Financial Times 17,786 MUDD

17 comments on “Financial Times 17,786 MUDD”

1. Another enjoyable grid from Mudd with a good mix of clues. My favourites were WHAT FOR, ADHESION and DEEPLY.
   Thanks Mudd and Turbolegs.

2. Turbolegs,
   In 14A, I took ‘immaculate’ to mean ‘mint’ in which ‘are ‘ features.

3. Diane@2
   MINARET
   Agree with your parsing. Liked the clue.
   Also liked PLAY BALL and FROM THE WORD GO.

   Thanks Mudd and Turbolegs.

4. Enjoyable crossword today, not too tricky.
   Thanks Mudd and Turbolegs.

5. 14a MIN(ARE)T always reminds me of Guardian “Printer’s Devilry” Prizes by Araucaria, where this was given as an example:
   ‘Bunter whine starts with jaw open: “Cease – condone – Wharton, please!”‘
   I’ve just found out that it was the winning clue for Azed 57, on April Fools’ Day 1973, when Mrs N. J. Jarman beat N(orman) C(olin) Dexter into second place.
   [D. F. Manley was Highly Commended].

6. Also liked Mudd likening 5d LICHEN to a “Plant:”, even though ‘They … are sometimes plant-like, but are not plants.’
   Thanks M&T

7. Nice, plenty of smiles, no groans. SOCRATIC METHOD was my only unknown.

   [I’ve heard respected people pronounce LICHEN to rhyme with “kitchen”, but that’s much rarer, yes?]

8. Thanks Mudd and Turbolegs

   5dn: ODE 2010 defines lichen as “a simple slow-growing plant …”, stating in a panel “Lichens are composite plants …” The definition in Chambers 2016 begins “a composite plant”. Both these sources give two pronunciations. In each case, the one that makes the clue work is given first, and the one mentioned by Geoff@7 second.

9. I had trouble convincing myself the “lichen” was the correct answer, being a “kitchener”! This week was odd, I completed Thursday and Friday but failed terribly on the first three days.

10. My first one in was the wonderful 1d anagram, which put me in a good mood for the rest of the puzzle. Nostalgic too. Mudd’s style seemed to have changed recently, but this was the Mudd of old. I enjoyed the mix of clues, a touch of schoolboy humour, and his trademark, double definitions.

    I am afraid I still do not understand how WHAT FOR and whipping are synonymous. I did look in the dictionary, but could not find anything. Would someone explain please?

    Thanks Mudd and Turbolegs

11. Martyn,
    I often remember ‘what for’ as a mock threat in my youth (not always directed at me!) as in “don’t you dare come home late or you’ll get what for” so I didn’t need a dictionary for that!

12. 20ac: Collins 2023 has “what for informal a punishment or reprimand (esp in the phrase give (a person) what for“. Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (2018 edition) has “Give someone what for, To To punish or reprimand a person severely.”

13. Thanks for the blog, excellent anagrams and FROM THE WORD GO was very neat .
    Martyn@ 10 , a child may be threatened – I will give you WHAT FOR – meaning a whipping/beating/thrashing. Mainly all in the past fortunately.

14. Enjoyed this, nothing too difficult and some good surfaces and constructions…
    Thank you to Mudd and Turbolegs

15. Thanks Diane, PB and Roz for the responses on WHAT FOR. Much appreciated.

16. Thanks Mudd for the excellent puzzle, and Turbolegs for the great blog. I needed your and Diane’s help with the parsings of 14a MINARET and 4d FROM THE WORD GO, both of which I then thought were brilliant.

    Now back to Mudd’s alter ego in the Guardian, which I am getting nowhere with. It’s almost reveal-button time.

17. Loved the puzzle—this Mudd was clear from the beginning.

Comments are closed.