Puzzle from the Weekend FT of January 13, 2024
How nice to have a themed puzzle this weekend. Thank you Buccaneer and congratulations for crowding fourteen singers into a grid.
For me this was a fairly easy solve although it took me a good while to cotton on to the theme which is singers. Here is the grid with the theme answers shaded.
So the singers are Donna Summer (1a), Neil Diamond (9), Kate Bush (12), Shania Twain (13a), Aretha Franklin (14), Brenda Carlisle (16), Bruno Mars (20), Freddie Mercury (24), Britney Spears (25), Harry Styles (26), Taylor Swift (1d), Madonna (3), Tom Waits (5) and Miley Cyrus (26).
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | SUMMER |
Does one do arithmetic in holiday period? (6)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 4 | DWIGHT |
Perhaps Eisenhower’s back from Emerald Isle (6)
|
| [emeral]D + WIGHT (isle) | ||
| 8 | TIDDLER |
Setter leaving more potted shrimp (7)
|
| TIDDL[i]ER (setter leaving more potted) | ||
| 9 | DIAMOND |
Flipping domestic working day — it’s very hard (7)
|
| MAID (domestic) backwards (flipping) + ON (working) + D (day) | ||
| 11 | STANCHIONS |
Husband stops drunken antics with son in bars (10)
|
| H (husband) in (stops) anagram (drunken) of ANTICS SON | ||
| 12 | BUSH |
The eighth vehicle for Holly? (4)
|
| BUS H (the eighth vehicle, ‘H’ being the eighth letter of the alphabet) | ||
| 13 | TWAIN |
Couple in old wagon that’s on time (5)
|
| T (time) + WAIN (old wagon) | ||
| 14 | FRANKLIN |
Tale-teller’s honest bit of dialogue cut (8)
|
| FRANK (honest) + LIN[e] (bit of dialogue cut) | ||
| 16 | CARLISLE |
Hands one’s wrapped in lace manufactured in northern city (8)
|
| RL (hands, i.e. right and left) + I (one) + S (‘s) together in (wrapped in) anagram (manufactured) of LACE | ||
| 18 | NYMPH |
She’s appealing in case of ninny given speed (5)
|
| N[inn]Y + MPH (speed, i.e. miles per hour) | ||
| 20 | MARS |
Spoils work by Holst (4)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 21 | PROFLIGACY |
Don frilly jackets I get, initially splashing the cash (10)
|
| PROF (don) + I + G[et] in (jackets) LACY (frilly) | ||
| 23 | SINGERS |
Promiscuous person’s abandoned by wife, or 1, 9, 12, 13, 14, 16, 20, 24, 25, 26 across and 1, 2, 5 and 22 down (7)
|
| S[w]INGERS (promiscuous person’s abandoned by wife) | ||
| 24 | MERCURY |
Excited, embracing copper’s heavenly body (7)
|
| CU (copper) in (embracing) MERRY (excited) | ||
| 25 | SPEARS |
Fruit put in vessel for asparagus (6)
|
| PEAR (fruit) in (put in) SS (vessel) | ||
| 26 | STYLES |
Slyest rogue displaying manners (6)
|
| Anagram (rogue) of SLYEST | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SWIFT |
Directions given by two papers for satirist (5)
|
| S W (directions given) + I (one paper) + FT (a second paper) | ||
| 2 | MADONNA |
Food that’s divine, hosting party for revered lady (7)
|
| DO (party) in (hosting) MANNA (food that’s divine) | ||
| 3 | ELEPHANTS |
They never forget footballer around the Winchester region (9)
|
| PELE (footballer) backwards (around) + HANTS (Winchester region) | ||
| 5 | WAITS |
Serves ace, surrounded by funny people (5)
|
| A (ace) in (surrounded by) WITS (funny people) | ||
| 6 | GEMSBOK |
South African bounder taking ring from jewellery reserve (7)
|
| GEMS (jewelry) + B[o]OK (ring from…reserve) | ||
| 7 | TUNESMITH |
One writing a number of times Hunt blunders (9)
|
| Anagram (blunders) of TIMES HUNT with a presumed prod at Jeremy Hunt | ||
| 10 | COFFEE POT |
Provider of stimulant caught out with three drugs (6,3)
|
| C (caught) + OFF (out) + E (drug) + E (drug) + POT (drug) | ||
| 13 | TEA LADIES |
Suppliers of refreshments duck aside unexpectedly (3,6)
|
| TEAL (duck) + anagram (unexpectedly) of ASIDE | ||
| 15 | ANNULMENT |
Making invalid queen books about German city (9)
|
| ULM (German city) in (about) ANNE (queen) + NT (books, i.e. New Testament) | ||
| 17 | LASAGNE |
Way to consume dip one maybe served in trattoria (7)
|
| SAG (dip) in (to consume) LANE (way). Surely “Way to consume dip one may be served in trattoria” would work just as well but provide a better surface reading. | ||
| 19 | MAGICAL |
Publication, I state, is concerned with spelling? (7)
|
| MAG (publication) + I (I) + CAL (state, i.e. California) | ||
| 21 | PURER |
Satisfied sound, plugging in electronic cleaner (5)
|
| E (electronic) in (plugging in) PURR (satisfied sound) | ||
| 22 | CYRUS |
Powerful Persian cat you raised up sitting in prime locations (5)
|
| C[at] Y[ou] R[aised] U[p] S[itting] |
Thanks Buccaneer and Pete.
