Non-prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of January 15, 2022
A fairly standard Mudd. My top choices among the clues are 15 (ARCHDEACON), 19 (MENSWEAR), 26 (TAXI) and 27 (KARACHI).
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | SUPPLY |
Give, with some flexibility (6)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 4 | OVERHEAD |
Bird in dove flying in the sky (8)
|
| RHEA (bird) in (in) anagram (flying) of DOVE | ||
| 10 | HIT HOME |
Sink in bombed dwelling (3,4)
|
| HIT (bombed) + HOME (dwelling) | ||
| 11 | COVER UP |
Finished in competition, hide (5,2)
|
| OVER (finished) in (in) CUP (competition) | ||
| 12 | BLOW |
Setback – blast! (4)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 13 | FLOODLIGHT |
Illuminating feature of old ground, easily carried (10)
|
| Anagram (ground) of OF OLD + LIGHT (easily carried) | ||
| 16 | RESORT |
Holiday location concerned with nature (6)
|
| RE (concerned with) + SORT (nature) | ||
| 17 | DICTATE |
Order items spotted including cheap trinkets (7)
|
| TAT (cheap trinkets) in (including) DICE (items spotted) | ||
| 20 | NIGHTIE |
Garment: loose thing that is (7)
|
| Anagram (loose) of THING + IE (that is) | ||
| 21 | SOURCE |
Read aloud, relish author (6)
|
| Homophone (read aloud) of “sauce” (relish) | ||
| 24 | NATTERJACK |
Jaw standard in amphibian (10)
|
| NATTER (jaw) + JACK (standard) | ||
| 25 | ACES |
Steps, though not the first ones (4)
|
| [p]ACES (steps though not the first) | ||
| 27 | KARACHI |
King on a fancy chair in Asian city (7)
|
| K (king) + A (a) + anagram (fancy) of CHAIR | ||
| 29 | PRALINE |
Plainer sort of sweet (7)
|
| Anagram (sort of) of PLAINER | ||
| 30 | DETONATE |
Going round school, escort set off (8)
|
| ETON (school) in (going round) DATE (escort) | ||
| 31 | WINGER |
Martin, for example, footballer (6)
|
| Double definition with the first referring to, for example, a house martin. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SCHUBERT |
Old maestro in Bucharest abandoning a novel (8)
|
| Anagram (novel) of BUCH[a]REST | ||
| 2 | PATRON SAINT |
Country’s supporter daubed star on in colour (6,5)
|
| Anagram (daubed) of STAR ON in (in) PAINT (colour) | ||
| 3 | LOOP |
Game up for circle (4)
|
| POOL (game) backwards (up) | ||
| 5 | VICTORIA |
Line with old ruler? (8)
|
| Cryptic definition referring to London Underground’s Victoria line | ||
| 6 | REVOLUTION |
Turn, rising (10)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 7 | EAR |
Some maize, a ripe piece of corn (3)
|
| Hidden word (some) | ||
| 8 | DEPUTY |
Representative typed out lines unnecessarily, initially (6)
|
| U[nnecessarily] in (lines) anagram (out) of TYPED | ||
| 9 | WELLY |
Over foot of daddy, fit boot (5)
|
| WELL (fit) + [dadd]Y | ||
| 14 | GET CRACKING |
Start to acquire dynamite (3,8)
|
| GET (to acquire) + CRACKING (dynamite) | ||
| 15 | ARCHDEACON |
Cleric in charade playing fiddle (10)
|
| Anagram (playing) of CHARADE + CON (fiddle) | ||
| 18 | HIP JOINT |
Body part revealed in trendy bar (3,5)
|
| HIP (trendy) + BAR (joint) | ||
| 19 | MENSWEAR |
Trousers etc are new, with some oddly damaged (8)
|
| Anagram (damaged) of ARE NEW S[o]M[e] | ||
| 22 | SNAKED |
Wound exposed under bandages, finally (6)
|
| [bandage]S + NAKED (exposed) | ||
| 23 | SCOPE |
Range found in disco, perhaps (5)
|
| Hidden word (found in) | ||
| 26 | TAXI |
One in the ranks cheers on team (4)
In Britain, a place where idle taxis congregate is called a rank. I understand that in some other countries the same thing is called a stand.
|
| TA (cheers) + XI (team) with a cryptic definition | ||
| 28 | RAT |
Animal cutting speed (3)
|
| RAT[e] (cutting speed) |
An entertaining grid from Mudd that needed an overnight refresh to finish in the NE corner in which 6d provided the key. Couldn’t understand why I had stared so long at that clue the previous day, nor that Tube line (5d) which was my last one in. Think I was fixated on some Roman emperor.
Satisfying to complete and parse everything. Specifically, I enjoyed HIT HOME, NIGHTIE and ACES best.
Thanks to Mudd and Pete.
I found it quite difficult to get going with this one. Once I got a few answers in, things started to flow.
I was unable to parse a couple of clues again – although they look obvious now that Pete has explained them. I quite liked SUPPLY and SNAKE as well as those mentioned by Diane and Pete.
Many thanks Pete and Mudd
Thanks for the blog, very concise clues which can sometimes be easy but also surprisingly hard to spot on occasion.
A lot to like already mentioned , I will just add DICTATE for the “items spotted ” .
Thanks Mudd for another weekend treat. I liked COVER UP, FLOODLIGHT, and SNAKED in particular. My ears don’t hear SOURCE/sauce as homophones but I’m sure others hear differently. Thanks Pete for the blog.
I guess the SOURCE / Sauce pronunciation all depends on where you live or your own accent. I can think of many accents where it will be the same sound, and others were it will be quite different.
Thanks Mudd and Pete
Four short sessions on Australia Day to get this one done. Enjoyable as ever from this setter = particularly liked the subtle synonyms – dynamite / cracking, jaw / natter and blast / blow – along with his trade mark double definitions.
Also liked the play on VICTORIA with the underground line.
Finished up the top with FLOODLIGHT, WELLY and the clever HIT HOME.