A unique puzzle from IO.
Some very inventive clueing, requiring a bit of extra time on my part to figure it all out this morning. Thanks to IO! As ever, alternative thinking is most welcome in the comments.
H O MEA SCORE
H (hospital) + O MEA (my (Latin), i.e. private) + SCORE (£20)
after repositioning taps – i.e. switching H (hot) and C (cold)
[y]OU CH[anged] (only a little)
K[enya] (capital) + IS + UM (I think) + U (fashionable)
OVER KNEE (spanking here: [ma]N (climax) delayed)
Cryptic definition
C[oven] (wanting something hot, i.e. no OVEN) + ([fina]L (touch) + AROUND)* (*worked to spell)
(ACTS IN)* (*in an absurd way) &lit
With “in” doing double duty
(Restricted by DIET: [o]N[e] (barely)), feeds MITE (a little)
With some cryptic reference to the etymology of the word: a portmanteau of MIDI and DINETTE referring to the Parisian shop-girls who were only able to have a light snack at lunchtime.
“BIROS” (they write, “to Spooner” – implying both a “sounds like” clue and a Spoonerism)
Cryptic definition
the RECEIVED VIEW bears it out more than once, but it’s refuted by SCIENCE (7d)
(LATELY)* (*stray) stealing C (about) &lit
J (judge) + OH N[o] (I’m afraid not, not quite)
With a double definition, or if you prefer and probably more likely, a cryptic definition ignoring CAN as a definition.
TENT (temporary accommodation) + POROUS (allowing water through) walls
LIDO (swimming pool, cycling); HAY (some dancing)’s included &lit
(CL[i]QUES MASQUERADE)* (*balls, I abstracted)
(NOTHING SO WORDY I)* (*forged)
(AS + ERE (before) + T (temperature))< (<rises)
Cryptic definition
Eruca vesicaria is the scientific name for rocket, the plant
[Lu]T[on] (centre in; extended, i.e. TEE) + ANGER (antagonism: N (new) rises in)
ECO (green) + STATE (say)
Cryptic definition
One’s gut might project with long-term beer consumption
Cryptic definition
I (the unique individual) in A MILL (single factory) + ON (operative)
-> makes A MILLION (megabucks)
A richly rewarding puzzle from Io. Favourites were the equation and the spelling rule (cleverly broken by 7d, itself a fine clue). The definitions for 9a and 20d were also fun.
Struggled with the parsing of a few and, as usual, Oriel has done grand job of clearing up those queries.
Thanks also to Io.
For 8, I tried HOME A SCORE before the reversal, meaning a rest-home or old-folks’ home as a private hospital. Fine job on the blog sorting it all out, and as always a thrill to see IO in the FT.
Many thanks to IO and Oriel. I think this is the first time I have fully completed an IO puzzle and enjoyed the tussle. My LOI was 1d after a penny drop moment with 20d. I recently came across Midinette in another crossword so was pleasantly surprised to find it here and to read Oriel’s explanation of its derivation. 18d was a new word for me.
Ended up failing on HOLIDAY and JOHN after the expected tough one from Io, with a couple of others unparsed. One day I’ll stop going into a brain freeze whenever I see Io/Nimrod/Enigmatist at the top of a puzzle, but I’m not there yet!
Thanks to Oriel – great job to sort everything out – and to Io
Some astounding clues, 12 and 24 etc being my favourites. What a pleasure to solve such an inventive crossword. My thanks to Io and Oriel.
Thanks, Io and Oriel.
Splendid puzzle and an equally splendid blog.
CAULDRON
My take was marginally different
C(coven less oven)+worked (anagrind) *(L -final touch to spell +AROUND)
ALLEYCAT
A minor typo
CA (about) instead of C.
I am kind of disappointed in myself for the admission, but I really did not enjoy this. I don’t think “anger” = “antagonism,” and I don’t think “ribose” qualifies as a Spoonerism for “biros.” I agree with ub@2 on HOME A SCORE. I could not parse TEENAGER or HOLIDAY.
ONE IN A MILLION
Going a bit circular for me. I did parse it as Oriel did, but on review, I find that it doesn’t fully work for me.
If we talk about the ‘I’, which transforms ‘A MILL ON’ to ‘A MILLION’, then the solution should be I or ONE.
I in a million can be mililion or millioin 🙂
I am missing something. Sorry.
I usually find that Io is the friendliest of this setter’s aliases but that wasn’t the case today
An enjoyable battle with lots of clever stuff.
Many thanks to Io and Oriel
Thanks for a great blog on a very tough puzzle, so much invention and imagination. Hard to finish but worth the effort. Fortunately I think the long entries were quite friendly and gave a lot of letters for later help with the rest.
Like Cineraria@8 I feel I should have enjoyed this more than I did. The clues are very clever and inventive and I had no particular quibbles – it just didn’t ‘float my boat’ for some reason.
Thanks Io and thanks for an excellent blog, Oriel.
Brilliant stuff! I loved it. Jorums for KISUMU & ECOSTATE. A tilt for the etymology of MIDI DINETTE.
Prepared to forgive the Spoonerish RIBOSE.
ONE IN A MILLION – it’s loopy.
Thanks Io & Oriel
Will be nice to hear from Io on ONE IN A MILLION. Hope he finds time to drop in.
Me@6
L-final touch to spell (the last letter of spell). I think this works all right.
