Non-prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of May 21, 2022
My first-in was 10 (HORSEMAN) and I quickly completed the top-right and both bottom corners. It took me a while to get traction in the top-left but it came with 2 (MISPRINT) and I finished with 9 (LESSON). I have often called John Halpern, our Mudd, the master of double definitions and in this puzzle he includes seven (including one triple) of which my favourite is 13 (BREEZE). Other favourites are 3d (SLOPPY), 12 (WORDPLAY) and 19 (EASTERLY). Thank you, Mudd.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | DAMASK |
Check question in material with a pattern (6)
|
| DAM (check) + ASK (question) | ||
| 4 | CARDINAL |
Red ace for example last, not first (8)
|
| CARD (ace for example) + [f]INAL (last, not first) | ||
| 9 | LESSON |
More flesh exposed, period! (6)
|
| LESS ON (more flesh exposed!) | ||
| 10 | HORSEMAN |
Knight – or centaur? (8)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 12 | WORDPLAY |
Baffling case of woeful parody – art of the crossword? (8)
|
| Anagram (baffling) of W[oefu]L PARODY | ||
| 13 | BREEZE |
Picnic in fresh air? (6)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 15 | RANK |
Disgusting position (4)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 16 | SLIPPER |
One about to fall for shoe? (7)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 20 | HUSBAND |
Worker guzzling port, union man? (7)
|
| USB (port, as in Universal Serial Bus) in (guzzling) HAND (worker) with a cryptic definition | ||
| 21 | ARIA |
Song somewhat vulgar, I assert (4)
|
| Hidden word (somewhat) | ||
| 25 | AROUSE |
Turn on a device filled with oxygen (6)
|
| A (a) + O (oxygen) in (filled with) RUSE (device) | ||
| 26 | RED GIANT |
Reading dreadful script in the end, fading star (3,5)
|
| Anagram (dreadful) of READING + [scrip]T | ||
| 28 | CHIN-CHIN |
Doubled-up feature down the hatch (4-4)
|
| CHIN (feature) + CHIN (doubled up) | ||
| 29 | PUTTER |
Piano perfect for club (6)
|
| P (piano) + UTTER (perfect) | ||
| 30 | NIGHTJAR |
Thing flying ahead of vessel, bird (8)
|
| Anagram (flying) of THING + JAR (vessel) | ||
| 31 | PIRACY |
Criminal activity, good and titillating (6)
|
| PI (good – short for pious) + RACY (titillating) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | DELAWARE |
State legislation defended by special envoy, at first (8)
|
| LAW (legislation) in (defended by) DEAR (special) + E[nvoy] | ||
| 2 | MISPRINT |
Error: I am going the wrong way before race (8)
|
| IM (I am) backwards (going the wrong way) + SPRINT (race) | ||
| 3 | SLOPPY |
Very wet prune eaten by mole (6)
|
| LOP (prune) in (eaten by) SPY (mole) | ||
| 5 | ANON |
We don’t know who wrote that body of work: initial unseen (4)
|
| [c]ANON (body of work, initial unseen) | ||
| 6 | DISCREET |
Outspoken individual being diplomatic (8)
|
| Homophone (outspoken) of “discrete” (individual) | ||
| 7 | NUMBER |
4 more insensitive? (6)
|
| Triple definition. I originally counted this as a double definition but now, thank to Roz (see comments), I realize it is properly a triple with the ‘4’ referring both to itself as a number and to 4ac (CARDINAL) as a type of number. | ||
| 8 | LINNET |
Winger setting up comprehensive victory? (6)
|
| TEN NIL (comprehensive victory) backwards (setting up) | ||
| 11 | WALLABY |
Australian native has party set up in street (7)
|
| BALL (party) backwards (set up) in (in) WAY (street) | ||
| 14 | SPINNER |
Top cricketer (7)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 17 | PUSSYCAT |
Animal stroked, soft touch (8)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 18 | CREAM TEA |
Jam ultimately in fashion with a light meal (5,3)
|
| [ja]M in (in) CREATE (fashion) + A (a) | ||
| 19 | EASTERLY |
Set off into morning 13, for example? (8)
|
| Anagram (off) of SET in (into) EARLY (morning) | ||
| 22 | CANCAN |
Couple of those full of beans, perhaps, in dance (6)
|
| CAN CAN (couple of those full of beans) | ||
| 23 | MOVING |
Feline drinking Beaujolais, emotional! (6)
|
| VIN (Beaujolais) in (drinking) MOG (feline) | ||
| 24 | AGOUTI |
American rodent, one overcome by a disease (6)
|
| A (a) + GOUT (disease) + I (one) | ||
| 27 | LIMA |
Capital of Vietnam I looked up (4)
|
| Reverse (up) hidden word (of) |
I agree with Pete about BREEZE, it was an artful double definition.
