Neo provides today's FT challenge.
This was on the easier side of Neo's puzzles. After my first pass, I only had a handful of clues left to solve and lots of crossers, so the others slotted in nicely, with my LOI being crepitus, as I was unaware that the creaking in my knees, caused by being an overweight geriatric five-a-side player, had a name. Once I worked out the anagram, I checked my answer and was pleased to learn a new word. Some GK was required to complete the puzzle, but nothing too obscure.
Thanks, Neo.
| ACROSS | ||
| 9 | WARMONGER |
Bellicose sort’s wife shot Mr Orange? (9)
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W (wife) + *(mr orange) [anag:shot] |
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| 10 | CREPE |
Fabric salesman in city travelling West (5)
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REP ("salesman") in <=EC (postcode of the "City" of London, travelling west) |
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| 11 | AMPUTEE |
Is one legless before noon? Place with limitless beer (7)
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AM (ante meridiem, so "before noon") + PUT ("place") + [limitless] (b)EE(r) |
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| 12 | NEW YEAR |
Close to crossing river early in 2024? (3,4)
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NEAR ("close to") crossing (River) WYE |
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| 13 | YET |
Mythical creature missing one by now? (3)
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YET(i) ("mythical creature", missing I (one)) |
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| 14 | CHIPPENDALE |
Proprietary furniture stripper? (11)
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Double definition, the first referring to furniture designed by Thomas Chippendale in the 18th century, the second to a member of the male stripping act, the Chippendales. |
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| 17 | MISER |
Endless despair for one such as Harpagon? (5)
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[endless] MISER(y) ("despair") Harpagon is the name of the miser in the Moliére play L'avare (The Miser, in English) |
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| 18 | SKA |
Music quiz where the first shall be last (3)
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ASK ("quiz") with its first letter put last is SK-A |
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| 19 | VAGUE |
Victor advanced with stick, discarding large woolly (5)
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V (Victor) + A (advanced) + G(l)UE ("stick", discarding L (large)) |
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| 21 | ANGLO-SAXONS |
Old people shuffled along with boys carrying a cross (5-6)
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*(along) [anag:shuffled] with SONS ("boys") carrying A + X ("cross") |
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| 23 | ICE |
Murder in kitchen oddly ignored (3)
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(k)I(t)C(h)E(n) [oddly ignored] |
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| 25 | BAD FORM |
Unacceptable behaviour in unruly class (3,4)
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BAD ("unruly") + FORM ("class") |
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| 27 | LEOPARD |
Prowler spotted lad in tangle with rope (7)
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*(lad rope) [anag:in tangle with] |
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| 28 | LOOSE |
Free and easy (5)
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Double definition |
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| 29 | NASTINESS |
Filth in a small box found in monstrous loch? (9)
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A + S (small) + TIN ("box") found in (Loch) NESS ("monstrous loch?") |
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SWEATY |
Naturally lubricated clothing not right in filthy place (6)
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WEA(r) ("clothing", not R (right)) in STY ("filthy place") |
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| 2 | CREPITUS |
Dicky pictures that crackling sound from the joint (8)
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*(pictures) [anag:dicky] Crepitus is the name given to the crackling sound that is produced by arthritic joints, a sound I am personally becoming very familiar with.. |
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| 3 | MONTE CARLO |
Frenchman working to clear out place for the better? (5,5)
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M (Monsieur, so "Frenchman") + ON ("working") + *(to clear) [anag:out] |
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| 4 | OGLE |
Leer from monster having left for run (4)
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OGRE ("monster") with L (left) for (i.e. instead of) R (run) is OG-R-E |
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| 5 | GRAND PIANO |
Joanna’s good currency placed by man in Post Office (5,5)
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G (good) + RAND ("currency" of South Africa) placed by IAN ("man") in PO (Post Office) Joanna is rhyming slang for piano, even thought hte words don't exactly rhyme. |
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| 6 | SCOW |
Boat lower when line’s dropped (4)
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SCOW(l) ("boat" with L (line) dropped) |
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| 7 | PESETA |
Ready to stuff vegetable in old dough (6)
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SET ("ready") to stuff PEA ("vegetable") |
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| 8 | DERRIERE |
Seat in Moulin Rouge? (8)
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Cryptic definition, with "seat" meaning "behind" and "in the Moulin Rouge" indicating "in France" |
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| 15 | INSTALMENT |
Pound taken by Neo in immediate part-payment (10)
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L ("pound" in old money) taken by ME ("Neo", the setter) in INSTANT ("immediate") |
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| 16 | NOVA SCOTIA |
Course one found in river rising in province (4,6)
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ASCOT (race"course") + I (one) found in (River) <=AVON [rising] |
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| 17 | MEATBALL |
For food consume last of lamb in shopping centre (8)
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EAT ("consume") + [last of] (lam)B in MALL ("shopping centre") |
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| 20 | GRIMACED |
Network having to admit staff didn’t look happy (8)
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GRID ("network") having to admit MACE ("staff") |
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| 22 | GIDEON |
French author taking on biblical name? (6)
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(André) GIDE ("French author") taking ON As well as being the organisation that places Bibles in hotel rooms, Gideon was also the name of a prophet in the Book of Judges. |
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| 24 | ELDEST |
First-born of Michel de Stengel (6)
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HIdden in [of] "michEL DE STengel" |
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| 26 | OPEN |
Duck seen by submarine dock yawning (4)
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O (nothing, so "duck" in cricket) seen by PEN ("submarine dock") |
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| 27 | LASH |
Cat fight that’s topless (4)
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(c)LASH ("fight", that's topless) |
Rhyming slang that doesn’t rhyme? Whatever next?