COME ASHORE
I am with ub@2 on this.
KVa @14, never known IO to explain. Here’s my best shot:
You could read ONE IN A MILLION as an instruction to put an I inside A MILLION, but you can also read it as identifying an I that is already in A MILLION. Taking it as the latter, the whole clue and the whole solution paraphrase each other.
Unique individual that’s made single factory operative megabucks
> I that’s turned A MILL ON into A MILLION
> One that is part of A MILLION, which if not there would leave A MILL ON
> One in a million
Whether that requires the whole clue to be taken as the definition, I am not sure.
I think you are spot on James but that means UNIQUE is the definition which of course is not strictly accurate … also had quibbles about AN OMEN as def for an adjective, but so much fun elsewhere, especially the long answers, that both can easily be forgiven. Many thanks, Io and blogger (whose jog I did not envy).
Trux @ 16
Re AN OMEN, I understand your quibble, but I think “It’s portentous” and “It’s an omen” can be seen as synonymous, which wouldn’t have been the case if the clue was just OMEN.
Thanks Io and Oriel
I don’t for one moment believe the parsing of 8 as H O MEA – I mean Mea does mean mine in Latin, but why in the feminine form? HOME meaning a private hospital, plus A SCORE, is far preferable
8A What is the dictionary justification for £20 = SCORE or A SCORE? Chambers has one meaning of “score” = 20 or 21 pounds in weight, but that is clearly not relevant here. I agree with Mike @18 that “private hospital” = HOME (that is one of the meanings given by Chambers).
When we saw his name my heart sank as he’s my bete noise but with 10a Kenya’s capital … captured my interest. The said KISUMU is not very far from my rural home in Western Kenya. I only failed on 1d, which I consider remarkable bearing in mind that this setter always beats me hands down.
*I,*noire
The Spooner is fine by me as is the rest of it
Unique entertainment!
Rudolf @19 I agree about Chambers but A SCORE is pretty common usage along with pony, monkey , grand etc. Try Minder or OFAH.
I had no issues with any of the clues after more thought, I do disagree with the blog in one or two places but definitely NOT a complaint. A daunting puzzle to blog and it arrived very quickly, I would need all day to blog a puzzle like this.
Roz@20 I’m familiar with “pony” (£20), “monkey” (£500), “grand” (£1,000) etc, and these are all listed in Chambers. I haven’t ever come across “score” for £20. I’ve checked in Chambers, Collins, and the ODE, and also done an online search, but without turning up any reference to it. For a number of reasons I do not think 8A is a fair clue. Apart from the use of an unfamiliar (to me, at least) slang expression which doesn’t feature in any of the three standard one volume dictionaries, the “repositioning taps” instruction requires too many stages. First, one has to realise that “taps” means both H and C (and not a repetition of either), and second, “repositioning” is an unnecessarily vague instruction to do what is required here (ie just an exchange).
I certainly do not envy anyone the job of blogging one of John Henderson’s puzzles. I must confess that I rarely enjoy solving them: my experience is that there always seem to be some clues which I can parse only after guessing what might fit in the grid or not at all. The satisfaction I find in solving crosswords is being able to work out answers from wordplay.
@Rudolf 24..
A pony is £25.
A score is specifically listed as 20 pounds (in weight) in Chambers.
HTH
Baerchen@25 Yes, thanks, I agree that @24 above I incorrectly entered £20 rather than £25 for “pony”, but I had already dealt with the weight reference @19 above. As far as I can see, there is no established dictionary justification for “score” meaning £20.
I usually only do the Guardian / Observer puzzles but this was mentioned by enough folk in the last two days to pique my interest. And it was a magnificently chewy challenge, helped by the long multi-lights, but I was ultimately defeated and resorted to reveals in the NW. Some really clever clueing here.
BUT… (and I do apologise if this is a well-worn path) oh my word, the FT website crossword interface is dire! Like wading through treacle, compared to the Guardian, Independent or even the ‘amateur’ site MyCrossword. Just a terrible user experience. Bad enough to put me off returning to FT puzzles, whoever the setter is.
But a big thank you to IO and Oriel anyway!
I know I’m rather late here, but a score can definitely be £20. Hay as a dance was new to me, as was midinette – very nicely clued though.
And Rob T@27, I mainly use the Guardian app on an Android phone but I find the FT “app” in Chrome quite nice to use:
https://app.ft.com/crossword/
Just a thought.
Thanks O & I 🙂
Rudolph I tend to agree about dictionaries , if a word or the usage is obscure then I like to find it in Chambers . SCORE was very common in my childhood for £20 , Arthur Daley and Del-boy used it all the time. I never use the internet but there must be thousands of examples there. I think setters can use these terms that are common but have not made the dictionary.
Good to see RobT in the FT blogs, my piece of paper and Personal Electronic Notemaker never fails.
Alton @28 — that link is what I used and it was terribly slow on Safari. I’ll try Chrome as you suggest, thanks.
Roz @29 — ha, hello 🙂 I used pencil and paper to do my first FT puzzle a couple of months ago and might revert to that simple pleasure if the above suggestion by Alton doesn’t help… the FT crosswords I’ve done have been rather good, I must say.
Glad you like them Rob@30 , I am lucky, my friend gets the FT and I get the crossword as a swap for the back page of G2. Many good setters , better than the Guardian most days , I never thought I would say that.