Non-prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of September 17, 2022
I saw 1a (HASTINGS) immediately and the whole puzzle came together quickly. My favourites are 13 (ROUGH-HEWN) for sheer cleverness, 23 (IMPERIOUS) for its surface reading and 27 (TIRESOME) for its nod to Morse.
ACROSS
1 Essentially, that hurts in battle (8)
HASTINGS -[t]HA[t] + STINGS (hurts)
5 Without a key, accessing flat on a ladder! (6)
ATONAL – Hidden word (accessing)
9 Rebellion, anyone can see, using force (8)
UPRISING – U (anyone can see, i.e. universal) + PRISING (using force)
10 Bullet something seen in the trenches, recoiling more than once (6)
DUMDUM – MUD (something seen in the trenches) backwards (recoiling) and repeated (more than once)
12 Sarcastic remark that is a beauty (5)
CUTIE – CUT (sarcastic remark) + IE (that is)
13 Coarse to suggest when? (5-4)
ROUGH-HEWN – Reverse clue (anagram for WHEN)
14 Fail to observe a line in prayer book (6)
MISSAL – MISS (fail to observe) + A (a) + L (line)
16 Thrown – like a carpet? (7)
FLOORED – Double definition
19 Show tiny creature behind leaf (7)
PAGEANT – PAGE (leaf) + ANT (tiny creature)
21 ‘Being clobbered, elimination in the end harmless (6)
BENIGN – Anagram (clobbered) of BEING + [eliminatio]N
23 Wicked describing king as dictatorial (9)
IMPERIOUS – ER (king, presumably Edward Rex or Eduardus Rex?) in (describing) IMPIOUS (wicked)
25 Steady couple (5)
BRACE – Double definition
26 Language closely related, though conclusion not reached (6)
GERMAN – GERMAN[e] (closely related though conclusion not reached)
27 Tedious Morse novel defended by couple (8)
TIRESOME – Anagram (novel) of MORSE in (defended by) TIE (couple)
28 Bean in nose, might you say? (6)
RUNNER – Double/cryptic definition
29 Measure of rise or fall in empire ultimately trading badly (8)
GRADIENT – Anagram (badly) of [empir[E TRADING
DOWN
1 Feeling round a part of buttock (6)
HAUNCH – A (a) in (round) HUNCH (feeling)
2 In rush, get flustered certainly (4,5)
SURE THING – Anagram (flustered) of IN RUSH GET
3 Young affair (5)
ISSUE – Double definition
4 Rank dope, real daft (7)
GENERAL – GEN (dope) + anagram (daft) of REAL
6 American sporting success in Spooner’s Netherlands municipality? (9)
TOUCHDOWN – Spoonerism of “Dutch town”. I like Mudd’s spoonerism here but wonder why he qualifies “sporting success” as American. Surely a touchdown is just as much a sporting success in the UK and other parts?
7 Elbow undressed, gash initially bandaged (5)
NUDGE – G[ash] in (bandaged) NUDE (undressed)
8 Article in European newspaper that may be sparkling (8)
LEMONADE – A (article) in (in) LE MONDE (European newspaper)
11 Brownish-yellow shine (4)
BUFF – Double definition
15 Car seat is adapted for flight (9)
STAIRCASE – Anagram (adapted) of CAR SEAT IS
17 Fix more, all briefly wound in red tape (9)
RIGMAROLE – RIG (fix) + anagram (wound) of MORE AL[l]
18 Dog, one jumping up (8)
SPRINGER – Double definition
20 Money raised for stooge (4)
TOOL – LOOT (money) backwards (raised)
21 Top buddy touring India (7)
BUSTIER – I (India) in (touring) BUSTER (buddy)
22 Pick nose lecturing nurses (6)
SELECT – Hidden word (nurses)
24 South American leader, individual banishing premier from Spain (5)
PERON – PER[s]ON (individual banishing ‘S’)
25 Money that may be white or brown (5)
BREAD – Double definition
Thanks for the blog, a lot of good clues and I agree with your favourites.
Pete, the answers for each Saturday are now being published in the paper one week later .
Is there any reason not to move the blog ? As long as you approve of course.
The right degree of difficulty for a Saturday puzzle for me though I had trouble in the top right corner. I entered what I thought was a plausible “barge” for 7d, making 5a and 10a impossible until I worked out DUMDUM from the wordplay. Once I’d then changed 7d to NUDGE, the “easy” hidden ATONAL revealed itself as my last in. First time I’ve seen BUSTIER for ‘Top’ so this went in mainly with the help of crossers.
Probably just me, but I wasn’t sure about RUNNER for ‘nose, might you say?’ at 28a. Is this just referring to a runny nose, or am I missing something? I thought TOUCHDOWN for ‘American sporting success’ was OK as it is a term used mainly in American football. AFAIK “try” is a more common term for the same method of scoring in rugby, but happy to be corrected.
Thanks to Mudd and to Pete
Agree with WordPlodder about TOUCHDOWN vs try or grounding the ball
I also had an exclamation mark against nose = RUNNER, although it was not as bad as FLOORED = like a carpet. Come on! I was curious about “describing”being a containment indicator. Pete did not comment, so it must be normal, but how does “describing” equal “in”? I was not sure about suggest as an anagrind either, but will keep both in mind for future
5 is an anagram. Unfortunately my paper only had the first two letters of flat, making it a bit of a challenge.
If I remember correctly, most of the puzzle fell into place nicely, but I struggled with one corner. Perhaps the SE?
I echo Roz’s request for moving the blog. I wonder why the paper gave up the idea of a prize?
Thanks Pete and Mudd
Thanks Mudd and Pete. I found this on the easier end of the Mudd spectrum with many favourites: HASTINGS, BRACE, TIRESOME, HAUNCH, TOUCHDOWN as well as the nicely hidden ATONAL and SELECT.
Martyn @ 3: One of the definitions in Collins for “describing” is “to trace the outline of” so it can be a containment indicator in my opinion. Like you, I wonder who gave up the idea of a prize for the Saturday crossword. As a former lucky winner I would love to see others share in the joy.