Financial Times 16,979 by IO

by

A wonderful puzzle from Io. Thank you Io.

If you fancy a go the puzzle can be printed here…

The theme is Through the Looking Glass or to give it its full title Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There.

picture of the completed grid

The pairings are:

  • Tweedledum and Tweedledee (two arguing baby brothers)
  • The Walrus and The Carpenter (characters from a poem read to Alice by Tweedledum and Tweedledee)
  • The White (or Red) King and The White Queen (two chess pieces that Alice plays with)
  • The Lion and The Unicorn (two of the characters that come to Humpty Dumpty’s aid)
  • The March Hare and The Mad Hatter (two characters from Alice in Wonderland who make a re-appearance in Through the Looking Glass)
  • Chess and Mirrors (the two themes underpinning the book)

The symmetrically placed across entries (with clues asterisked for your convenience) are entered reversed because they are viewed through the looking glass.

ACROSS
No. Entry Reversal of
1 STEW WETS
*Feeble people, crossword compilers – take Slormgorm for starters (4)
WE (crossword compilers) then first letters (starters) of Take Slormgorm
4 QAT
Something stimulating to chew over cheers 007’s gadget-man (3)
TA (cheers, thanks) Q (007’s gadget man) all reversed (over)
8 HEAT UNIT
Man working hard to insulate empty 13 measured energy (4,4)
HE (man) AT IT (working hard) contains (to insulate) UrN (13 across) missing middle letters (empty)
10 LIEGE
Loyal English one stops posh girl retreating (5)
E (English) I (one) inside (stops) GEL (posh girl) all reversed (retreating)
11 DEER REED
*Heard lecture on grass (4)
sounds like (heard) READ (lecture on, at university)
12 LAPWING
One flies round circuit to clinch first of golds (7)
LAP (round circuit) WIN (to clinch) and Gold (first letter of)
13 URN
Uniform associated with British Navy vessel (3)
U (uniform) and RN (Royal Navy)
14 LAS SAL
*Pharmacies allegedly stocking this compound (3)
found inside pharmacieS Alledegly – a salt, compond
15 JOHN
The New York Gents, say, 24 for one (4)
double definition – a toilet (gents, in New York) and composer John Cage perhaps
16 OTTO OTTO
*Oil buttocks, ignoring edges (4)
bOTTOm (buttocks) missing edge letters
19 EDAM MADE
*Did drink to forget 22 (4)
leMonADE (a drink) missing (to forget) LEON (answer to 22 across)
21 ALICE
Through 5, she’s appropriately found themes (5)
Alice Through the Looking Glass, in the grid ALICE crosses (goes through) THE LOOKING GLASS, and the basis for this puzzles themes
22 NOEL LEON
*In Spain, a city in title only (4)
found inside tetLE ONly
23 LEER REEL
*Dance to the Scottish drum (4)
double definition
24 CAGE
Where one may see or do bird (4)
cryptic double definition – bird is slang for prison, where one may do time
25 HOD DOH
*Of course, I should have got that note! (3)
D’OH (of course, I should have got that, favourite expression of Homer Simpson)
26 CHA
Tea shops under the same ownership no longer fashionable (3)
CHAin (shops under the same ownership) missing (no longer) IN (fashionable)
27 LYOPHIL
Feverishly ill with content of new hypo readily dispersed (7)
anagram (feverishly) of ILL containing (with content of) anagram (new) of HYPO
28 TEEM MEET
*Event where racers may be qualified (4)
double definition
29 ADEPT
Expert close to claiming degree record (5)
AT (close to) contains (claiming) D (degree) EP (Extended Play, record)
30 TONSURES
Shavings undoubtedly to be found in great quantity (8)
SURE (undoubtedly) inside TONS (great quantity) – shaving of heads
31 SUS SUS
*Knowledge of eg Texas? (3)
S US (southern US, eg Texas)
32 RIME EMIR
*Ruler 21 20 in part (4)
found inside (in part) alicE MIR
DOWN
No. Entry Reversal of
2 TWEEDLEDEE
Brother Lewis loses 60% invested in Scottish rivers (10)
LEwis (missing 60% of letters) inside (invested in) TWEED DEE (two Scottish rivers) – brother of Tweedledum
3 WALRUS
Morse noticed address written in answer below! (6)
SAW (noticed) containing (with…written in) URL (address) reversed (mirrors, reflects)
4 QUEEN
Originators of well-known rhapsody, a piece with much power (5)
double definition – Bohemian Rhapsody by rock band Queen and chess piece
5 THE LOOKING-GLASS
Hint: egg up the wall maintaining manner that’s superior to girl (3,7-5)
anagram (up the wall) of HINT EGG contains LOOK (manner) followed by (superior to, above) LASS (girl) – the hint refers to Humpty Dumpty who sat on a wall above Alice
6 CARPENTER
Cross the threshold after fish and chips (9)
ENTER (cross the threshold) following CARP (fish) – nickname for a woodworker
7 KING
The family dog missing her party piece (4)
KIN (the family) then doG missing DO (party, her => belonging to the dog)
9 UNICORN
Is this mythical being making hasty incursion? (7)
an anagram (hasty) of IS UNICORN (this mythical being, the solution) is INCURSION
17 TWEEDLEDUM
Battler, he agreed: pretty awful muddle! (10)
TWEE (pretty) then anagram (awful) of MUDDLE – Tweedledum and Tweedledee agreed to have a battle…
18 MARCH HARE
It’s mad, what protesters do live outside hotel (5,4)
MARCH (what protester may do) ARE (live, to be 3rd person) containing (outside) H (hotel)
20 MIRRORS
Nothing interrupts basic education in timeless film theme (7)
O (nothing) inside RRR (the three Rs, basic education) inside MISt (film, on a surface) missing T (time-less)
25 HATTER
Talk about deserting someone doing business in Luton? (6)
cHATTER (talk) missing C (circa, about) – Luton is a historical centre for hatmaking
26 CHESS
Stopping exec, he’s sabotaged board meeting (5)
found inside (stopping, like a cork) exeC HE’S Sabotaged
27 LION
Ladbaby’s first chart-topper – rising celebrity! (4)
first letter of Ladbaby then NO I (number 1, chart topper) reversed (rising)