With Mudd and Buccaneer largely alternating in this weekend slot, I feel assured of some solid entertainment and so it proved.
I remember liking CANCAN and CHINCHIN most. Completed in two quick sessions though I needed Pete’s explanations on parsing HUSBAND and DELAWARE.
Thanks to both.
In looking at my copy of this crossword it looks like I found it on the difficult end of the Mudd spectrum. I was completely baffled by HUSBAND, LINNET, and SPINNER. That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the rest — WORDPLAY, RED GIANT, NUMBER, and MOVING (I was happy to remember “mog” from a recent puzzle) — all were among my favourites. Thanks to both.
I often threaten to remember new words, but seldom make good on the threat. Like Tony Santucci, I too was happy to remember “mog”, which was new to me about 2 weeks back.
I managed to finish quite efficiently. Different to Pete, I got the the entire left side of the puzzle early, and needed more time on the right. PIRACY was my LOI and it took a week or so to finally parse three clues that had come to me through the crosswords alone – WORDPLAY, ANON and DISCREET. My favourites were LESSON and ARIA.
Not much more to say, beyond thanks to Mudd, our ever-reliable & entertaining crossword setter, and our equally reliable and lucid blogger Pete.
Thanks for the blog, WORDPLAY was my favourite and I did like LESSON, good to see the return of MOG so soon.
NUMBER could even be a triple definition ? 4 is a number and clue 4 = CARDINAL= number.
RED GIANT is not really a fading star , they have very high luminosity if only for a relatively short time. I suppose they are near the end of the life-cycle for main-sequence stars.
Roz, Thank you for opening my eyes to this triple definition.
Some lovely double definitions and a double entendre with LESSON.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
(To continue my exchange with Tony
Santucci yesterday. I also won a prize from the FT with my first entry and a few years later another prize when my name was misread because of my rather illegible writing. I think the FT limits prizes to only one per entrant. I felt rather bad about it.)
[SM @6: Beginner’s luck! I never entered after I won because I didn’t want two copies of the same book.]
Thanks Mudd and Pete
There seemed to be a lot going on with this puzzle for some reason – I think brought about by some of the double definitions having indirect meanings involved in at least one of the definitions – e.g. BREEZE is a ‘fresh air’ but ‘picnic’ means ‘an easy task’ and BREEZE means an ‘easy task’ and you wouldn’t normally have them as direct synonyms of each other. Similarly with PUSSYCAT.
Initially wrote in SPENCER at 14d, thinking that there would be a notable Englishman of that name playing cricket – could only find a fellow who played 20 first class games, mainly for WA out here, and fortunately did a double take to get the right SPINNER, as a different ‘top’.
Finished in the SE corner with EASTERLY and CREAM TEA (which is not a term that I was familiar with for the scones, jam and cream refreshment that I missed on my walk yesterday when the cafe that does it was already full) !
That’s as clever a NINA as I’ve seen for a long time! Wish I’d spotted it!!
Oops, wrong puzzle!