GDU@1
Found this on a site:
“Aunt Joanna” means “piano.” That’s because in cockney English, “piano” is pronounced “pianna,” which rhymes with “Joanna.”
I believe that in Cockney rhyming slang the word piano is pronounced as ‘pianna’ which rhymes with ‘spanner’ – close enough to ‘Joanna’ I think.
Well, who’d’ve thunk it?
Really enjoyed this, especially for the nods to French literature, Gide and Moliere.
But I also liked SKA and the naughty DERRIERE and CHIPPENDALES.
As Loonapick says, on the easier end of the spectrum for Neo. Thanks both!
“…There’s that ol’ Joanna and it’s playing hot behind the green door…”
Morning all
I’m confused…the print paper has 17,595 by Mudd. Did you find 17,594 online? Either that or I have woken up tomorrow.
Well, my print version is 17,594 by Neo. Maybe tomorrow you’ll wake up yesterday.
How bizarre. Back to bed.
Definitely at the easier end of the Neo spectrum, pour moi.
Most of it flew in enjoyably, but then I got stuck for sometime on Chippendale, Monte Carlo, Nova Scotia and my LOI, Derrière.
I don’t enjoy French and Latin (why not Norwegian and Swahili?) in crosswords. Eight down is surely impossible if you don’t know schoolboy French?
I’m afraid I still don’t understand six down. I presumed that the “lower” was Cow but the clue still made no sense. I read it as scow becomes a lower (cow) with the line dropped. What line? I obviously got wrong end of stick.
Thanks for the excellent blog.
Moly@11
Lower is another word for scowl, sometimes spelt as lour
Lower@11
Derrière is also used in English to mean one’s behind.
On the easier side yes, but the usual fun
Thanks to Neo and loonapick
Thank you Loonapick@13. . Much appreciated.
And I take your point about derriere meaning behind in English.
A surprising number of people are behind in English.
Thanks Neo and Loonapick
2dn: This is the sort of case where an anagram does not really help. Solving unaided, as I always do, I made one of the five possible wrong guesses for the order of the vowels. Having seen the answer, I can relate the word to “decrepit”.
4dn: Some of the less precise setters may allow “having left for run” to work either way round, although I think it only really works in the way Neo has used it. In any case, he has avoided any risk of an ambiguous answer by making sure that the “wrong” definition goes in the middle of the clue.
5dn: The pronunciation issue has been dealt with by KVa@2, to whom thanks. I tend to think of Joanna as meaning a piano that is not of high quality, and hence the image I have is of an upright piano, but the term certainly can apply to a grand piano as well, so we have the usual crossword rule that the generic term in the clue can define the more specific example in the answer.
Peter @10, by what seem to be your rules, the only word that could rhyme with piano is piano.
Thanks Neo, easy or challenging it’s always a treat. I’m familiar with CREPITUS but I wish I weren’t and I remembered Joanna being piano from previous crosswords but I had forgotten its origin. With the exception of our Hispanic population relatively few Americans are multi-lingual but everyone I’ve ever met knows DERRIERE as one’s backside. In any event, favourites included AMPUTEE (any context with limitless beer has my support), NEW YEAR, SKA, ANGLO-SAXON, MONTE CARLO, INSTALMENT, and my LOI, PESETA. Thanks loonapick for the blog.
Three cheers for an obscurityless (I don’t think that’s a word) crossword.