37 comments on “Financial Times 16,979 by IO”

  2. Brilliant!
    I admit to revealing a * clue as it was a while before I got 5d which explained all
    LOI 31. Loved 15 and 24 connection
    The rest is silence!

  3. Very enjoyable. Had to check “morse” was a walrus. Took 19a as LEMONADE – LEON rather than NOEL. Also 22a is missing the hidden inclusion in blog. (Also a spurious ‘s’ has crept into 25d.)

    I’m probably being stupid but can someone spell out the pairings alluded to in the rubric. QUEEN seems to link with several and I don’t see what MIRRORS is supposed to link with.

  4. I’m always pleased to see Io’s name at the top of an FT crossword and this one was a particularly fine example of his best work. It even produced an ear worm as I can’t get the 2d/17d poem out of my head.

    Hovis@3 if you know your Alice, then links such as 2d/17d, 3d/6d, 27a/9d and others are obvious

    Thanks to Io and PeeDee

  5. Excellent puzzle, with the theme, once I eventually worked out what was going on, helping with a few at the finish.

    Not knowing 5d very well, the only bit I couldn’t work out were all the pairings of the six left and right side down clues as mentioned in the instructions. For example, I’ll have to look up how the UNICORN and the CARPENTER fit in.

    Thanks to Io and PeeDee

  7. Hovis,
    I had Walrus/Carpenter, the Tweedles, Lion/Unicorn, March hare/Hatter. This left Queen and Chess and King with Mirrors. The former I get but don’t know how King and Mirrors connect.

