Weekend puzzle from the FT of January 7, 2023
Oh my, what a variety of setters we are seeing. Moo is a new one for me.
I quickly completed the top half but found some challenges in the bottom. My favourites are 1a (CLUELESS) and 8 (LIT). 3d (LAAGER) is a new word for me.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | CLUELESS |
No setter can be so ignorant! (8)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 5 | ASSUME |
Guess son’s encountering problem in A&E (6)
|
| S (son) + SUM (problem) together in (in) A and E | ||
| 8 | LIT |
Set fire to Paris Hilton’s bed? (3)
|
| Double definition with the second referencing the French word for bed | ||
| 9 | ABLE SEAMAN |
Crew member in line for promotion? (4,6)
|
| My best guess is that this clue is intended as a double definition where the first, “crew member”, refers to the term as used in the merchant navy and the second, comprising the whole clue, referring to an able member of any kind of crew. | ||
| 10 | SORRENTO |
Committed to Athens, or rent old place in Italy? (8)
|
| Hidden word (committed to) | ||
| 11 | TALLOW |
Everyone in endless urban area is fat (6)
|
| ALL (everyone) in (in) TOW[n] (endless urban area) | ||
| 12 | ENDS |
Move cycling boundaries (4)
|
| SEND (move) rotated left one place (cycling) | ||
| 14 | BIG BROTHER |
Kind-hearted monk who’s keeping an eye on you? (3,7)
|
| BIG (kind-hearted) + BROTHER (monk) | ||
| 17 | MAKE AMENDS |
Seek madman out and put things right (4,6)
|
| Anagram (out) of SEEK MADMAN | ||
| 20 | DEAD |
Daughter joining drug- hunting Feds? Exactly (4)
|
| DEA (drug-hunting Feds) + D (daughter) with DEA referring to the US’ Drug Enforcement Administration | ||
| 23 | WRITER |
Moo facing summons? Let me see… (6)
|
| WRIT (summons) + ER (let me see) | ||
| 24 | CROUPIER |
One protesting about bookmaker who’s raking in the cash? (8)
|
| OUP (bookmaker – referring to Oxford University Press) in (about) CRIER (one protesting) | ||
| 25 | INTOLERANT |
Somehow I learnt not to be biased (10)
|
| Anagram (somehow) of I LEARNT NOT | ||
| 26 | ALE |
Unmarried man, and his companion in the boozer? (3)
|
| [m]ALE (unmarried man) | ||
| 27 | BETRAY |
Heartless woman grabbing painter in shop (6)
|
| RA (painter) in (grabbing) BE[t]TY (heartless woman) | ||
| 28 | CHAMBERS |
Rooms in which meaning of legislation is explained (8)
|
| Double definition | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | COLOSSEUM |
Souls come to be slaughtered here? (9)
|
| Anagram (to be slaughtered) of SOULS COME | ||
| 2 | UTTERED |
Complete edition, it’s said (7)
|
| UTTER (complete) + ED (edition) | ||
| 3 | LAAGER |
Wagons here providing drink, they say (6)
|
| Homophone (they say) of “lager” (drink). ‘Laager’ is apparently a South African word meaning a formation, especially a circular formation, of wagons. | ||
| 4 | SOLITAIRE |
Game that’s a gem? (9)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 5 | ABETTOR |
A punter becoming one’s partner in crime (7)
|
| A (a) + BETTOR (punter) | ||
| 6 | SIMULATED |
Pretended to be excited, wasting time (9)
|
| S[t]IMULATED (exciting, wasting time) | ||
| 7 | MANHOLE |
Opening of a new hotel in harbour (7)
|
| A (a) + N (new) + H (hotel) together in MOLE (harbour). ‘Mole’ is a British term for a breakwater and can also be used to refer to a harbour created by a breakwater. | ||
| 13 | SPECTATOR |
Doctor protects a bystander (9)
|
| Anagram (doctor) of PROTECTS A | ||
| 15 | BAD BREATH |
What could make bather smell far from fragrant? (3,6)
|
| “Bad breath” could clue BATHER | ||
| 16 | RIDERLESS |
Conditions the French introduced, with no one in control? (9)
|
| LES (the French) in (introduced) RIDERS (conditions) | ||
| 18 | AIRLINE |
Carrier very thin for a Cockney (7)
|
| ‘AIRLINE (very thin for a Cockney) as in a hair-line fracture | ||
| 19 | MORALLY |
Not much time to lead demonstration in correct way (7)
|
| MO (not much time) + RALLY (demonstration) | ||
| 21 | EMIRATE |
Blowing £1000, leave country such as Qatar? (7)
|
| EMI[g]RATE (leave country, blowing G for grand) | ||
| 22 | CUSTOM |
Copper having second vehicle check up? It’s routine (6)
|
| CU (copper) + S (second) + MOT (vehicle check) backwards (up) |
A welcome return from Moo this weekend whose no-frills style I appreciated in clues such as SIMULATED and SPECTATOR.
