Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of August 6, 2016
I found this a bit more challenging than most Mudds. My clue of the week is 7d (MANTIS) and I also especially liked 21a (UNDERSCORE) and 26a (MASSEUSE). There seems to be an error in 5d.
| Across | ||
| 1 | CATHAY | China, something stacked behind the dude (6) |
| CAT (the dude) + HAY (something stacked) | ||
| 4 | INFORMAL | Currently getting results, a learner appears casual (8) |
| IN FORM (currently getting results) + A (a) + L (learner). Some people would say “on form” more than “in form”. | ||
| 9 | CROAKY | Rasping call to collect wood (6) |
| OAK (wood) in CRY (call) | ||
| 10 | STOTINKA | European coin to add in among Jamaican notes? (8) |
| TOT (add) + IN (in) together in SKA (Jamaican notes). A Stotinka is a Bulgarian currency unit — not one I had come across before. | ||
| 12 | TELL | Announce a Swiss hero (4) |
| Double definition (the second referring to William Tell) | ||
| 13 | MAYONNAISE | In divine food, last of ruddy duck is served with English sauce (10) |
| [rudd]Y + O (duck) together in MANNA (divine food) + IS (is) + E (English) | ||
| 15 | IMPENETRABLE | Difficult to solve, the devil has later been edited (12) |
| IMP (the devil) + anagram of LATER BEEN | ||
| 18 | GOOSE-PIMPLES | Evidence of excitement wild people miss on journey (5-7) |
| GO (journey) + anagram (wild) of PEOPLE MISS | ||
| 21 | UNDERSCORE | 18 or 19 ____? (10) |
| Double/cryptic definition | ||
| 22 | DASH | Hurry a bit (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 24 | EDUCATOR | Queen has invested old money on old coach (8) |
| DUCAT (old money) + O (old) together in ER (Queen) | ||
| 25 | SECOND | Silver flash (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 26 | MASSEUSE | Rubber’s general practice to hide errors, primarily? (8) |
| E[rrors] in MASS USE (general practice) | ||
| 27 | APPEAL | Shock boxing outcome in the end – ask for a recount? (6) |
| [outcom]E in APPAL (shock) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | COCKTAIL | Drink tipped on drink, say? (8) |
| Homophones (“cocked” and “ale”). ‘Tipped’ clues ‘cocked’ in the sense of a cocked hat. | ||
| 2 | TROLLOPE | Wheel in drink for a writer (8) |
| ROLL (wheel) in TOPE (drink) | ||
| 3 | ALKY | Drunk in a state beyond control, finally (4) |
| A (a) + [contro]L + KY (state, i.e. Kentucky) | ||
| 5 | NATIONAL PARK | Scenic area turning into mountain covered in grass (8,4) |
| Anagram of INTO + ALP (mountain) together in NARK (grass). There is an ‘A’ missing in the wordplay here. One might suppose that ‘area’ is intended to do double duty but that sort of thing is frowned upon besides which the wordplay would still not work. So, a minor mistake but a surprising one all the same. | ||
| 6 | OUT ON A LIMB | Vulnerable, hopping away? (3,2,1,4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 7 | MANTIS | Someone devout ultimately exists for prayer (6) |
| MAN (someone) + [devou]T + IS (exists) | ||
| 8 | LEADER | Sound of German song, current number one? (6) |
| Homophone (“lieder”) | ||
| 11 | MALTESE CROSS | Decoration of an island most careless, unfortunately (7,5) |
| Anagram of MOST CARELESS | ||
| 14 | IN YOUR FACE | Direct location of solver’s nasal and buccal cavities? (2,4,4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 16 | AL CAPONE | A head contained by single hood (2,6) |
| CAP (a head) in ALONE (single) | ||
| 17 | ASPHODEL | Plant in hole with spade, not all nuts (8) |
| Anagram (nuts) of HOLE SPAD[e] | ||
| 19 | MUSEUM | Public building last in queue a problem to put up? I’m not sure (6) |
| SUM (problem) backwards + [queu]E + UM (I’m not sure) | ||
| 20 | ODOURS | Covered in seafood, our steak smells (6) |
| Hidden word | ||
| 23 | LEAP | Spring meadow plant’s opening (4) |
| LEA (meadow) + P[lant] | ||
Yes, another good crossword by Mudd.
I have one niggle and that is ‘German song’ for ‘Lieder’.
A German song is ‘(ein) Lied’ – singular.
But perhaps, ‘song’ is used as a collective noun here?
Thanks Pete.
Thanks Pete and Mudd.
My German is nowhere good enough to spot Sil’s issue at 8dn so I was straight in with that.
I thought this overall a well – balanced puzzle. Not too easy or tough with no new words for me this time.
I had 21ac as my favourite followed closely by the cryptically defined 26.
Fun as ever.
Sil, That is a good point about lied/lieder. Thanks.
Hamish, I think I was initially a bit down on 26 because I saw ‘rubber’ as a rather demeaning way of defining a masseuse but, reconsidering it now, I think it works well in the context and that it’s a fine clue.
1dn cocked tail? Sorry not for me. Obviously people I know pronounce the ck! Thanks Pete and Mudd
I too found this challenging; not like a MUDD at all. Could this be because the paper version, which I use, attributed it to Alberich?
I was ten short of completing this.
And, yes, surely “German Song” is plural, so “Lieder”, otherwise it would have been A German song
Malcolm, You raise an interesting question. The web version was clearly attributed to Mudd and I did not see a print version myself. In some ways, it did seem somewhat atypical of Mudd although in one way it was very Muddian: in having several, actually five, double-definition clues.
Thanks Mudd and Pete.
It looks like the “area” in 5D is either doing double duty or making it an extended definition, as that A is needed in the parsing.
I am shocked! I noticed that problem with 5d when I solved the puzzle and even had an email discussion about it with a couple of other solvers. Then, when I wrote the blog, I completely forgot about and overlooked it. Thank you very much, Little Susie, for bringing this lapse to my attention. I will amend the blog accordingly.
RE 5dn I thought the problem (if indeed it is) is not that “area” is doing double duty – I took the “a” as just being part of the fodder – but that “scenic”, an adjective, is the definition for “National Park”, a noun. I suppose a definition by example.
jmac, That possibility occurred to me too but I rejected it because, if I see things appropriately, it would mean there are two mistakes in the clue rather than one. The glaring error would be, as you say, that we have an adjective defining a noun. The other problem is that I do not see how ‘area’ can clue an ‘A’ other than at the start of the answer.
Re 5 dn, I suppose it should have been “Scenic area turning into a mountain …”
Thanks Mudd and Pete
Finally got to this one almost two years on. Have about 30 to do from this period … and hoping that on holiday, I can make good headway into them (since I’m not going to be able to print out the current day ones!).
Anyway, found this one enjoyable and did not really notice the double use of ‘area’ at 5d at the time. I had a bigger issue with LIEDER being plural. Did like UNDERSCORE and finished in the NE corner with INFORMANT and the trickily defined MANTIS as the last couple in.