  8. Oh, I’m slow to type and wrong into the bargain!
    Great puzzle, anyway. Spotted the theme early on with March Hare and as this was a childhood favourite, it was fun picking off the themed clues. Didn’t immediately twig with the asterisked clues (the answers seen through a mirror, as it were) but found it very clever when I saw the device. The best of these being the connected19/22.
    Liked the close proximity of Lewis and Morse in 2/3.
    My overall favourites were Tweedledee, Queen and The Looking Glass in a splendid, multifaceted grid. Thanks to Io for a fitting tribute and PeeDee for the unenviable task of parsing!

  9. Thanks PeeDee. CHESS & MIRRORS was the pairing that got me and, like Diane, I wasn’t sure whether to link QUEEN with KING or CHESS.

  13. I meant to add that I thought the CHESHIRE “QAT” almost made an appearance (although, if I remember correctly, this was only in Alice’s adventures in Wonderland).

  15. Printed it off, read the blurb, and realised there wasn’t a hope in hell of working out the theme so came here to discover what it was with a view to then trying to solve the clues.
    Having seen the theme I won’t bother as I’ve never read the book.

  16. @Pauline
    I’ve never read the book either but the puzzle was one of my favourites of the year.
    I wouldn’t describe the grid entries as arcane GK known only to devotees of the work.

  17. The asterisked across clues seem to be entered mirror fashion without definition of the mirror image. Hence for 28A* I entered TAEH, the mirror of “Event where racers may be qualified”

  18. What a lot to fit in a common or garden crossword, incredible really, yet relatively easy with the pairs and friendly clues.
    I don’t quite understand the clue for ALICE. ‘themes’ seems to be stuck on the end. Does anyone have a better explanation than the rather vague one that the themes are related to Alice?
    Thanks Io, PeeDee

  19. Superb puzzle, and as baerchen says, a great feat to have a gridfill with so many words which are valid in both directions. I loved the “eleven might as well be nine” touch.

  20. I thought this was IO at his most accessible which made for a very enjoyable solve for me. A great puzzle. I’m not sure why the two palindrome answers (16 and 31) are asterisked but other than that all plain sailing. Thanks S & B.

  22. Stephen@17, there’s nothing in the instructions to say that the asterisked solutions should be real words in both directions, so if HEAT were a good answer for 28A then it would rely on your noticing the pattern to prevent you from entering TAEH. But I’m not sure HEAT is a good answer, as a) it requires the clue to be read literally (not necessarily a problem) and b) ‘may be qualified’ doesn’t quite work, as a heat is an event where racers may qualify, not be qualified.
    I agree that there is some ambiguity.

  23. James @22. I took the use of the past tense to be the cryptic element. Depending on the result they may or may not be qualified. I just don’t think PeedDee’s double definition works
    btw A great puzzle and excellent blog (apart from 28A!)

  24. Wonderful fun, even though I don’t particularly like the book – but having also started with “March Hare” the rest came quite quickly: we have a copy so I could look at the list of “Dramatis Personae” at the front and in any case had heard of all of them. I did also put in HEAT/TAEH, which seemed (and still seems) OK to me.

  25. I’ve never met a crossword where the entries aren’t all words in their own right, even if, for example, an 8 letter answer is split into 2 lots of 4. Also, if you look in Chambers say, you will see that one of the meanings for MEET is “qualified”, so the DD in the blog is correct. There’s no way I could accept TAEH as an answer. Ok, this mirror entry device is novel (I think), but IO is too good a setter to allow this to result in a nonsense word.

  26. Hovis @ 25

    I don’t think I’m imagining this!

    Wasn’t there a puzzle a few years ago where all the planets were solutions, with the sun at the centre of the grid? So some of the planets were flipped either horizontally or vertically depending on their relationship to the central star.

  28. Simon @26, there was a Qaos Genius (171) with an S for sun in the centre, and planets represented by their initials orbiting the sun at appropriate distances, but no flipping solutions.

