Peto provides this morning’s headscratcher in the FT.
Although the answers to this puzzle went in fairly quickly, my early morning brain struggled with some of the parsings, but I got there in the end (with the exception of 25ac) where I can’t think of an example of ROUND and CATCH being synonymous.
Thanks, Peto.
| Across | ||
| 1 | BACKSIDE | Support needed by team coming from behind (8) |
| BACK (“support”) by SIDE (“team”) | ||
| 5 | ODDS-ON | Strange boy’s most likely to succeed (4-2) |
| ODD (“strange”) + SON (“boy”) | ||
| 9 | RUN ALONG | Rule throughout after peacekeepers leave (3,5) |
| R (rule) + ALONG (“throughout”) after UN (United Nations, so “peacekeepers”) | ||
| 10 | PSEUDO | Mock additional information on European Union act (6) |
| PS (postscript, so “additional information”) + EU (European Union) + DO (“act”) | ||
| 12 | ENTRY | Seconds away from guard’s admission (5) |
| (s)ENTRY (“guard” with S (seconds) away) | ||
| 13 | INFORMANT | Books on playing well on the earliest of artificial grass (9) |
| NT (New Testament, so “books”) on IN FORM (“playing well”) on [the earliest of] A(rtificial) | ||
| 14 | SIMPLE | Unpretentious headdress with a hint of severity for wife (6) |
| (w)(S)IMPLE (“headdress” (WIMPLE) with [a hint of] S(everity) for (i.e. replacing) W(wife) | ||
| 16 | YARDARM | An indicator of rum times? (7) |
| Cryptic definition.
In the days of rum rationing on board ships, the first ration was provided once the sun was over the yardarm (ie had risen above the yardarm) |
||
| 19 | OUTCOME | Consequence of celestial body’s tail disappearing revealed earlier (7) |
| COME(t) (“celestial body” with tail disappearing) with OUT (“revealed”) earlier | ||
| 21 | BOTTOM | Stamina shown by Pole in race? Just the opposite (6) |
| TT (Tourist Trophy, so “race”) in BOOM (“pole”) | ||
| 23 | COMMOTION | Fuss about poet receiving award (9) |
| C (circa, so “about”) + (Andrew) MOTION (“poet”) receiving OM (Order of Merit, so “award”) | ||
| 25 | CATCH | Haul round (5) |
| I think this is a double defintion, but can’t think of a situation where ROUND and CATCH are synonymous? | ||
| 26 | EQUINE | Earl mostly calm about bit of noise affecting horses (6) |
| E (earl) + [mostly] QUIE(t) (“calm”) about [bit of] N(oise) | ||
| 27 | TACITURN | Disinclined to speak of it with Bill going into shock (8) |
| IT with A/c (account, so “bill”) going into TURN (“shock”) | ||
| 28 | ENTREE | Starter for ten about the beginnings of Russia’s eastern expansion (6) |
| *(ten) + [the beginnings of] R(ussia’s) E(astern) E(xpansion) | ||
| 29 | RETAINER | Volunteers to split control with the Queen’s servant (8) |
| TA (Territorial Army, so “volunteers”) to split REIN (“control”) with ER (“the Queen”) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | BORDER | Bound to get second class degree (6) |
| B (“second class”) + ORDER (“degree”) | ||
| 2 | CONSTRICT | Against reaching absolute limit (9) |
| CON (“against”) reaching STRICT (“absolute”) | ||
| 3 | SPLAY | Turn out theatrical productions ultimately getting to the top (5) |
| PLAYS (“theatrical productions”) with its last letter [ultimately] getting to the top, so S-PLAY | ||
| 4 | DENTINE | Ted, nine, to play part of Gnasher (7) |
| *(ted nine) | ||
| 6 | DESERT RAT | Virtue shown by sailor, sent up by soldier (6,3) |
| DESERT (“virtue”, as in merit) + <=TAR (“sailor” sent up) | ||
| 7 | SOUSA | Donuts regularly consumed by South American composer (5) |
| (d)O(n)U(t)S [regularly] consumed by S.A. (South American)
John Philip Sousa (1854-1932) was an American composer, noted for his marches, who helped to develop the sousaphone. |
||
| 8 | NOONTIME | Issue raised after a refusal to get going by midday (8) |
| <=ITEM (“issue” raised) after NO (“a refusal”) to get ON (“going”), so NO-ON-TIME | ||
| 11 | IFFY | Uncertain a short time after losing head (4) |
| (j)IFFY (“a short time” losing head) | ||
| 15 | PRONOUNCE | Utter rubbish at first about breaking spring (9) |
| R(ubbish) [at first] + ON (“about”) breaking POUNCE (“spring”) | ||
| 17 | ABOUT TURN | A fight to reverse complete change of policy (5,4) |
| A + BOUT (“fight”) + TURN (“to reverse”) | ||
| 18 | CONCRETE | Able to be experienced by prisoner on island (8) |
| CON (“prisoner”) on CRETE (“island”) | ||
| 20 | EXIT | Departure times appearing on it after the introduction of electricity (4) |
| X (“times”) appearing on IT after [the introduction of] E(lectricity) | ||
| 21 | BONDAGE | Gonad damaged during extremely bizarre sexual practice (7) |
| *(gonad) during [extremely] B(izarr)E | ||
| 22 | SHINER | Black eye for pop singer reportedly boxing at home (6) |
| Homophone of CHER [reportedly] boxing IN (“at home”) | ||
| 24 | MOUNT | Get up on stage (5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 25 | CHINA | Country hotel popular in California (5) |
| H (hotel) + IN (“popular”) in Ca. (California) | ||
*anagram
Comments are closed.