Non-prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of October 31, 2020
As usual with Bradman, this puzzle gave me some challenges and prompted several look-ups. There are at least two answers that I did not know, 8dn (TIERCE) and 23dn (MOSTA), and one reference that seems very obscure, Loo (short for Lanterloo) which is a card game that was popular in the 17th century. My favourite clue is 5dn (DISTRICT NURSE).
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | CODDLE | Cook to treat indulgently? Not Molly! (6) |
| [molly]CODDLE (to treat indulgently, not molly) | ||
| 4 | ADJACENT | A host with a bit of money next door (8) |
| A (a) + DJ (host) + A (a) + CENT (bit of money) | ||
| 9 | RETRO | Yesteryear’s style covered by reporters looking back (5) |
| Reverse hidden word | ||
| 10 | NOSE FLUTE | Instrument is hooter (loud instrument) (4,5) |
| NOSE (hooter) + F (loud) + LUTE (instrument) | ||
| 11 | MENTION | State fellows avoid reportedly (7) |
| Homophone (reportedly) of “men shun” (fellows avoid) | ||
| 12 | ROBOTIC | After plunder the listener’s showing no emotion? (7) |
| ROB (plunder) + OTIC (the listener’s) | ||
| 13 | TUTU | Archbishop bringing two groups of workers together (4) |
| TU (group of workers) + TU (same again). Here TU stands for Trade Union. I do not recall coming across this abbreviation before but dictionaries confirm it. I also found that, confusingly, there is a Trade Union called the TU comprising people who work for T-Mobile in the U.S. | ||
| 14 | CONCRETE | Definite fraud on island (8) |
| CON (fraud) + CRETE (island) | ||
| 17 | SLAM-BANG | Without restraint, celebrated eating meat (4-4) |
| LAMB (meat) in (eating) SANG (celebrated) | ||
| 19 | GAIA | Endless benefit being attached to a goddess (4) |
| GAI[n] (endless benefit) + A (a) | ||
| 22 | COMBUST | Firm needing millions, without money, to go up in flames (7) |
| CO (firm) + M (millions) + BUST (without money) | ||
| 24 | REPUTED | Highly regarded place beset by grass (7) |
| PUT (place) in (beset by) REED (grass) | ||
| 25 | PAST TENSE | Grammar form suited to a bygone time (4,5) |
| I easily guessed the answer but was not at all sure about it until I got some checked letters. Even now I am unsure how to explain it. Is it a cryptic definition? A double definition? Or what? | ||
| 26 | ATMAN | Comic hero losing his head or soul? (5) |
| [b]ATMAN (comic hero losing his head) | ||
| 27 | ORATRESS | Yellow hair hiding a female speaker (8) |
| A (a) in (hiding) OR (yellow) + TRESS (hair) | ||
| 28 | ZEBRAS | Animals with vigour in short supply given support inside (6) |
| BRA (support) in (given…inside) ZES[t] (vigour in short supply) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | CHROMITE | Mineral that could make you itch more (8) |
| Anagram (that could make you) of ITCH MORE.
