The online version of the puzzle has been updated by the FT. You can get the updated version here. Thanks Aardvark.
Some of the clues seem a little unpolished compared to Aardvark’s usual meticulous standard. I wonder if we still do not have the definite version?
The grid is an “almost pangram”. These are a frequent occurrence in puzzles and in some ways more interesting than a full pangram. Someone should invent a name for them.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | DIPSTICK |
One indicates oil needed for turkey (8)
|
| double definition – a turkey is a fool | ||
| 5 | ASTHMA |
Complaint? Ask the man repeatedly chopping (6)
|
| ASk THe MAn missing last letters (repeatedly chopped) | ||
| 9 | GERONIMO |
Foolishly ignore second war cry (8)
|
| anagram (foolishly) of IGNORE then MO (moment, second) | ||
| 10 | MAI-TAI |
Discussed this writer’s south-east Asian cocktail (3,3)
|
| MAI sounds like (discussed) “my” (this writer’s) then TAI (south-east Asian) | ||
| 12 | NURSE |
Helper tries running shelters in retirement (5)
|
| found inside (sheltered by) triES RUNning reversed (in retirement) | ||
| 13 | LORD BYRON |
Blimey! Year in company of aristocrat transformed poet (4,5)
|
| LORD (blimey) then YR (year) inside (in company of) NOB (aristocrat) reversed (transformed?) | ||
| 14 | SYNTAX |
Saying occasionally used to test grammatical structure (6)
|
| every other letter (used occasionally) of SaYiNg then TAX (test) | ||
| 16 | QUARREL |
Barney arrived during endless crush (7)
|
| ARR (arrived) inside (during) QUELL (crush) missing last letter (endless) | ||
| 19 | COLDITZ |
Prison unknown by inexperienced lad crossing inspector (7)
|
| Z (an unknown) following (by) COLT (inexperienced lad) contains (crossing) DI (detective inspector) | ||
| 21 | JUDGES |
They often pass a sentence that appears in the Bible (6)
|
| double definition | ||
| 23 | SCHOOL RUN |
Collection of kids directed on train (6,3)
|
| RUN (directed, managed) following (on) SCHOOL (train, to coach) | ||
| 25 | TROLL |
Dwarf tree half obscured old lakes (5)
|
| TRee (half obscured) then O (old) L L (lake, twice) | ||
| 26 | AFRAID |
Yellow hairstyle shaved in support of charity (6)
|
| AFRo (hairstyle) cut short (shaved) then AID (in support of charity) | ||
| 27 | SPRINGER |
What skirts sheep? Spit the dog (8)
|
| outer letters (what skirts) of SheeP then RINGER (spit, lookalike) | ||
| 28 | ELEVEN |
Uniform on the Andalusian team (6)
|
| EVEN (uniform) follows (on) EL (the in Spanish, in Andalusia perhaps) | ||
| 29 | ARMAGNAC |
A church captures great Classical spirit (8)
|
| A RC (Roman Catholic, church) contains (captures) MAGNA (great, classical indicates Latin) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | DOG-END |
Mimic takes dope and departs, leaving this bit? (3-3)
|
| DO (mimic) with GEN (dope) and D (departs) | ||
| 2 | PORTRAYAL |
Representation, left by artist, put up (9)
|
| PORT (left) RA (Royal Academician, artist) then LAY (put) reversed (up) | ||
| 3 | TENSE |
Maybe perfect schoolmate not content with full marks? (5)
|
| outer letters (no content) of SchoolmatE follows (with) TEN (full marks, ten out of ten) | ||
| 4 | COMPLEX |
Intricate manoeuvring of PC and mole leads to mystery person (7)
|
| anagram (manoeuvring) of PC and MOLE followed by (leads to, like a passage) X (a mystery person) | ||
| 6 | STARBOARD |
Tabloid paper that’s stiff on the right (9)
|
| STAR (tabloid paper) BOARD (something that is stiff) | ||
| 7 | HATER |
He dislikes causing heartbreak (5)
|
| anagram (break) of HEART | ||
| 8 | AVIAN FLU |
Fauna live briefly, suffering disease (5,3)
|
| anagram (suffering) of FAUNA LIVe (briefly) | ||
| 11 | IRAQ |
Country’s level of brightness constrains artilleryman (4)
|
| IQ (level of brightness) contains RA (Royal Artilleryman) | ||
| 15 | TRILOBITE |
One cast into well-trodden environment finds arthropod once (9)
|
| I (one) LOB (cast) inside (into…environment) TRITE (well-trodden) | ||
| 17 | REED ORGAN |
Badger Rodney continually to give up musical instrument (4,5)
|
| NAG (badger) ROD (Rodney, diminutive) EER (ever, continually) all reversed (up, or to give up?) | ||
| 18 | ICE-SKATE |
Fish beneath rocks proceed in freezing conditions (3-5)
|
| SKATE (fish) follows (beneath) ICE (rocks, diamonds) | ||
| 20 | ZERO |
Zimbabwe’s opener and tail-ender recalled golden duck (4)
|
| first and last letter (opener and tail-ender) of ZimbabwE then OR (golden) reversed (recalled) – zero score in a game | ||
| 21 | JUNIPER |
Time almost ripe to broadcast source of gin (7)
|
| JUNe (a time of year, almost) then anagram (to broadcast) of RIPE | ||
| 22 | CLERIC |
Minister’s heartland in Eccles and Morecambe, say (6)
|
| middle letters (heartland) of ecCLes then ERIC (Eric Morecambe, say) | ||
| 24 | HORSE |
Gruff when losing a jumper? (5)
|
| HOaRSE (gruff) missing A | ||
| 25 | TAIGA |
Half 10, Georgia – expanse of forest seen (5)
|
| half of mai-TAI (10 across) then GA (Georgia) |
Aardvark is challenging enough without the Ed’s extra fun and games to which those of us in the Far East were treated this morning!
