Puzzle from the Weekend FT of April 6, 2024
Neo gives us an interesting puzzle. My first-in was 8 (BISEXUAL) and my favourites are 16 (GRANOLA), 18 (SCRAMBLE) and 21a (GOETHE).
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | WINDPIPE |
DPhil entering port for passage? (8)
|
| DPIP (DPhil) in (entering) WINE (port). I have to thank my fellow solver BC for researching degrees and determining that DPhil and DPIP are both degrees and are considered to be equivalent. But I wonder how common it is to clue one degree by another. | ||
| 5 | BEDAUB |
Smear Sultana finally during live call (6)
|
| [sultan]A in (during) BE (live) + DUB (call) | ||
| 9 | FISHTAIL |
Dress style swimmers follow (8)
|
| FISH (swimmers) + TAIL (follow) | ||
| 10 | OODLES |
Many dogs eschewing lead? (6)
|
| [p]OODLES (dogs eschewing lead) | ||
| 12 | EMBER |
Glower from club user barred at first (5)
|
| [m]EMBER (club user, barred at first) | ||
| 13 | LETTERBOX |
Spooner’s superior bolts in door fixture? (9)
|
| Spoonerism of “better locks” | ||
| 14 | JERSEY |
Top that could be lower? (6)
|
| Double definition with the second referring to cattle | ||
| 16 | GRANOLA |
Organ damaged by the French breakfast cereal (7)
|
| Anagram (damaged) of ORGAN + LA (the French) | ||
| 19 | CODICIL |
Appendix to one’s Old Testament? (7)
|
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 21 | GOETHE |
Johann Wolfgang’s ego- tripping article? (6)
|
| Anagram (tripping) of EGO + THE (article) | ||
| 23 | ARCHIVIST |
This vicar could be the record-holder (9)
|
| Anagram (could be) of THIS VICAR | ||
| 25 | GARBO |
Eventually reclusive star in dress circle? (5)
|
| GARB (dress) + O (circle). ‘Eventually’ could be part of the definition but it seems unnecessary. | ||
| 26 | BARTER |
Pub worker’s last leaving Exchange (6)
|
| BART{end)ER (pub worker’s last leaving) | ||
| 27 | APHORISM |
Saw him as pro- revolutionary? (8)
|
| Anagram (revolutionary) of HIM AS PRO | ||
| 28 | EXOCET |
Helmsman in endless river redirected missile (6)
|
| COX (helmsman) in TEE[s] (endless river) backwards (redirected) | ||
| 29 | ETHEREAL |
Region in shade there allows for light (8)
|
| Hidden word (region) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | WAFTED |
FT title at last in bundle carried gently (6)
|
| FT [titl]E in (int) WAD (bundle) | ||
| 2 | NOSEBLEED |
Unexpected flood under the bridge? (9)
|
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 3 | PETER |
Safe with famous rabbit? (5)
|
| Double definition with the first referring to a security safe | ||
| 4 | PAISLEY |
Settle around Skye? Here’s another Scots location (7)
|
| ISLE (Skye) in (around) PAY (settle) | ||
| 6 | EXONERATE |
Acquit? Old judge will imprison one! (9)
|
| ONE (one) in (will imprison) EX (old) + RATE (judge) | ||
| 7 | AD-LIB |
Answer German newspaper’s drawn up freely (2-3)
|
| A (answer) + D (German) + BILD (newspaper) backwards (drawn up) | ||
| 8 | BISEXUAL |
Broken bus axle trapping one having it both ways (8)
|
| I (one) in (trapping) in anagram (broken) of BUS AXLE | ||
| 11 | STAG |
Time to stop decline: creature in rut sometimes (4)
|
| T (time) in (to stop) SAG (decline) | ||
| 15 | SACRILEGE |
Astute to embrace Conservative anger in heresy (9)
|
| C (Conservative) + RILE (anger) together in (to embrace) SAGE (astute) | ||
| 17 | OTHERWISE |
Mum, not married, sensible apart from that (9)
|
| [m]OTHER (mum, not married) + WISE (sensible) | ||
| 18 | SCRAMBLE |
Beat eggs? Spitfire pilots often had to! (8)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 20 | LAID |
Put down face up (4)
|
| DIAL (face) backwards (up) | ||
| 21 | GO TO POT |
Attempt to sink black? Fail completely (2,2,3)
|
| GO (attempt) + TO (to) + POT (black) | ||
| 22 | ROMMEL |
Desert Fox put millions into Italian capital, sitting on lira (6)
|
| M (millions) in (put into) ROME (Italian capital) + L (lira) | ||
| 24 | CURIO |
Inquisitive humans dropped unusual item (5)
|
| CURIO[us] (inquisitive, humans dropped) | ||
| 25 | GNOME |
Financier of good name in France and Spain (5)
|
| G (good) + NOM (name in France) + E (Spain) |
WINDPIPE
I read it as:
DPhil=D+Phil(PIP-both short for Philip).
Does it work?
