Non-prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of January 30, 2021
A solid and entertaining puzzle from Mudd. My top clue is the clever 20 (HIDDEN AGENDA) and other favourites are 4 (VERBOTEN) and 29 (PIRATE). There seems to be a flaw in 11 (BELLY DANCING)
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | BUNKUM |
Nonsense in bed: let me think about that! (6)
|
| BUNK (bed) + UM (let me think about that) | ||
| 4 | VERBOTEN |
Bent over when out of shape? That’s not allowed! (8)
|
| Anagram (when out of shape) of BENT OVER | ||
| 9 | ORCHID |
Bloomer malevolent beast covered up (6)
|
| ORC (malevolent beast) + HID (covered up) | ||
| 10 | STIFLING |
Close match over, supporter’s embraced (8)
|
| FIT (match) backwards (over) in (embraced) SLING (supporter) | ||
| 12 | PILE |
Big house, load of money! (4)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 13 | HEART |
Playing card one beats (5)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 14 | ALTO |
Singer in Turandot, laid back (4)
|
| Reverse (back) hidden word (in) | ||
| 17 | PENNSYLVANIA |
Writer in navy, also briefly drunk, a state! (12)
|
| PEN (writer) + anagram (drunk) of IN NAVY ALS[o] | ||
| 20 | HIDDEN AGENDA |
Subtext that’s in thread, negatively reversed? (6,6)
|
| I am unsure how to categorize this but it is a gem with the reverse hidden word “agenda” | ||
| 23 | AWAY |
A street abroad (4)
|
| A (a) + WAY (street) | ||
| 24 | INANE |
Daft idea, oddly, to kidnap granny (5)
|
| NAN (granny) in (to kidnap) I[d]E[a] | ||
| 25 | TWIN |
Ending in government, earn double (4)
|
| [governmen]T + WIN (earn) | ||
| 28 | TERRAPIN |
Animal shot from close range, slip concealed (8)
|
| ERR (slip) in (concealed) TAP IN (shot from close range). “Tap in” is an expression used in golf — see comment #6. I originally parsed the clue with ‘shot’ cluing TAP and, separately, ‘from close range’ cluing IN. | ||
| 29 | PIRATE |
Silver, for example, good price (6)
|
| PI (good) + RATE (price) with the pirate referenced being Long John Silver | ||
| 30 | KIDOLOGY |
Deception I carry out put on record in Kentucky (8)
|
| I (I) + DO (carry out) + LOG (record) all together in (in) KY (Kentucky).
KIDOLOGY is new to me. Collins defines it as “the art or practice of bluffing or deception“. |
||
| 31 | COOL IT |
Relax in bed getting oil massaged in (4,2)
|
| Anagram (massaged) of OIL in (getting…in) COT (bed) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | BLOWPIPE |
Small missile launcher ineffective in the end after setback, just defeat (8)
|
| BLOW (setback) + PIP (just defeat) + [ineffectiv]E | ||
| 2 | NECKLINE |
Kiss and strip, showing cleavage (8)
|
| NECK (kiss) + LINE (strip) | ||
| 3 | UNIT |
One metal, uranium hauled up (4)
|
| TIN (metal) + U (uranium) all backwards (hauled up) | ||
| 5 | ENTERTAINING |
Funny one in bronze, coming in bags (12)
|
| I (one) in (in) TAN (bronze) together in (bags) ENTERING (coming in) | ||
| 6 | BUFF |
Polish fan (4)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 7 | TRIFLE |
Sweet toy (6)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 8 | NO-GOOD |
Despicable sentiment in signal (2-4)
|
| GOO (sentiment) in (in) NOD (signal) | ||
| 11 | BELLY DANCING |
Benignly clad, gyrating Middle Eastern performer (5,7)
|
| Anagram (gyrating) of BENIGNLY CLAD. Should the definition not be “Middle Eastern performance”? | ||
| 15 | ASPIC |
Jelly snake, nice in the middle (5)
|
| ASP (snake) + [n]IC[e] | ||
| 16 | DINGY |
Dark day in northern Greenland yesterday, at first (5)
|
| D[ay] I[n] N[orthern] G[reenland] Y[esterday] | ||
| 18 | SNOWBALL |
Mushroom that’s cold (8)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 19 | CANNIEST |
Most clever ancients adapted (8)
|
| Anagram (adapted) of ANCIENTS | ||
| 21 | BARTOK |
Piece of music to check, finally, for composer (6)
|
| BAR (piece of music) + TO (to) + [chec]K | ||
| 22 | MADRID |
Capital city, wild and free (6)
|
| MAD (wild) + RID (free) | ||
| 26 | HAIL |
Shower well, did you say? (4)
|
| Homophone (did you say?) of “hale” (well) | ||
| 27 | MIRO |
Artist into origami, Rossetti (4)
|
| Hidden word (into) |
Thanks Mudd and Pete
Entertaining puzzle that took up a bit of time in a flight from Melbourne to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland (before we knew that we were going to try and land in the middle of a big rainstorm 😮 ).