BIG BROTHER).
I also liked ‘condition’ cluing ‘rider’ (16d), ‘very thin’ (18d), 8a’s double definition and the definitions for both DEAD and BETRAY (though finding the right ‘woman’ here took the longest of all the clues).
Couldn’t parse 9 or 24.
Didn’t know LAAGER but it was guessable.
Thanks to Moo and Pete.
ABLE SEAMAN:
I agree with Pete in principle.
Maybe this could be read as a cryptic def (won’t make a big difference).
Does ‘line’ mean a cruise line or a shipping line (of course, it could be any line, I understand)?
If so, ‘able seaman’ could be ‘crew member in line’.
Thanks Pete
Adding to your favourites, I had WRITER and MORALLY
I have no idea how to parse ABLE SEAMAN.
There was too much googling for me to fully enjoy this. I still have no idea how shop means BETRAY, and without knowing that, it is impossible to know which of the 5,000 odd women’s names is heartless. No idea what A&E is, did not know that mole is a breakwater, and I find LAAGER rather silly, given how obscure and far back in time it is. But, as Diane wrote, it was guessable. And, I am sure the town crier would be surprised to be described as “one protesting”.
As Pete noted, it is nice to have variety and Moo is new to me too
Thanks to Moo for the crossword, and thanks to Pete for the blog.
Martyn,
I sympathize as it took me a long time to think of ‘Betty’. To ‘shop’ someone is an informal term meaning to ‘betray’, along the lines of ‘rat someone out’.
A & E is Accident & Emergency, used in British hospitals where the US uses ER.
I also had a circle around ABLE SEAMAN, wondering whether there was some subtle cryptic meaning that I was missing?
Thanks Moo for a wealth of satisfying clues. I liked TALLOW and INTOLERANT for their surfaces as well as MAKE AMENDS, UTTERED, SIMULATED, RIDERLESS, and MORALLY. I failed with LAAGER and didn’t fully understand LIT, ABLE SEAMAN, and CROUPIER. Thanks Pete for the blog.
Thanks for the blog , I agree the FT is right to allow different setters for the Saturday puzzle. Like Diane @1 I find the style of this setter very pleasing. Many clues already mentioned , I will just pick out LIT as my favourite.
I think ABLE SEAMAN is just a play on the word able. It is a category of sailor , also an able(competent) seaman could get promotion.
The “LAAGER mentality” was a common phrase for the South African government during apartheid.
Thanks, Moo & Pete M. I share the view of Diane @1 – found this a very tidy “no-frills” puzzle, with a good sprinkling of wit, not least in the hilarious clue for LIT.
Being fairly new to regular FT solving, this setter is not previously known to me on *any* day of the week, but I shall look forward to seeing their work again.
Thanks to all for the explanations. I got stuck in the bottom left corner which was a lot simpler than the complicated constructions I was throwing at it. I simply gave up on LAAGER, which looks to be a very useful scrabble word for mopping up vowels.
Hi Pete … I note that the official answer for 5d is ABETTOR – a little annoying as BETTOR / ABETTOR and BETTER / ABETTER are all listed in the dictionaries