Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of May 11, 2019
I found this easier than the last Rosa and good as ever. My clue of the week is 16dn (COMET) with 24dn (SKINKS) and 25dn (NICKER) close contenders, all for their great surfaces. I also especially like 26ac (APRES-SKI), 31ac (DRY ROT) and 18dn (QUIPSTER). Thank you, Rosa, once again.
| Across | ||
| 1 | WITHER | Shrivel up in the company of Her Majesty (6) |
| WITH (in the company of) + ER (Her Majesty) | ||
| 4 | OPOSSUMS | OAPs regularly left huge amounts of money for animals (8) |
| O[a]P[s] + OS (huge, i.e. out-sized) + SUMS (amounts of money) | ||
| 9 | SHAMAN | Article on fake witch doctor (6) |
| SHAM (fake) + AN (article) | ||
| 10 | AMBROSIA | In the morning siblings bring back fine food for Olympians (8) |
| AM (in the morning) + BROS (siblings) + AI (fine) backwards (bring back) | ||
| 11 | ADDLED | Befuddled dad randomly ran off, scratching head (6) |
| Anagram (randomly) of DAD + [f]LED (ran off, scratching head) | ||
| 13 | SLAPDASH | Careless husband follows pathetic chums back (8) |
| PALS (chums) + SAD (pathetic) all backwards (back) + H (husband) | ||
| 14 | LITHE | Supple movement of snake shedding skin (5) |
| [s]LITHE[r] (movement of snake shedding skin) | ||
| 15 | RIOT | Debauchery leads to rheumatism in old timers (4) |
| R[heumatism] I[n] O[ld] T[imers] | ||
| 17 | BOURBON | The smell of us is hidden by case of Bulgarian whiskey (7) |
| OUR BO (the smell of us) in (is hidden by) B[ulgaria]N | ||
| 20 | EURO | Periodically debug room in zone’s capital (4) |
| [d]E[b]U[g] R[o]O[m] with a cryptic definition | ||
| 24 | SEVEN | Poles embracing woman in prime (5) |
| EVE (woman) in SN (poles, i.e. South and North) | ||
| 26 | APRES-SKI | Ask Piers to dance, socialising in Davos? (5-3) |
| Anagram (to dance) of ASK PIERS | ||
| 27 | TIPPLE | Drink and fall over, inwardly fit for nothing (6) |
| TOPPLE (fall over) with the ‘O’ (nothing) replaced by ‘I’ (inwardly fit) | ||
| 28 | FLUORINE | Four-line whips, highly toxic stuff (8) |
| Anagram (whips) of FOUR LINE | ||
| 29 | SKETCH | Draw king and the rest in silence (6) |
| K (king) + ETC (and the rest) in (in) SH (silence) | ||
| 30 | ESSAYIST | James, say, is terrifically entertaining writer (8) |
| Hidden word. It may be irrelevant to the clue but there is at least one essayist named James, that is the American James Baldwin. | ||
| 31 | DRY ROT | Doctor Hill retires after onset of yucky fungal infection (3,3) |
| DR (doctor) + Y[ucky] + TOR (hill) backwards | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | WISEACRE | Know-all from Wisconsin, the main source of controversy over scripture (8) |
| WI (Wisconsin) + SEA (the main) + C[ontroversy] + RE (scripture, i.e. Religious Education) | ||
| 2 | TRAPDOOR | Hinged flap in cross-section, seen from below (8) |
| ROOD (cross) + PART (section) backwards (seen from below) | ||
| 3 | ENAMEL | European left supporting call for canine protection? (6) |
| E (European) + NAME (call) + L (left). ‘Canine’ here refers to teeth as in incisors, canines and molars. | ||
| 5 | PIMPLE | Spot sanctimonious politician with lingerie inside out (6) |
| PI (sanctimonious) + MP (politician) + L[ingeri]E | ||
| 6 | SERAPH | Shivering Sherpa is angel of the highest order (6) |
| Anagram (shivering) of SHERPA | ||
| 7 | UNSEAL | Open University don neglecting to study mammal (6) |
| U (university) + [do]N (don neglecting to study) + SEAL (mammal) | ||
| 8 | SCATHE | Carpet in Chartres Cathedral (6) |
| Hidden word | ||
| 12 | DIVOT | Rebellious Roman poet shunning chap, the sod (5) |
| OVID (Roman poet) backwards (rebellious) + T[he] (the shunning chap) | ||
| 13 | SHAR-PEI | Dog biting backside of irksome individual (4-3) |
| SHARP (biting) + [irksom]E + I (individual) | ||
| 16 | COMET | Heavenly body of setter in bed (5) |
| ME (setter) in (in) COT (bed) | ||
| 18 | QUIPSTER | Question posh priest masquerading as comic (8) |
| Q (question) + U (posh) + anagram (masquerading) of PRIEST | ||
| 19 | SOMEWHAT | Mates who messed about a bit (8) |
| Anagram (messed about) of MATES WHO | ||
| 21 | RAFFLE | Force Brownie to turn up for charity event (6) |
| RAF (force) + ELF (brownie) backwards (to turn up) | ||
| 22 | GROUPS | Gangs of disheartened adults (6) |
| GRO[wn]UPS (disheartened adults) | ||
| 23 | ASTRAY | Missing last rally, excluding learner drivers (6) |
| [l]AST RA[ll]Y (last rally excluding learner drivers) | ||
| 24 | SKINKS | Good people admitting odd sexual preference for lizards (6) |
| KINK (odd sexual preference) in (admitting) SS (good people). We most commonly find ‘saint’ abbreviated as ‘St’ but ‘S’ by itself is equally legitimate. | ||
| 25 | NICKER | Unlimited underwear for £1 (6) |
| [k]NICKER[s] (unlimited underwear) | ||
Thank you Rosa and Pete. She helps to make my weekends.
The writer I thought of was Henry James, one of my favourite novelists, who also wrote “Essays in London and Elsewhere”.
Ah, I had not thought of Henry James as an essayist. But, with the work you cite, he certainly counts. Thank you.
Thanks Pete.. Didn’t finish it. I often get the answers without being able to work to why, and you always solve this for me. So much more satisfying that some other crosswords where one gets the answers but no explanation.
Thought 16dn was a cracking clue.
Thanks Rosa Klebb and Pete
Breezed through the grid entry of this pretty quickly – under the half hour which is quick for me. Did find that had to go back over it to i) parse a number of them properly that I had glossed over (still didn’t see UNSEAL until coming here) and ii) to appreciate the fantastic surfaces that she delivers in her clues.
Particularly enjoyed unravelling the word play for DIVOT.
Finished in the SW corner with RAFFLE, FLUORINE and GROUPS the last few in.
Thanks for the blog Pete which cleared up a couple of parsing queries (I also struggled with the N of UNSEAL, for example) and thanks Rosa for an enjoyable crossword which I eventually got through, having made a very slow start (and having been narrowly defeated by my first attempt at a Rosa Klebb FT Prize puzzle a few weeks earlier). I wouldn’t want to give you the wrong idea about my personal habits but particularly enjoyed BOURBON and TIPPLE.