Thought this was quite tricky especially the NW where for a long time I just had PETER. Then got WAFTED (one of my favourites) and PAISLEY and the rest of the NW fell into place. Finished in the SE after taking ages to spot ETHEREAL with GARBO my LOI.
GNOME made me laugh.
Also liked: FISHTAIL, GOETHE, APHORISM, SCRAMBLE, SACRILEGE, BARTER
Thanks Neo and Pete Maclean
GO TO POT
to sink black?=POT (in Snooker)
GARBO wasn’t born reclusive. Became reclusive eventually. The def seems ok.
My hot fave: CODICIL (becomes a New Testament!)
Thanks Neo and Pete!
I think I accidentally threw out my paper, so here goes from memory and Pete’s excellent blog
I enjoyed it, and I agree with Fiona that it was tricky in parts. I finished with a couple of clues unparsed, still scratching my head. I agree with KVa@3 that to sink black = POT. I was completely flummoxed by the parsing for 1A. Both Pete’s and KVa@1’s could work, but both seem a stretch to me. Are we all missing something?
There were a small number of extraneous words, but overall it was tightly clued – the sort of clues I really enjoy. There were lots of lovely surfaces, and my favourites included STAG, SACRILEGE, EMBER, APHORISM and EXONERATE. I even liked “better locks” in 13D, and it is rare for me to like spoonerisms (it also reminded me of an awful old joke about buying a dog from the locksmith).
Thanks Neo for an interesting & enjoyable puzzle and thanks Pete for yet another fantastic blog
The ingenious 1A is using PIP = PHILIP as in Philip Pirrip of Great Expectations I would say. Philips and Philippas are called Pip in any case.
Martyn: do you recall the blacksmith’s dog who made a bolt for the door?
Thought of Philip Pirrip (PIP) first and then it dawned on me that PHIL and PIP both were short forms of the name PHILip (PHILippa–oh!yea! Because of Pirrip, didn’t think of PHILippa then).
lady gewgaw@5 that’s the one!
I read the GO TO POT as a double definition – go to pot as in play a shot in pool / snooker and also as going to seed, growing a pot belly as age.
I don’t remember being particularly held up on this one. It took me a few clues to get into it, then I found a chunk of write ins – from JERSEY and GRANOLA. I don’t think I bothered checking GOETHE’s first names and I know I didn’t parse EXOCET.
Thank for the blog to Pete Maclean and for the puzzle to Neo.
Thanks Neo, I thoroughly enjoyed this with my top picks being FISHTAIL, ARCHIVIST, BARTER, and CURIO. I didn’t know that Pip was a nickname for Philip; I did read Great Expectations but that was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Thanks Pete for the blog.
I think Philip=Phil=PIP works without necessarily referring to the literary PIP.
Thank you Shanne@8, now I remember! Last Saturday, I also treated GO TO POT as a double definition. Thanks for jogging my memory
1a WINDPIPE – Dickens “gives me the Pip”.
25a GARBO’s most famous quote – from Grand Hotel(1932) – “I want to be alone”. She became ever more “reclusive” in later life, so “Eventually”.
28a EXOCET – The river Tees is Neo’s alter ego in the Indy.
22d ROMMEL – Only one “M” is needed for “millions”.
An !rish joke from Dave Allen for 21a
Thanks N&PM
Nice one, PO and Neat. Besides the Spoonerism at 13 LETTERBOX, I liked the willful misdirection of 19 CODICIL and the singular surface of 17 OTHERWISE. This was oodles of fun, including the Useless Girder supplied by Dave Allen courtesy of FrankieG@12.
Thanks for the blog , very good set of neat clues, I agree with Lady Gewgaw @5 that PIP is just short for Phil from Philippa or Philip , it is a very clever clue.
GO TO POT perhaps a nod to POT BLACK , the first snooker show on TV which started the snooker boom.
CODICIL a very nice cryptic definition , I do not usually like them. Is CODICIL only used in relation to a will ?
Roz@14
CODICIL
My Chambers Mobile App says: A supplement to a will.
GO TO POT: Thanks for the extra bit.
I think GO+TO+POT (to sink black?) works well as WP. Also as Shanne says GO TO POT (I think that’s not
a standard phrase in pool games) works as a CD with the ? in place.
It’s a pun as far as snooker is concerned, with the black as an example of a ball to pot (probably the best one to choose, as it’s worth the most points, and can be involved in close-run finishes), and ‘fail completely’ as the straight bit. QM is for the dbe really. DPhil = D/ PIP does (via my dim memory) come from Dickens, but there was a good drummer (for Hatfield and the North, National Health and Gong inter alia) called Pip Pyle (yes really) whose given name was Phillip. He was from Sawbridgeworth, an anagram of brew raw dog shit that will be appearing in my forthcoming Thames Water puzzle. Possibly.
Thanks Pete and all who commented.
Thanks for commenting, Neo. Good luck with the editor for Sawbridgeworth 🙂 . I hope you and Pete weren’t offended by my Slogger and Better spoonerism @13.
Ah PO and Neat. That slid past me earlier, like a thing that floats in the river 😀