Neo is today's setter.
Thanks to the long entries being fairly easy to see, I was able to get a lot of crossers, so the rest of the solutions slotted in fairly quickly, thanks to the clarity of (most of) Neo's clues, albeit a fair amount of general knowledge was required. However, UTAH has me stumped. I stared at the clue for several minutes after deciding it couldn't be anything else, but can't parse the TAH bit at all. My apologies if it's something obvious, but I just can't see it.
Thanks, Neo.
| ACROSS | ||
| 9 | PRESTIDIGITATOR |
Tripartite god is reformed trickster (15)
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*(tripartite god is) [anag:refromed] |
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| 10 | WHOPPER |
Pork pie of considerable size? (7)
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Double definition |
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| 11 | OGHAM |
Celtic characters try rolls with meat (5)
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<=GO ("try", rolls) with HAM ("meat") Ogham is an early medieval language used to transcribe Irish. |
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| 12 | AESOP |
Storyteller at first avoided revolutionary attitude (5)
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[at first] A(voided) + [revolutionary] <=POSE ("attitude") |
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| 13 | AT HEART |
Essentially that worked to secure attention (2,5)
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*(that) [anag:worked] to secure EAR ("attention) |
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| 14 | INDRA |
Deity behind rain to an extent (5)
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Hidden in [to an extemt] "behIND RAin" Indra is the king of gods in Hinduism. |
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| 17 | ROBIN GOODFELLOW |
Foreign blood somehow deficient for drudging fiend (5,10)
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*(foreign blood) [anag:somehow] + LOW ("deficient) |
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| 19 | GRAIN |
Smile about adult suggestion (5)
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GRIN ("smile") about A (adult) |
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| 20 | CROWBAR |
This for leverage in constant dispute with lawyers (7)
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C (constant, in maths and science) + ROW ("dispute") with BAR ("lawyers") |
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| 22 | EVITA |
Show some Conservatives making return (5)
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Hidden backwards in [some…making return] "conservATIVEs" |
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| 24 | ASCOT |
Necktie in mum’s bed Frenchman mislaid (5)
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(m)A's COT ("mum's bed", with M (monsieur, so "Frenchman") mislaid |
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| 26 | TALARIA |
Winged sandals in short story and song (7)
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[short] TAL(e) ("story") + ARIA ("song") |
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| 28 | MARIE ANTOINETTE |
She who offered cake but gave her loaf (5,10)
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MARIE ANTOINETTE, who was ultimately beheaded ("gave her loaf") is supposed to have procalimed "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche" ("let them eat cake") after being told that French peasants couldn't afford bread, but there's no evidence that she actually uttered these words and it was more likely said by Rousseau. |
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SPEW |
Expel from Starmer’s front bench (4)
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S(tarmer) ['s front] + PEW ("bench") |
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| 2 | XENOPHOBIA |
One in phone box, mad American fearing foreigners (10)
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I (one) in (*(phone box) [anag:mad} + A (American)) |
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| 3 | UTOPIA |
Increased touring to Italy — a paradise? (6)
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UP ("increased") touring TO + I (internal vehicle registration code fo "Italy") + A |
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| 4 | ADORATION |
Love helping after difficulty (9)
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RATION ("helping") after ADO ("difficulty") |
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| 5 | OGLES |
Lecherous looks Dougal gets regularly (5)
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(d)O(u)G(a)L (g)E(t)S [regularly] |
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| 6 | ATROPINE |
Poison first-class protein shakes (8)
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A ("first-class") + *(protein) [anag:shakes] |
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| 7 | UTAH |
Reportedly solver travels around state (4)
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Can't parse this beyound U being a homophone of YOU ("solver" reportedly) |
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| 8 | CRIMEAN WAR |
Sadat say supporting evil act in conflict once (7,3)
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ANWAR (Sadat, say) supporting CRIME ("evil") |
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| 13 | AEROGRAMME |
Letter from Sky where A&E show failing to start? (10)
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A & E + (p)ROGRAMME ("show", failing to start) |
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| 15 | DELIBERATE |
Consider return to prison as it were? (10)
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LIBERATE is "free from prison" so DE-LIBERATE could mean "return to prison" |
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| 16 | EDUCATION |
Teaching English with Latin could upset learners leaving (9)
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E (English) with *(atin coud) [anag:upset] where ATIN COUD is (l)ATIN COU(l) with L's (learners) leaving |
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| 18 | NINETEEN |
20-1 on win bet seen to eschew initial tips? (8)
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(o)N (w)IN (b)ET (s)EEN [to eschew initial tops] |
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| 21 | ONLINE |
Individual traps Liberal at home using Internet (6)
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ONE ("individual") traps L (Liberal) + IN ("at home") |
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| 23 | IRONY |
Subtle humour fey cryptically? (5)
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IRON ("Fe" on the periodic table) + Y |
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| 25 | CURE |
That which heals chief priest in France (4)
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Double definition, although I'm not sure why "chief" is in the clue as a curé is simply a parish priest. |
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| 27 | APEX |
Top copy with illiterate’s mark? (4)
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APE ("copy") with X ("illiterate's mark") |
What a lovely midweek treat this was from Neo. From start to finish, it was thoroughly entertaining and just mildly challenging. Favourites included PRESTIDIGITATOR (I first encountered this word when learning French and it made an impression), WHOPPER, IRONY (for the inventive use of ‘fey’), NINETEEN (fabulous surface), CROWBAR and the ill-fated queen with a sweet tooth.