Liked CARLISLE, COFFEE POT and LASAGNE (agree with Pete on ‘may be’).
CYRUS: ‘prime’ back to its ‘routine’ sense.
TEA LADIES (a minor slip)
duck=TEAL
Some nice clues and it was great to see a themed puzzle that avoided remote fillers and stretched definitions. I agree largely with Pete and KVa’s comments. Favourites were similar to KVa, plus NYMPH.
It was nice to learn that Winchester is in Hampshire. Good thing I remembered prior discussions that there is a UK county abbreviated as HANTS. I am confident my new knowledge that an oryx is also called a GEMSBOK will put me in good stead.
Who was FRANKLIN the tale-teller? Do you think this is a reference to Canterbury Tales (which I have barely looked at since high school)?
Thank you to Buccaneer for an enjoyable crossword and to Pete for your usual, excellent blog.
Got off to a slow start on this and after I got 1d (FOI) thought I was looking for authors. Then got 1ac and then 5d and thought that can’t be right. Looked again at 23a and worked out it was singers I was looking for. Which did help.
Liked: CARLISLE, SPEARS, TWAIN (for the use of wain) COFFEE POT, ANNULMENT, TEA LADIES
Thanks Bucaneer and Pete
Buccaneer missed Sir Reginald Kenneth DWIGHT at 4a. Probably ELEPHANT’S (Schindler’s) after too many Britneys down the rubber.
Thanks B&PM
Martyn @2 yes I’m sure it’s Franklin as in The Franklin’s Tale. We put it in without quite understanding as being obvious and confirmed by the great singer. The penny dropped a few minutes later, which sent us scurrying to look up what a Franklin actually was.
Elegant puzzle, with coffee pot our favourite.
Thanks for the blog and the grid ( you have missed Belinda CARLISLE ).
A very traditional theme carried out very well with an impressive number of people.
Like Frankie@4 I wondered about Reg DWIGHT, maybe the setter only using professional “stage” names? Perhaps some of the other entries have a different real name.
Some NYMPHs also sing, lorelei beloved nymph of crossword setters for example.
What great fun this was tracking down the different and decidedly varied singers. Definitely a hit with me!
Besides the pop theme (of which MERCURY was my favourite), my other highlight was TEA LADIES.
As 14A would say, R.E.S.P.E.C.T. to Buccaneer and many thanks to Pete.
An entertaining solve, thank you to Pete Maclean and Buccaneer.
I thought of the Franklin’s tale from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales too, and Belinda Carlisle for the other singer. (One of her roadies used to drive for a company I worked for, years back.)
Thanks Buccaneer and Pete
4ac/23ac: According to Wikipedia (as it reads while I am writing this), Elton John legally changed his name on 7 January 1972. If that is correct, Reg Dwight is not his real name, it is his former name, and he has never been Sir Reginald Dwight. Also, Buccaneer is correct to exclude the number 4 from the list in 23ac.
13dn: To clarify the parsing given by KVa@1, TEAL (duck) + anagram of ASIDE. Not the slightest hint of an indirect anagram here.
Buccaneer up to his usual level of fun, for which much thanks. Thanks also to Pete for the fine blog.
4a DWIGHT (= Elton John) had me looking for KYLIE, as both remind me of a delightful episode of The Vicar of Dibley. I’m no good at links, so perhaps someone can find it.
And of course Tom WAITS conjures up my favourite of his quotes, “I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.”
Kylie Minogue Saves the Dibley Fete | The Vicar of Dibley
Very much enjoyed this puzzle, thanks to Buccaneer and to Pete. I had a big sigh at the parsing for 22d which had evaded me altogether, and which on explanation is so very simple. ‘A’ level study of ‘The Pardoner’s Tale’ is still fresh in my mind for some reason even 40 years later and so the Franklin was easy to understand, although it took us a good minute to both shout ‘Aretha!’
Please forgive me for missing Brenda Carlisle, a singer I believe I have never heard of before.