Puzzle from the Weekend FT of June 10, 2023
For the first time in a while I completed this puzzle in a single short session. Perhaps I was lucky that all the 15-letter answers came easily. Thank you, Julius, for a delightful crossword. I especially like 1a (PACHELBELS CANON), 12 (ARMADILLO), 16 (ESTOP), 20 (AIRSTREAM) and 26 (NORTHANGER ABBEY).
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | PACHELBELS CANON |
Bach pens a cello composition, new piece in D major (10,5)
|
| Anagram (composition) of BACH PENS A CELLO + N (new) | ||
| 9 | RECOVER |
Get better insurance following road rage on vacation (7)
|
| R[oad rag]E + COVER (insurance) | ||
| 10 | WHATNOT |
Straw hat, notebook covering stand for occasional furniture (7)
|
| Hidden word (covering) | ||
| 11 | GENUS |
Brainbox leaving independent class (5)
|
| GEN[i]US (brainbox leaving ‘I’) | ||
| 12 | ARMADILLO |
Gun commercial “sick” — old Texan resident (9)
I have once seen an armadillo in the wild but that was in Florida, not Texas.
|
| ARM (gun) + AD (commercial) + ILL (sick) + O (old) | ||
| 13 | INTERVIEW |
Formal meeting among German carmakers that is boring (9)
|
| INTER (among) + IE (that is) in (boring) VW (German carmakers) | ||
| 15 | AT SEA |
Bewildered adults grappling with American poet, initially (2,3)
|
| T S E[liot] (American poet initially) in (grappling with) A A (adults) | ||
| 16 | ESTOP |
Bar on board services to Paddington (5)
|
| Hidden word (on board) | ||
| 18 | FAR TOO BIG |
Like ridiculously baggy trousers of Bogart I tailored? (3,3,3)
|
| Anagram (tailored) of OF BOGART I | ||
| 20 | AIRSTREAM |
Artificial Intelligence confusing Starmer? It’s a wind up (9)
|
| AI (artificial intelligence) + anagram (confusing) of STARMER with a slightly cryptic definition | ||
| 23 | RATEL |
King devoured large animal (5)
|
| R (king) + ATE (devoured) + L (large). ‘Ratel’ is another name for the honey badger. | ||
| 24 | CHIANTI |
Sing about Italy’s premier island wine (7)
|
| I (Italy) in (about) CHANT (sing) + I[sland] | ||
| 25 | PIPETTE |
It draws in liquid — constant pressure jetted without limits (7)
|
| PI (constant) + P (pressure) + [j]ETTE[d] | ||
| 26 | NORTHANGER ABBEY |
Classic work about eg Anthony Barber? (10,5)
|
| Anagram (about) of EG ANTHONY BARBER | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | PEREGRINE FALCON |
Steer clear of preening bird (9,6)
|
| Anagram (steer) of CLEAR OF PREENING | ||
| 2 | COCONUT |
Clown knocking over barrel which contains milk (7)
|
| COCO (clown) + TUN (barrel) backwards (knocking over) | ||
| 3 | EAVESDROP |
What happens in autumn killing large earwig (9)
|
| [l]EAVES DROP | ||
| 4 | BURMA |
Birmingham having a change of heart over a country renamed (5)
|
| A (a) in (over) BURM (Birmingham having a change of heart) | ||
| 5 | LAWN MOWER |
Liberal woman upset with English-run device for making cuts (4,5)
|
| L (liberal) + anagram (upset) of WOMAN W (with) + E (English) + R (run) | ||
| 6 | CHARD |
Comedian fed hospital food item (5)
|
| H (hospital) in (fed) CARD (comedian) | ||
| 7 | NONPLUS |
Improper nouns (including plural) leave one confounded (7)
|
| PL (plural) in anagram (improper) of NOUNS | ||
| 8 | NATIONAL GALLERY |
Central London location famous for its public hangings? (8,7)
|
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 14 | INFLEXION |
Crook Nixon — life in ruins (9)
|
| Anagram (in ruins) of NIXON LIFE | ||
| 15 | APOCRYPHA |
Religious books stolen by Gestapo, cry Phalangists (9)
|
| Hidden word (stolen by) | ||
| 17 | TERRIER |
Happier time for male dog (7)
|
| MERRIER (happier) with the ‘M’ (male) replaced by (for) ‘T’ (time) | ||
| 19 | BATHTUB |
Feature of spa city of 26, but from the south (7)
|
| BATH (city of 26, that is Northanger Abbery) + BUT (but) backwards (from the south) | ||
| 21 | TENCH |
Husband, after pulling up net, caught fish (5)
|
| NET (net) backwards (after pulling up) + C (caught) + H (husband) | ||
| 22 | MAPLE |
Mum regularly pulped wood (5)
|
| MA (mum) + P[u]L[p]E[d] |
Thanks Julius. For some reason this seemed easy and like Pete I finished it in one session. Nonetheless it was quite satisfying with INTERVIEW, AT SEA, PEREGRINE FALCON (great anagram and surface), COCONUT, EAVESDROP, and TERRIER (great incorporation of the cryptic device into a seamless surface) being my top picks. Thanks Pete for the blog.
