Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of July 29, 2017
Rosa brings us another delightful and brilliant puzzle. My clue of the week is 23ac (MOSQUITOES) and I also enjoyed 1ac (WALLOW), 1dn (WASHROOM), 5dn (WHEATEN), 14dn (DISGRUNTLE), 18dn (ADULTERY) and 26dn (BRIO). Okay, and 22dn (IMPUGN). Thank you, Rosa!
| Across | ||
| 1 | WALLOW | Permit wife to go ahead and roll about in mud (6) |
| W (wife) + ALLOW (permit). Mudd, Mudd, glorious Mudd…oh no, wait, this is Rosa. | ||
| 4 | TWIDDLED | Toyed with weed after beginning of term (8) |
| T[erm] + WIDDLED (weed) | ||
| 10 | SUBLIMATE | Divert south Asian people carrier round back of garage (9) |
| TAMIL BUS (south Asian people carrier) backwards (round) + [garag]E | ||
| 11 | LATER | Hands round stewed tea in due course (5) |
| Anagram (stewed) of TEA in LR (hands, i.e. left and right) | ||
| 12 | RARE | Bloody unusual (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 13 | CONTAGIOUS | Catching cook cooing at American (10) |
| Anagram (cook) of COOING AT + US (American) | ||
| 15 | ORIFICE | Opening of soporific elegy (7) |
| Hidden word | ||
| 16 | NOTING | Observing sweet Fanny Adams losing heart (6) |
| NOT[h]ING (sweet Fanny Adams losing heart) | ||
| 19 | HEIGHT | Measurement of side of bath cube (6) |
| [bat]H + EIGHT (cube) | ||
| 21 | ADORNED | Beautified much-loved houses close to London (7) |
| [londo]N in (houses) ADORED (much-loved) | ||
| 23 | MOSQUITOES | Doctors resigned over drugs for disease carriers (10) |
| MOS (doctors, i.e. Medical Officers) + QUIT (resigned) + O (over) + ES (drugs) | ||
| 25 | OVAL | Periodically non-viable, like some cricket grounds (4) |
| [n]O[n]V[i]A[b]L[e] | ||
| 27 | UNFIT | 1 across female is out of shape (5) |
| F (female) in UNIT (one) | ||
| 28 | UTTERANCE | Cruelly neuter cat, it’s said (9) |
| Anagram (cruelly) of NEUTER CAT | ||
| 29 | NEAR EAST | Ned dared dad to drop daughters by road in part of Asia (4,4) |
| NE[d d]ARE[d d]A[d] + ST (road) | ||
| 30 | BOLSHY | Combative throwback, uneasy in company (6) |
| LOB (throw…) backwards (…back) + SHY (uneasy in company) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | WASHROOM | Where Americans go with a recreational drug? (8) |
| W (with) + A (a) + SHROOM (recreational drug?) | ||
| 2 | LIBERTINE | Sensualist corrupting Nile tribe (9) |
| Anagram (corrupting) of NILE TRIBE | ||
| 3 | ODIN | Clamour to lie beneath love god (4) |
| O (love) + DIN (clamour) | ||
| 5 | WHEATEN | In Lucknow he ate naan of a pale yellow colour (7) |
| Hidden word | ||
| 6 | DELEGATION | Remove support from one in a hundred representatives? (10) |
| DE-LEG (remove support from!) + I (one) in A TON (a hundred) | ||
| 7 | LOTTO | Draw old bottom without clothes (5) |
| [o]L[d] [b]OTTO[m] (that is, OLD and BOTTOM without their ‘clothes’) | ||
| 8 | DURESS | Force you finally to put on female garment (6) |
| [yo]U in DRESS (female garment) | ||
| 9 | GALORE | Miss source of metal in abundance (6) |
| GAL (miss) + ORE (source of metal) | ||
| 14 | DISGRUNTLE | Day ruined, resulting in anger (10) |
| D (day) + anagram (ruined) of RESULTING | ||
| 17 | NON-EVENTS | Individual lets off steam after new disappointments (3-6) |
| N (new) + ONE (individual) + VENTS (lets off steam) | ||
| 18 | ADULTERY | Raging rudely at illicit sex (8) |
| Anagram (raging) of RUDELY AT | ||
| 20 | TUT-TUTS | Nice solver, time and again bottom in class, expresses disapproval (3-4) |
| TU (Nice solver, i.e. you in French) + T + TU + T (again) + [clas]S | ||
| 21 | AGENTS | Spies ace public toilet (6) |
| A (ace) + GENTS (public toilet) | ||
| 22 | IMPUGN | Troublemaker organising gnu attack (6) |
| IMP (troublemaker) + anagram (organising) of GNU | ||
| 24 | SOFIA | Capital of Italy, boring place to relax (5) |
| I (Italy) in (boring) SOFA (place to relax). Sofia being, of course, the capital of Bulgaria. | ||
| 26 | BRIO | Rich French scoff, ignoring revolutionary spirit (4) |
| BRIO[che] (rich French scoff ignoring revolutionary) | ||
Another brilliant puzzle from Spider Woman – one of my favourite setters.
Took a while to parse 30a – my last one in.
So much to enjoy, my top spots going to 4&12a.
Many thanks to Rosa and to Pete for the review.
Jane, Thank you for commenting. 30a was my last one in too.
Thanks Rosa and Pete
Nice puzzle that I started last Saturday and finished the last couple (BOLSHY and BRIO) on the train into work on the Monday (busy weekend !)
It has almost become one of her trademarks now to do clever tricks of getting rid of outside or inside letters of a phrase to generate the wordplay – did it nicely here with OVALS, NEAR EAST and LOTTO here.
Smiled at the couple of ways she addressed the toilet antics at 4a and 1d. Talking of 1d, I hadn’t seen SHROOM before … a sheltered life !!!