Apologies for the lateness of the FT blog today…
I’m a late stand-in for the scheduled blogger, so this has been put together fairly quickly and may lack detail/contain errors, for which apologies in advance.
Luckily I had already solved the puzzle this morning anyway, purely for fun – and it certainly was fun. I particularly liked the construction of the grid with the symmetrical 10/4 split of the long entries around the perimeter. Among many clues to enjoy, the stand-out favourite for me was 5d HOSPITAL for the setter’s deviously misleading use of their pseudonym which had me scratching my head for far too long.
Thanks, Guy!
| ACROSS | ||
| 1/6 | ALL OVER THE SHOP |
Played out luvvie keeps house in disarray (3,4,3,4)
|
| ALL OVER (played out) + THESP (luvvie) containing HO (house) | ||
| 9 | ADOPTED |
Might a daughter selected be this? (7)
|
| A + D (daughter) + OPTED (selected) | ||
| 10 | SCHERZO |
Zulu pierces heart of muscly lion in quick movement (7)
|
| Z (Zulu in Nato alphabet) in SC (middle letters of muscly) + HERO (lion) | ||
| 12 | HOD CARRIER |
Rare orchid excited builder’s mate (3,7)
|
| Anagram (excited) of RARE ORCHID | ||
| 13 | UNI |
One has no time for higher education (3)
|
| UNI[t] (one) less T (time) | ||
| 15 | OBLONG |
Toby stripped pine tabletop, perhaps (6)
|
| [t]OB[y] (Toby ‘stripped’) + LONG (pine) | ||
| 16 | FAKE NEWS |
Uranium leaks from a few nukes represented unsafe release (4,4)
|
| Anagram of A FEW N[u]KES less U (Uranium) | ||
| 18 | REFRAINS |
Much-abused official drops small burdens (8)
|
| REF (referee = much-abused official in football) + RAIN (drops) + S (small) | ||
| 20 | OH DEAR |
Head modelled gold trousers, 1d (2,4)
|
| OR (gold) contains (trousers) anagram (modelled) of HEAD | ||
| 23 | OIL |
Turn to gas lacking black alternative? (3)
|
| [b]OIL (turn to gas) less B (black)
Not quite sure what the precise definition is here – the clue seems to be suggesting oil is an alternative to coal or gas. |
||
| 24 | ANEMOMETER |
Meteorological equipment a submariner bumped into unloaded earlier (10)
|
| A + NEMO (submariner in Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea) + MET (bumped into) + E[arlie]R (‘unloaded’ earlier) | ||
| 26 | IMPRESS |
Stamp showing Queen Victoria, say, the first put out by India (7)
|
| [e]MPRESS (Queen Victoria, say) replacing the first letter with I (India in Nato alphabet) | ||
| 27 | TORNADO |
Peak number catching commercial jet (7)
|
| TOR (peak) + NO (number) containing AD (commercial) | ||
| 28/29 | KING JAMES BIBLE |
Lord Jim given protective cover, initially like every good book (4,5,5)
|
| KING (Lord) + JIM (James) + BIB (protective cover) + L[ike] E[every]
Lord Jim is a Joseph Conrad novel. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1/14 | ALAS POOR YORICK |
How prince laments finding old friend with his head in his hands? (4,4,6)
|
| Cryptic definition
A reference to the famous quote from Hamlet. |
||
| 2 | LOO ROLL |
Cleaner picked up jumper in lounge (3,4)
|
| Reversal (picked up) of ROO (jumper) in LOLL (lounge) | ||
| 3 | VATICAN PALACE |
Tax no problem for me, mate, with lovely big house in an enclave (7,6)
|
| VAT (tax) + I CAN (no problem for me) + PAL (mate) + ACE (lovely) | ||
| 4 | RIDERS |
Knight keeping rare mounts for equestrians (6)
|
| SIR (knight) containing RED (rare, as in steak), all reversed (mounts) | ||
| 5 | HOSPITAL |
Guy’s among others at Polish dances (8)
|
| Anagram (dances) of AT POLISH
Guy’s is a hospital in London. |
||
| 7 | HIRSUTE |
Bearded lady’s courtship nicely delivered (7)
|
| Homophone of ‘HER SUIT‘ (lady’s courtship)
‘Nicely delivered’ to suggest a more refined pronunciation – see comment from FrankieG @13 below. |
||
| 8/25 | PROMISSORY NOTE |
Writing to defer payment for girl or boy’s term upset school (10,4)
|
| PRO (for) + MISS (girl) + OR + [bo]Y (term, or last letter, of boy) + reversal (upset) of ETON (school) | ||
| 11 | HORSESHOE CRAB |
Doctor chooses her bra, one that’s luckily armour-plated? (9,4)
|
| Anagram (doctor) of CHOOSES HER BRA
Horseshoes are traditionally believed to bring good luck, and a horseshoe crab’s outer shell is horseshoe-shaped, hence ‘luckily’ in the clue. |
||
| 14 |
See 1
|
|
| 17 | UNDERSEA |
Dunes are crumbling beneath the waves (8)
|
| Anagram (crumbling) of DUNES ARE | ||
| 19 | FELT PEN |
Writer experienced prison (4,3)
|
| FELT (experienced) + PEN (prison, short for penitentiary) | ||
| 21 | EWE LAMB |
A little Jacob male Welshman’s rearing? Yes and no (3,4)
|
| Hidden and reversed in [jaco]B MALE WE[lshman]
Jacob is a traditional British breed of sheep. The ‘Yes and no’ bit feels slightly superfluous to me – I think the clue would have worked fine without it as definition and wordplay rolled into one without further indication. Edit to add: it has belatedly dawned on me that the ‘yes and no’ is needed because a ewe is not male. Doh! |
||
| 22 | BOATIE |
Sailing enthusiast stole rope (6)
|
| BOA (stole) + TIE (rope) | ||
| 25 |
See 8
|
|
Thanks Widdersbel for stepping in at very short notice.
