Financial Times 17,718 MUDD

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A fun challenge from MUDD

FF: 8 DD: 8

ACROSS
1 WORDSWORTH
Merit of promise, say, for poet (10)

WORDS ( promise, say ) WORTH ( merit )
6 NOUS
American has evidently gone for common sense (4)

cryptic def; read as NO US ( american has gone )
9 FRICASSEED
Cook caressed if made a stew (10)

[ CARESSED IF ]*
10 OTIC
First of all, Oliver Twist is cut on the ear (4)

first letters of the "..Oliver Twist Is Cut.."
12 DE-ESCALATION
A seal noticed waves slowing down (2- 10)

[ A SEAL NOTICED ]*
15 CHA-CHA-CHA
Dance conversation repeatedly curtailed (3-3-3)

CHAt CHAt CHAt ( conversation, repeatedly curtailed )
17 TASER
A little jolt, a serious shock (5)

hidden in "..jolT A SERious.."
18 TRESS
Lock Hardy’s girl outside door, finally (5)

TESS ( hardy's girl, from thomas hardy's book, ' tess of the d'urbervilles ' ) outside R ( dooR, finally ) ; had to use the internet to figure out the thomas hardy connection
19 MINOR SUIT
Child with formal wear for clubs, say (5,4)

MINOR ( child ) SUIT ( formal wear )
20 HOUSE-WARMING
Party measuring how to reform (5-7)

[ MEASURING HOW ]*
24 IONA
Some Thai on another island (4)

hidden in "..thaI ON Another"
25 WAINWRIGHT
A writhing drunk attending Harrow’s back — master on the wagon? (10)

[ A WRITHING ]* after W ( harroW, last letter ) – found out that this is a word for a skilled mechanic who can fix wagons
26 TART
Cutting pie (4)

double def
27 INTERMARRY
Right thrice, any time wrong bring different people together (10)

[ RRR ( right, thrice ) ANY TIME ]*
DOWN
1 WAFT
Gently move widget at the front towards the back (4)

W ( Widget, first letter ) AFT ( towards the back )
2 REIN
Strap on hip (4)

RE ( on ) IN ( hip )
3 STAGE WHISPER
Hipster’s wage cast aside (5,7)

[ HIPSTER'S WAGE ]*
4 OASIS
Calm place where a relative put under observation, initially (5)

O ( Observation, initally ) A SIS ( relative )
5 THEN AGAIN
Originally Athenian, ring finally secured on the other hand (4,5)

[ ATHENIAN ] * containing G ( rinG, finally )
7 OXTAIL SOUP
Hot dish, unknown quantity in oil and oats mixed up (6,4)

{ X ( unknown quantity ) in [ OIL OATS ]* } UP
8 SECOND RATE
Substandard political party, darn it, coming into view (6-4)

[ CON ( political party ) DRAT ( darn it ) ] in SEE ( view )
11 BATTERING RAM
Opener, cricketer at the crease put on a little weight (9,3)

BATTER ( cricketer ) IN ( at the crease ) GRAM ( little weight )
13 SCOTCH MIST
Drizzle, insubstantial thing (6,4)

double def
14 PAGE TURNER
Call upon artist for fascinating work (4- 6)

PAGE ( call upon ) TURNER ( artist )
16 COME AGAIN
Don’t let this visit be your last, eh? (4,5)

cryptic def
21 MINCE
Vermin scoffing new meat (5)

MICE ( vermin ) containing N ( new )
22 AGAR
Medium in scientific experiments arousing ghosts and revenants, primarily (4)

starting letters of "..Arousing Ghosts And Revenants.."
23 STAY
Remain in river after start of swim (4)

S ( Swim, first letter ) TAY ( river )

19 comments on “Financial Times 17,718 MUDD”

  1. On the easier side for Mudd I felt. I enjoyed the double duty of ‘cast’ in 3d. I know some people disapprove of this usage, but I think it adds to the fun of the wordplay.

  2. I’m not sure ‘cast’ is doing double duty is it? I see how it could be read as adding to the simple definition of ASIDE by giving it a thespian slant but surely, at the cryptic grammar level, we simply have fodder – hipster’s wage, anagrind – cast, definition – aside.

  3. Dogs now walked, I can comment on the clues. I generally prefer Mudd to his G incarnation and today was no exception. Nice, clean, succinct and fair cluing throughout. Faves today inc FRICASSEED and DE-ESCALATION for the surfaces; HOUSE-WARMING for the anagram spot; REIN for its simplicity; the aforementioned STAGE WHISPER, again for the anagram fodder; BATTERING RAM for the surface and COME AGAIN which made me laugh with its cute wee definition.