Thanks for the blog, I really enjoyed this, I do not think the clues were easy but the grid was very friendly. Once I put in what I had there were lots of first letters and I find these the most useful.
Many great clues , I will simply add CROOK to the favourites of Pete and Tony , for the misleading definition and the use of Nixon.
Thanks Pete
An interesting grid and an enjoyable crossword. I am a sucker for a good anagram, and this one contained them aplenty. So much more impressive than solutions that are partly anagram and partly something else. Great work from Julius
I started by solving the four 15-letter clues around the perimeter, which helped the rest of the puzzle fall nicely into place. You nailed most of my favourites, Pete, and Tony & Roz mentioned a few more that I liked. I add INTOXICATION but in the end there was a lot to like about the puzzle.
RATEL, PIPETTE (my LOI) and EARWIG to mean eavesdrop were new to me. I was desperately hoping 6D would be CHOOK, which fitted the clue but alas not the crossers. I wonder whether Eliot is an American or an English poet, and isn’t VW a German carmaker rather than German carmakers?
Anyway, very enjoyable and thanks Julius and Pete
Martyn@3 T S Eliot definiely born and raised in the USA so I think the clue is fine . Spent a lot of his adult life in the UK and even took UK cirizenship. Another great clue which I think is referring to The Waste Land.
VW is a German carmaker ? VW are German carmkers ? I never know which is right.
Great fun as ever from Julius who always provides entertainment. Same favourites as everyone else for me.
Thanks, Julius and Pete M.
In a hurry this morning so I’ll just say, ‘What Widdersbel said’.
(Looking forward to doing the Dante puzzle later today.)
Roz@4 I did not mean to imply the clue about Eliot was wrong, and agree that it is fine. I was merely musing on an interesting choice by Julius.
Re VW- I just remembered that Julius lives in Germany, so I should have given him the benefit of the doubt from the start
Found this somewhere:
In British English, “company” (like “firm,” “committee,” “government,” “cabinet,” and many other words) is regarded as a collective noun that’s singular in form but can be treated as plural. So you’ll find both singular and plural references to companies in British English—often in the same news story.
Is this right?
Never mind the same story, sometimes in the same sentence!
It’s fine. We could be prissy about it, or we could just accept this is how people use the language in real life.
Re 1a: I think most cellists, especially those who play a lot of weddings, would say they love the clue but hate the solution.
Thanks Julius for the fun and Pete for the nice blog.
KVa@8: Gowers’ Complete Plain Words makes much the same point and suggests that the use of singular or plural verb forms should suit the context. So “the committee hangs its hats in the lobby” sounds a bit artificial, but “the committee has decided …” is fine. The first case refers to individual members, the second to the members acting as a body.
Great crossword, anyway. Thanks, Julius and Pete.
Late to the party but I don’t understand why “Burm” is Birmingham with a change of heart.
Hi Malcolm, thank you for commenting. I think I should have explained this in the blog. Birmingham is locally referred to as “Brum” which is a condensed way of saying “Birmingham”. So if we swap the middle letters we get BURM. By the way, the only other city I can think of that has a similar nickname is Toronto which I have heard as “Trono”. And, looking into Collins about this, I see that Birmingham is also sometimes called “Brummagem”.
Silly me. Of course I should have remembered that Birmingham is “Brum”. I just had a senior moment.