I find it hard to remember if I have come across ‘chromite’ before. The name sounds so much like a generic mineral. |
||
| 2 | DETONATES | Sets off to make appointments around school (9) |
| ETON (school) in (around) DATES (to make appointments) | ||
| 3 | LOOK-IN | Chance of success in card game with court card no good (4-2) |
| LOO (card game) + KIN[g] (court card with no good). ‘Loo’, also called ‘Lanterloo’, is a card game from the seventeenth century. | ||
| 5 | DISTRICT NURSE | Tender in a particular area? (8,5) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 6 | AFFABLE | Friendly female in a traditional story (7) |
| F (female) in (in) A (a) + FABLE (story) | ||
| 7 | ERUPT | Time to clean up discharge (5) |
| T (time) + PURE (clean) all backwards (up) | ||
| 8 | TIERCE | Following row church offers an hour of prayer (6) |
| TIER (row) + CE (church). One meaning of ‘tierce’ is the third canonical hour (about 9 a.m.) which, I am assuming, is the one Bradman intends. | ||
| 10 | NONCOMBATANTS | Mob cannot get out of control when joined by workers who will not fight? (13) |
| Anagram (get out of control) of MOB CANNOT + ANTS (workers) | ||
| 15 | ELASTOMER | Seal new book with right sort of material (9) |
| Anagram (new) of SEAL + TOME (book) + R (right) | ||
| 16 | LANDINGS | Platforms in fictional castle that’s lost its roof (8) |
| [b]LANDINGS (fictional castle that’s lost its roof). Blandings Castle appeared in the fiction of P.G. Wodehouse. | ||
| 18 | ABUTTER | A ram? One is 4 (7) |
| A (a) + BUTTER (ram) with the definition referencing 4ac (ADJACENT) | ||
| 20 | SCIPIO | Roman general making audible leap with cry of joy? (6) |
| SCIP (homophone of “skip”) + IO (cry of joy) | ||
| 21 | OPIATE | Drug, nothing very good to get taken (6) |
| O (nothing) + PI (very good, i.e. pious) + ATE (taken) | ||
| 23 | MOSTA | Island city almost annihilated – many outer bits destroyed (5) |
| Hidden word. Mosta is a city in Malta. | ||
I don’t think LOO for a card game is particularly obscure. I’ve seen it many times (admittedly in cryptics) and it is in Chambers, not listed as obsolete or slang. I didn’t know MOSTA or SCIPIO (is IO a cry for joy?) and TIERCE, ERUCT & ATMAN seem only vaguely known in the depths of the old grey matter. ABUTTER is another word I would never use.
I often hate cryptic definitions but agree that 5d is superb and the pick of the bunch. Thanks to Bradman and Pete.
“TU” is perhaps more commonly seen in TUC, i.e. Trades Union Congress. Put “Place” for the second word in 5dn and that threw any chance of solving SE corner.
I managed to finish this with the usual number of searches but enjoyed it.
The card game loo struck a chord from my childhood and it is played in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice which I remember was a text book once in school.
Many thanks to Pete and Bradman
I think I counted 10 answers that are words I have not seen before – even Slam Bang is novel to me, I am afraid. While frustrating at times, in the end I quite enjoyed it.
Could we lose one of the obscure words, and call 7D ERUPT (T and PURE backwards)?
Thanks, as always Pete.
Enjoyed this quite a bit — I never heard of ATMAN, TIERCE, or ELASTOMER but I got all of them from the very clear wordplay. Favourites were ROBOTIC, ZEBRAS, and ERUPT. Thanks Bradman, and Pete for the write-up.
It seems we have a strong argument that 7dn is ERUPT, not ERUCT. And I am coming around to thinking that ERUPT is the better answer. But let’s wait until Saturday to find out for sure.
Thanks Bradman and Pete
A second DNF for the week for me, not seeing the hidden Maltese city and going with MASSA[cred] – which sadly was, at best, a coastal rather than an island city and only had bits from one side destroyed. 🙁
Was another with ERUPT at 7d, so potentially a DNF on two fronts.
Thought that 25a was a cd. Knew both LOO and TIERCE, but ATMAN, IO and that MOSTA were all new.
5d raised a grin and was my favourite too.
Thanks Bradman and Pete.
The problem with ERUPT for 7d is that it should be “purify” rather than just “pure”. I am very happy with ERUCT as the answer and parsed it the same way as Pete.
I also had to check MOSTA and vaguely remembered TIERCE from another crossword. And “io” is, as is often said here, in my eChambers as expressing joy, triumph or grief.
LOO and TU are old stagers in crossword land.
As always I enjoyed the whole exercise.
Hi Mystogre … just depends on whether you take ‘clean’ to be a verb or an adjective.
The solution is published and 7dn is indeed ERUPT. I have corrected the blog.
isn’t that funny. Although I originally advocated for ERUPT, after some thought I changed my mind. An eruption is a discharge, but I do not think ERUPT can be used to mean discharge. You cannot say “the volcano erupted lava”, for example, whereas I believe you can say there was an eruction of lava.