    Thanks Mudd and Turbolegs

  4. Well this was a nice breezy romp. I too liked COME AGAIN. Also liked BATTERING RAM for ‘opener’. No offence to Mudd, who’s only using what’s out there, but I do find words like Fricasseed both linguistically irritating and visually ugly. I read ‘cast aside’ as an aside made by a member of cast, so for me ‘cast’ did do double duty, something I like. Nice to see Thrice making an appearance. 20A made me invent a homophonic clue about apian behaviour. Little things… Thanks very much Mudd and Turbolegs. Have a lovely afternoon.

  5. A bit heavy on the anagrams, we thought, but an enjyable solve nevertheless. Favourite was BATTERING RAM.
    Thanks, Mudd and Turbolegs.

  6. WORDSWORTH and WAINWRIGHT gave the puzzle a pleasing air.
    In 5d, I’m not a fan or ‘originally’ as an anagrind, but ‘original’ is in the Chambers approved list so I suppose I can’t complain.
    I’m with PostMark@3 in admiring the elegant simplicity of REIN and the whimsical def of BATTERING RAM.
    The second def of SCOTCH MIST seemed pretty thin to me I’m aftraid.
    Thank you Mudd and Turbolegs.

  8. Agreed this was on the easy side – just about a mug of coffee.
    Managed all but 2 of the across clues before looking at the downs.
    Luckily I love anagrams, bridge and dancing!
    Fav was 17A for the surface.

  9. It’s true, there was no lack of anagrams but coming to this rather late in the evening, I rather enjoyed them, particularly WAINWRIGHT. TASER, INTERMARRY and REIN were my picks.
    I agree with jvector re SCOTCH MIST as I thought it conveyed opacity rather than something insubstantial.
    No matter, the overall exercise was a fun one so thanks to Mudd and Turbolegs.

  10. Thanks for the blog, I was okay with SCOTCH MIST , it is not quite rain or mist , used to be used humorously to mean something flimsy or even not existing.
    WAINWRIGHT is a good word, we have lots of “wrights” for people who make things. The HayWAIN (wagon) is perhaps Constable’s most famous work.

  11. Enjoyed this, not very demanding, some good wordplay and surfaces. “Battering Ram” and “Come Again” were favourites.
    Thank you to Mudd and to Turbolegs for the blog.

  12. I love anagrams also. In any case, I seem to enjoy Mudd puzzles no matter what.

    I am late to the party so I will be brief. An approachable and enjoyable puzzle, with favourites CHA CHA CHA, TASER TART and BATTERING RAM. Great to have a puzzle free of obscurities. I did not know what a WAINWRIGHT does, but I had heard the word. Ditto with FRICASSEED.

    Thanks Mudd and Turbolegs

  13. Thank you Mudd and Turbolegs.

    This was a lot of fun though I’ve never heard of a scotch mist or stage whisper the cluing got me there, which means it was good!

    Happy weekend

  15. In my family, alluding to the hardiness of our Scottish antecedents, when there was a heavy rain we’d say “ Let’s go for a walk, it’s only a Scotch mist.”

    “Cast”, in the 3d STAGE WHISPER clue, can be seen as doing double duty, as Steven@1 and ludosmall@4 say, or not, as PostMark@2 says. Since I think, like ludosmall, that double duty is a virtue in a clue (brevity being the soul…), I don’t see any reason to try to explain away an instance of double duty.

    Like many others, I find I enjoy Mudd here more than Paul in the Guardian. Less convoluted in structure and therefore somewhat easier, yes, but the witty wordplay is comparable and so the puzzle is just as satisfying.

    Thanks Mudd and Turbolegs for the excellent entertainment.

  16. On hip is REIN as follows. On is RE (as in RE or “on” the matter of) and IN is hip meaning fashionable (the trousers are hip or IN). At least that is how I saw it. I hope that helps BronzeAge

  18. 3d STAGE WHISPER is a ‘lift and separate’ of ‘cast aside‘ to get the anagram indicator and definition. [As PostMark@3 says]
    [And it’s something Wiktionary (via The Guardian in 2011) has Sarkozy doing to the ethnically diverse women he once promoted: Rachida Dati and Rama Yade]
    “rainbow” cabinet’, ‘window dressing’]

  19. For me the fun was in how long I worked on the anagram HORSE ____MING. Horse wauming? Could be, I don’t know what these equestrians get up to…

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