Wrongly numbered/ enumerated clues and unchecked squares where they were needed have since been rectified, fortunately for unsuspecting souls in the West.
Its a good thing this did not affect MAI TAI/TAIGA or else I might have admitted defeat.
Still, it was well worth persevering despite the editorial blips as there was much I liked in this absorbing grid – ICE SKATE was my favourite.
I agree with PeeDee that this was not at the most devious end of this setter’s scale.
The seeming promise of a pangram (alas no W) helped with AVIAN FLU (very good) but not TRILOBITE (a new word to learn).
Thanks to Aardvark and PeeDee.
I enjoyed this. And enjoyed almost as much working out how to repair the faulty grid that first appeared. At about 3pm here (5am UK?) I contacted FT through their online chat, and about three hours later the corrected grid appeared.
A few were difficult to parse but I thought it was about the right level of challenge.
Also had to persevere with the wrong grid but managed to complete. My last one in was AFRAID. Personally, I don’t like taking ‘yellow’ to mean ‘afraid’. To me, ‘yellow’ means ‘cowardly’. Bravery is often doing something despite being afraid whereas cowardly is the opposite of this. Nevertheless, I accept such a meaning is probably in common use.
Thanks Aardvark and PeeDee
I think the word for a near pangram is lipogram, which Chambers 2014 defines as “a piece of writing, esp in verse, from which all words are omitted which contain a particular letter”. Usually of course this is only of interest when the missing letter is one of the most common ones, especially E.
No one else has commented on the positioning of J, Q, X, and Z in the centre of the grid. This helped me with 19ac (I had not looked at 20dn at that point.)
Thanks Pelham. I really did not expect there to be an existing word to describe an almost pangram, but lipogram fits perfectly!
Pelham,
I did look twice at those letters because three of those central words were among my first and without them, I may not have landed Colditz!
Thanks for noting the Lipogram
I finally got the amended grid-better late than never as I like aardvark
Pity about the original grid. Still, managed to complete in the end with SCHOOL RUN and REED ORGAN unparsed. With those centrally placed uncommon letters, I assumed early on it would be a pangram and then forgot to check at the end.
Favourite was what I saw as the semi-&lit AVIAN FLU.
Thanks to Aardvark and PeeDee
Thanks Aardvark for the challenge. I liked ASTHMA, COMPLEX, HATER, and IRAQ and I failed at DOG-END, COLDITZ, and TRILOBITE, all beyond my knowledge and/or parsing orbit. Thanks PeeDee for the blog and providing the link to the correct grid. I nearly put this crossword aside but I’m happy I didn’t.
As usual I finished this with breakfast coffee on the original grid. This is the second time this has happened in the last year.
Like Hovis I do not equate AFRAID with yellow. There were a number of other clues I found unsatisfactory, or a bit of a stretch. But it was all gettable.
Thanks both for the fun, games and explanations.
Having been busy this morning we didn’t get round to downloading the puzzle till after it had been corrected – fortunately, as far as we were concerned, since we found it tricky enough as it was. Plenty to enjoy, though, including GERONIMO, STARBOARD and TRILOBITE.
Thanks, Aardvark and PeeDee.
Reconstructing the grid added welcome spice to an otherwise pretty straightforward puzzle! Just an idea?
Thanks Aardvark and PeeDee
Must have been late to print this one off, as I had the corrected grid to begin with. Was able to fill the grid quickly enough, well inside average, but there was a lot of post fill parsing required and still missed the proper parsing of ARMAGNAC (didn’t know the Latin word for ‘great’), didn’t get the DO (‘mimic’) in DOG-END and had no idea what was going on with REED ORGAN other than the NAG to get things started.
Lots of interesting devices used throughout, particularly liking 5a and the charade with 29a, when it was pointed out. having said that there were a less than ideal definitions with RUN for ‘directed’. Had the homophone in 10a as “MY THAI’ but see that TAI is an alternative spelling of THAI.
Finished in the SW corner with ELEVEN, TRIBOLITE (which I was pleased to remember as a fossil) and AFRAID as the last one.