Nice, too, that the two unknowns (for me) – OGHAM and TALARIA were accessibly clued.
Much appreciated, Neo, and thanks, Loonapick for the blog (same issue with ‘tah’ BTW.)
Rattled through this. Had to check TALARIA & AEROGRAMME but the clueing was clear. My only stumbling block was also UTAH. I did wonder if, in some accents, it could be “you tour” (solver travels around).
Diane you have said it all. Thanks both.
7d isn’t Utah pronounced “you tour” by the locals.
Hovis at @2, we crossed
Thanks for comments about Utah – if it is a homophone, it’s a poor one. I can see U-TA or U-TAW as pronunciations but not U-TOUR even if it’s pronounced non-rhotically. There MAY be parts of the country (definitely not up here in Scotland), where it works, but that would need to be more specific in the clue than the generic “reportedly”.
UTAH defeated me too. An odd clue, methinks.
Only three NHOs (never heard of) — fewer than I was expecting from this setter.
When I looked up ATROPINE I got the impression It was a treatment after poisoning, rather than a poison itself. But I guess anything can be a poison if one overdoes it.
I was pleased to move Neo from my “avoid” list to my “good” list today, as I really enjoyed this. My favourite was DELIBERATE.
I enjoyed this, only missing out on Atropine (NHO), Aesop (kicking myself) and Indra (ditto). Then again, I started this at about 5.30am so I deserve a bit of slack!
Favourites were Ogham, Marie Antoinette, Xenophobia and Crimean War.
Just the right mix between some fairly easy and some slightly more chewy clues. I’d never heard of Talaria but it was easy to parse from the clue – always a good sign.
Thanks to NEO and loonapick.
I too remembered PRESTIDIGITATOR from early French lessons( prestidigitateur). Lovely puzzle. I am no chemist but I think ATROPINE is a poison as well as an antidote.
Thanks Neo and loonapick.
I’m sure Hovis and James P have the explanation for UTAH, having watched some videos online featuring some quirky pronunciations in that state.
Thanks Neo and loonapick
7dn further to the earlier comments: Collins 2023 p 2190 gives two pronunciations for Utah. In the first of these, the second syllable is as in thaw, according to the pronunciation key on page xv.
PB @ 12
… which backs up my assertion that it is not a homophone of tour for the vast majority of people, as tour rhymes with poor
Pretty easy but couldn’t parse UTAH either.
Never heard it pronounced that way before :-/
Wouldn’t “travels around” be “tours” anyway? At least the solution was clear. Glad to learn “talaria” with it being clued so clearly (always a good idea with an obscure word) and having seen it it had to be right with “talus” being the ankle bone.
Good solid crossword. thanks loonapick and Neo.
I found this middling difficulty (not as easy as others perhaps) but very enjoyable.
I ticked 9ac (such an ugly word) EVITA and NINETEEN, all being very clever
The only downside was, for me, Neo exceeded the limit for obscure words.
I could not parse UTAH either and needed help to see the parsing for IRONY
Thanks Neo and loonapick
7dn continued: “solver travels around” changes from a third person to second person verb as “you tour” so no problem there. As to the pronunciation of “tour”, the dictionaries indeed give the vowel sound as in “fool” and I was probably wrong to duck the issue in my last comment. I do not like quoting notions which I cannot support with a reference accessible to Neo, but I will offer the notion that, if the stress is taken off the words “tour” and “poor”, they do sound like “taw” and “paw” respectively, at least before a consonant. I can imagine that applying in a sentence such as “You tour the whole state if you like, but I am going to stay in the capital”. However, I do not claim to have proved that. I am offering the suggestion to see if anyone can pick it up and find good backing for it. I am of course taking it for granted that the default language of the FT puzzle is “standard” UK English and hence non-rhotic.
I think Pelham’s explanation @16 re 7d is fair.
And Martyn @15, 9ac – like many words – sounds nicer in French than in English!
Like many others I was stumped by UTAH and had never heard of OGHAM and TALARIA but much enjoyment to be had elsewhere. I particularly liked NINETEEN and WHOPPER.
Thx to Neo and Loonapick
Thanks Neo for a super crossword. My top picks were the nho OGHAM, AESOP, AT HEART, ASCOT, NINETEEN (liked the definition), IRONY, and APEX. I couldn’t parse UTAH but I get how it could sound like ‘you tour’ to some folks so no problem there. Thanks Loonapick for the blog.
I really enjoyed this one, I had Utah as well but couldn’t parse it, otherwise very nice. I learnt what TALARIA is along with OGHAM. My favourites were IRONY and NINETEEN.
Very much enjoyed this. I sometimes have to look up answers in the dictionary but it’s rare I have to look up a word in a clue. I’d never heard of”drudging” before and didn’t realize “drudge” could be used as a verb. “Drudging fiend” sounds as though it’s a quotation from Spenser or Shakespeare or somebody. Is that the case?
Very enjoyable
I was not familiar with “drudging fiend” and thought it was such an awkward set of words I assumed it was anagram fodder rather than a definition, but I have since discovered that it is from the Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) entry on Robin Goodfellow. Well beyond my general knowledge but fair enough.