Refrains = burdens? Sorry, I am not a native English speaker, but I really don’t get that. It was my LOI as no other word would fit, and it also had to be ref + rains, but?? Otherwise fun and thanks for the Friday morning entertainment!
AGN @2 – one of the definitions of burden in Chambers is: ‘The part of a song repeated at the end of every stanza, a refrain’ – admittedly not a definition I was familiar with myself.
AGN@2 See Chambers. A “refrain” or “burden” is a recurring line or phrase – particularly at the end of a stanzas in a poem – and it’s a term which is used to describe the music used in song settings of such phrases.
We crossed.
Thanks Guy for the challenge and Widdersbel for the better-late-than-never blog. As usual there were many good clues such as ADOPTED, FAKE NEWS, IMPRESS, and RIDERS. I never got HOSPITAL, not knowing the institution nor LOO ROLL, a new term for me. There was a bit I couldn’t parse like 1/6, OIL, and EWE LAMB so the blog is appreciated.
Quite challenging in places, but we got it all in the end, helped by three of the long perimeter entries which were write-ins for us. As well as those we liked HOD CARRIER and HORSESHOE CRAB.
Thanks, Guy and Widdersbel.
I liked HOSPITAL, IMPRESS, REFRAINS. Thanks for the blog and the puzzle.
fun stuff, thanks guy & widdersbel
some of these seen recently elsewhere –
RARE ORCHID = HOD CARRIER (Guardian 19th April)
captain NEMO in ANEMOMETER though I can’t find the source now
ah, it was ANEMOMETRY in guardian’s 4th apr
A very entertaining puzzle this Friday from Guy.
It was no pushover and I came here to understand the parsing of a few but there was much that was clever or witty or both.
Favourites were FELT PEN and HOSPITAL (for the sly use of the setter’s moniker). I also liked REFRAINS both for the ‘much-abused official’ and for teaching me this sense of ‘burden.
Thanks to Guy and Widdersbel for stepping up to the plate late in the day.
Thanks, Guy and Widdersbel (a detailed and neat blog despite not having the advance notice)!
Liked ADOPTED (I thought it was an &lit), REFRAINS, OIL (alternative? The ? conveys that the alternative is suspect.), HIRSUTE (could not figure out the function of ‘nicely’. Initially thought it was to indicate a French connection-like army (octopus) and livery (hepatic)-Nicely is how the people of Nice will speak!!! Didn’t make sense. Is ‘delivered’ not adequate to indicate a homophone?), HORSHOE CRAB and EWE LAMB.
HORSESHOE CRAB:
The name “horseshoe crab” originates from the rounded shape of the head, because just like the shoe on a horse’s foot, the head is round and U-shaped. It’s the largest part of the body and contains much of the nervous and biological organs. The head has the brain, heart, mouth, nervous system, and glands—all protected by a large plate.
Hence ‘Luckily armour-plated’. Not sure ‘plated’ has any connection with the fact that people eat these crabs.
KVa @12 “nicely” spoken people pronounce SUIT to rhyme with NEWT rather than BOOT.
That makes the homophone nice – i.e exact
It’s also nice that HIRSUTE & HER SUIT are anagrams.
Thanks G&W.
Thanks very much for stepping in with the blog. A really good puzzle , the 1Ac/1D long words helped a lot giving many first letters. Does Guy always include Guy ? I must check in future, the hospital was a nice touch.
Agree with Frankie@ 13 , the homophone for HIRSUTE is better in a posh accent. I frequently tell certain of my students that they are both hirsute and hircine.
FrankieG@13 and Roz@14
Thanks.
This was a marvellous puzzle. First class.
I finished successfully, although it took a few visits. Some marvellous, cluing and misdirections, and many favourites. Particularly enjoyed Tornado, King James Bible, Loo Roll, Horseshoe Crab, and Boatie. Best of all? Hospital for the cunning misdirect.
Thank you for explaining a few mysteries.