Some really nice clues in that.
Sachin @7 My print version also has the MUDD puzzle no. 17,595 (and the solution to the NEO 17,594), so the FT messed up somewhere and you’re not fantasising! Maybe I’ll get MUDD again tomorrow.
Tight clues, enjoyable surfaces, and few obscurities. All-in-all a nice puzzle.
i heard rhyming slang is being kept alive by 3 people in a musty museum in East London and late-night reruns of Minder. That aside, does anyone actually use it in real life?
My favourites have been well covered above.
Thanks Neo and loonapick
Martyn@22: Before my retirement I would often talk to colleagues about taking a butcher’s at something (hook rhyming with look). As mentioned yesterday, “berk” is widely used by people who have not the least idea of its origins. It is common parlance among cricketers to refer to a pitch that is conducive to spin bowling as a “Bunsen” (burner rhyming with turner).
I have this vision of a pub (surely not a website) where aficionados of rhyming slang hotly dispute the correctness of rhymes.
There was an FT mess up on the occasion of NEO’s last puzzle — https://www.fifteensquared.net/2023/11/15/financial-times-17575-by-neo/
Let’s put our daisies on our plates, go down the apples and up the frog to the rub-a-dub, have a few Britneys, some dings round the aunt, and get Schindler’s.
Liked DERRIERE (Mylene, Hagen, Blade, Aris, Khyber, Bottle) — tres bonne.
Merci N & L
FrankieG@25: I am not sure about Bottle in that context: my understanding is that it is only used metaphorically for “courage”: the anatomical term is Aris(totle = bottle, etc.) One to add to your list is Chaminda, which appears to be Australian in origin, and is a reference to the Sri Lankan cricketer Chaminda Vaas, whose international career ran from 1994 to 2009.
One of the CRS constructions for arse is Aris, which is a double bubble using Aristotle=bottle, bottle & glass=arse. It was presumably tweaked in this way as Aris sounds very similar to arse in anyone’s language. Bottle=courage is actually the same as above (=arse), in the sense that you’d lose your arse (as in lose control of your bowel function) if very scared.
Incidentally, CRS bubble can mean Greek (& squeak) or laugh (bath).
8d reminds me of a “Londonderry air”.
Oh dear, I have really started something….
….Petert@24, I am not sure whether to thank you or curse you for the mental image you conjured up. You did make me wonder whether the 2 Ronnies hada rhyming slang skit. I am glad to report that YouTube did not disappoint.
I still do not think it is very amusing in a crossword, though.
Martyn@29: As I remember it, it was a Ronnie Barker monologue, possibly dressed as a clergyman. He was telling a story with lots of early references to a Richard the Third on the ground, and people being advised not to tread on it. After a short time, the Richard the Third flew back to its nest.
In crosswords, we quite often get China = PAL, from China Plate rhyming with mate.
I should roll back on my statement that Aris is anatomical and Bottle is metaphorical. Jonathon Green’s Slang Thesaurus (1986 edition) has it the other way round. Of course, his informants could have been telling him porkies ….
Well, I can say that Aris and the Chalfonts is not a band.
The Two Ronnies: Rhyming Slang Sermon ends with “bottle & glass” = arse
The Two Ronnies: Cockney Rhyming Slang Song – Chas & Dave get in on the act
Peter @32, mine was a fatuous comment, sorry.
Joanna (small j) is actually defined as piano in Chambers (just as ‘slang’, rather than ‘rhyming slang’ as in the cases of eg tea leaf/apples and pears or ‘Cockney slang’ for aris).
I really enjoyed this, apart from 6,7, & 8 which were just crap clues.
James @34: In my copy of Chambers 2016, the entry for joanna reads “(sl) n a piano. [Rhyming slang]”: similarly for aris, the two steps of rhyming slang are mentioned in the derivation of the word.
Graeme@35: I would say that 8dn is not my favourite type of clue, but I cannot see anything wrong with 6dn or 7dn. Are you able to give any more detail on what you did not like about them?
And while I am back in, Neo@31: I am not sure that I would ever like to say that any combination of words, whether it makes sense or not, has not been used as the name of a band.
Far too late for various reasons. Peter@32 se KVa @2 , and it is not just Cockney , I think many people do not say pianO , more like pianner .
Roz@38: Possibly too late to be first with an idea, but not too late to be read. I agree with your point about the pronunciation of “piano”.
CRS Joanna in full is Aunt Joanna, so really you’re playing your Aunt. Not that people ever do, they play the Joanner, because that’s the Bow accent ainit.