Started off by seeing the first hidden – MIRO and worked my up from that bottom left hand corner. The grid was marked with some overwriting where hastily written and unparsed FORBIDDEN (at 4a), TRANSYLVANIA (at 17a) and something now unintelligible (at 21d) needed to be re-visited later on. KIDOLOGY was a new term for me and it took longer than it needed to equate SNOWBALL for mushroom (initially was thinking of species of fungi). Agree with the mis-definition for BELLY DANCING, a pity because it read with a great surface.
Finished in the NW corner with NECKLINE (again a good surface and a tricky definition for the LINE bit) and ORCHID (those ORCS always hold me up).
Most enjoyable as usual from Mudd. I did miss a few in the NW corner but otherwise I had a good time with this. I liked HEART, AWAY, MADRID, and especially HIDDEN AGENDA. Thanks Mudd, and Pete for the blog.
HIDDEN AGENDA was indeed brilliant, and not easy to see.
Thanks Mudd & Pete.
Pete & Bruce. Are you kidding about 30 across?
You think we are kidologists?!
Many thanks for the fun Mudd. I agree with the BELLY DANCING question problem. And I did love HIDDEN AGENDA.
In 28a, a TAP IN is a golf term for a short putt which doesn’t require the usual theatrical posing, sighting and flexing before putting.
KIDOLOGY was new to me too. Thanks for the explanations Pete.
In 11 down, a gyrating Middle Eastern performer would be belly dancing. So the solution is correct if gyrating is doing double duty as both anagram indicator and part of the definition.
Mystogre, Thank you for the explanation of TAP IN. I have played golf a few times but never learned that expression.
Tonight Chelsea won at Barnsley through a TAP-IN from Tammy Abrahams.
That’s what the commentator (more or less) said.
A very common term in football, no golf for the simpleton in me.
Mudd, being a support of Brighton & Hove Albion, must surely have thought of that usage.
Good puzzle as ever but shame about 11dn.
Thanks Pete.
Don’t know where these pluses come from.
Sorry.
I agree with most of the above, and I am very happy to hear I have good company in not knowing KIDOLOGY.
TAP IN is indeed a golf phrase, but no-one talks about “shooting” a putt. I think Sil van den Hoek has it right – the way it is clued, it must be a football term.
I found a number of clues challenging – TERRAPIN in particular – but got there in the end and felt adequately rewarded by some clever surfaces. I also liked HIDDEN AGENDA, as well as BUNKUM and MADRID.
As always, thanks to Pete, and also to Mudd
Not heard of “PI” meaning “good” before.
PILE, BUFF and HIDDEN AGENDA were favourites here but like others, KIDOLOGY proved my undoing. Knew the term but was surprised by it here.
Thanks to Mudd for another enjoyable weekender and to Pete for the insightful blog.