who thought it was ‘lickety-spit’ but with all the crossers, nothing else seemed right. I also needed PeeDee’s parsing of TO ORDER.
    That’s a good point you make, Copmus, re mOAt.
    Thanks for the fun, Mudd and PeeDee.

  5. Thanks Mudd and PeeDee
    26ac: The problem I have with the alternative parsing given by copmus@1 is that it requires “discussion” to do double duty, first as the indicator for CHAT, and second as part of “discussion on”, which is somewhat dodgy as a homophone indicator anyway. I had the same parsing as PeeDee, which uses every word of the clue exactly once.

  6. Thanks Mudd for a rare mid-week treat. I had many favourites including LOVER, RAVIOLI, CHATEAU, CHERISH, and TO ORDER. I missed BRASSED OFF, an unknown expression to me. I also hadn’t heard of DUTCH COURAGE but the crosses made that the only choice. TOGO seems to be making the rounds — I think it’s the 3rd time in the last few weeks that I’ve seen it in crosswords. Thanks PeeDee for the blog.

  7. I thought this was excellent cluing, with particular ticks to the corrupt king and of course O Romeo, Romeo!

  8. Thanks Mudd and PeeDee
    Did this one yesterday but only got to check it off tonight, as I struggle to get back into word mode.
    A typically enjoyable puzzle from this setter (still amazes of the continual high quality from such a prolific producer of crosswords). Especially liked PIECES OF EIGHT and LOVER along with the use of two old PMs.
    Thought that the first ‘bottle’ of 28a was used a bit like an adjective – describing a certain kind of courage (‘bottle’). Nice alternative parsing of the EAU bit of CHATEAU by copmus@1, but tend to agree with Pelham@5 about the double usage.
    Finished at the top with that LICKETY-SPLIT (which is how I always thought of it) and TO ORDER (which I nearly forgot to write into the grid).

  9. This setter in his MUDD guise seems to emphasize fun and amusing surfaces over difficulty, and I for one find these even more enjoyable than his Graniaud efforts. Too many ticks to mention, this was a delight from start to finish.
    Thanks Mudd and PeeDee for the fun.

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