  30. Thank you Io, I very much enjoyed this. The work overall was admirble. I was defeated by TEEM/MEET and (irritatingly) JOHN, but still felt happy at the end.
    My last pair in was the Tweedle brothers, with a wonderful penny-dropping moment.

    (Seems appropriate that the fourth Matrix movie is being released too just now… coincedence??)

  31. Thanks James, that must be the one I was thinking of.

    I still think I remember one where some of the entries were reversed, and fallible memory combined them.

  32. I’m another who had a problem with qualified = meet, so it was my last one in and I initially entered HEAT reversed until I realised TAEH was not a word and everything else in the grid was a word. Since ‘qualified’ is either an adjective or past tense of a verb as far as my vocabulary goes and ‘meet’ is neither, it’s a stretch to equate the two and Chambers should not be an excuse for any type of usage. I’d feel better if someone could give a sentence that makes clearer that the two are synonyms. In a similar vein, I thought 27A should be LYOPHILIC and not LYPOHIL, but at least the wordplay was clear. Otherwise I found much to enjoy. Thanks to Io — I am always excited to see his name on a puzzle.

  33. ub@32 – Meet would normally be used an adjective (a different word from the meet meaning to encounter someone). Chambers gives meet as either formal or archaic, so I would not expect to find any everyday sentence that would support the usage. The OED does not specifically mention “qualified” in its definitions, but it does give list of other words for which “qualified” could be an alternative. The nearest example usage they give is:

    1898 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. V. 372 Thrombosis meet to explain the death is not always found.

    The meaning is that thrombosis is not always suitable as the cause of death. One could write thrombosis qualified to explain the death is not always found. This sort of thing is fair game in the barred cryptics, but not so suitable for a daily FT perhaps.

  34. PeeDee, thank you for the extra effort in explaining. I read and appreciate most of the blogs even though I seldom comment. You make a good point: I probably would have shrugged but not questioned the usage in one of the barred puzzles. As you have said before (and I paraphrase), dictionaries are just catalogues and it’s generally pointless to judge what’s good or not good.

  35. Ten reversible words, six pairs of linked words and a partridge in a pear tree. Io is indeed, like Gozo, a maestro of the grid. Bravo!

  36. With regard to all the backward entries being words: is LAS an English word? I suppose it could be the plural of LA, the sixth musical scale degree, but that’s really stretching things. SAL as a stand-alone word seems dubious as well; I’ve only encountered it in compounds as with volatile or ammoniac. MEET (as others have discussed) and AT for “close to” also elicited eye rolls. I agree with ub@32 that “ Chambers should not be an excuse for any type of usage.” Oh well. Clues like that are why Io isn’t one of my favorites, I guess, though I did enjoy the theme and was stumped only by LEON and JOHN, both of which were entirely fair and I should have got. Thanks PeeDee.

  37. Thanks Io and PeeDee
    Twice in a month and put this one off until the New Year only finishing it earlier today. So much going on and quite brilliantly constructed.
    Took almost half the grid to be filled until I twigged to the theme (not the brightest image in the mirror, obviously) and to the trick of reversing the answers of the asterisked clues. This meant reversing WETS, REED, LEON, DOH and HEAT (another doh! now that I have read the blog) and then being able to sensibly answer all of the down clues that had the wrong crossing letters. WALRUS (after matching it with CARPENTER, one of the few parts that I could remember of the story) was the trigger to spotting this and was then able to use the down pairings to finish off the bulk of the grid.
    It wasn’t only getting the right answer, but there was still quite a bit of work in parsing a number of clues – missed with WALRUS and the trick with ALICE passing through 5d. Eventually finished after an elapsed three days and several hours, albeit with that error at 28a.
    In the dictionary that I use, the example of the archaic meaning of meets is given as:
    “It seems not meet, nor wholesome to my place” (Shakespeare).

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