Weekend puzzle from the FT of May 6, 2023
Here we have a puzzle by another new-to-us setter with some unusual clues. Pedrock is Peter Chamberlain who has been a setter since 1986 and is better known to FT solvers for setting Polymath crosswords. I find a few clues to be rather unconventional, notably 19d (THIN AIR) and 20a (JUMP START). There are however also some gems including 14a (CUE) and 19a (TOT).
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | REFRESHER |
Second course perhaps that will revive you (9)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 6 | MIMIC |
Imitate operatic heroine Charlie (5)
|
| MIME (operatic heroine) + C (Charlie, in the phonetic alphabet) | ||
| 9 | CARACAS |
From Accra, travelled to a southern South American city (7)
|
| Anagram (travelled) of ACCRA + A (a) + S (southern) | ||
| 10 | WRITE-UP |
Review reportedly correct at university (5-2)
|
| Homophone (reportedly) of “right” (correct) + UP (at university) | ||
| 11 | RINSE |
Get up about noon and wash (5)
|
| N (noon) in (about) RISE (get up) | ||
| 12 | ALABASTER |
Rock, a workroom bloomer (9)
|
| A (a) + LAB (workroom) + ASTER (bloomer) | ||
| 14 | CUE |
Potter’s Bar (3)
|
| Cryptic definition with ‘potter’ referring to a snooker player. Calling a cue a bar seems a bit off though. | ||
| 15 | UNAPPEALING |
From Penang, pilau that is not very attractive (11)
|
| Anagram (from) PENANG PILAU | ||
| 17 | INFORMATION |
It tells how aircraft sometimes fly (11)
|
| IN FORMATION (how aircraft sometimes fly) | ||
| 19 | TOT |
Non-drinker takes nothing in, not even this (3)
|
| O (nothing) in (takes…in) TT (non-drinker) | ||
| 20 | JUMP-START |
Bumpy way to get engine going? (4-5)
|
| I am unsure how to categorize this one. It seems not cryptic enough to call a cryptic definition. | ||
| 22 | UMIAK |
After word of hesitation I take a kayak initially to be Inuit boat (5)
|
| UM (word of hesitation) I (I) + A (a) + K[ayak]. This is a new word to me. | ||
| 24 | ILLEGAL |
Ale Gill brewed was not allowed (7)
|
| Anagram (brewed) of ALE GILL | ||
| 26 | ELEVATE |
In hotel Eva tested lift (7)
|
| Hidden word (in) | ||
| 27 | TUDOR |
Old royal family rose (5)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 28 | CATAMARAN |
American river crossed by container vessel (9)
|
| A (American) + TAMAR (river) in (crossed by) CAN (container) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | RECUR |
Come round again about dog (5)
|
| RE (about) + CUR (dog) | ||
| 2 | FIRENZE |
Florence endlessly frenzied going to pieces (7)
|
| Anagram (going to pieces) of FRENZIE[d]. Firenze is the Italian name for the city of Florence. | ||
| 3 | EXCHEQUER |
Poor Rex accepted payment for the funds (9)
|
| CHEQUE (payment) in (accepted) anagram (poor) of REX | ||
| 4 | HASTA MANANA |
Possesses hat, one held by lady coming or going to see you tomorrow (5,6)
|
| HAS (possesses) + TAM (hat) + A (one) in ANNA (lady coming or going) | ||
| 5 | RAW |
Not altered from its natural state, this deal is harsh inequitable treatment (3)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 6 | MOIRA |
With no end of anger, endlessly complain about one of the fair sex (5)
|
| IR[e] (no end of anger) in (about) MOA[n] (endlessly complain) | ||
| 7 | MAESTRI |
Composers coming from West Way, Rhode Island (7)
|
| MAE (West) + ST (way) + RI (Rhode Island) | ||
| 8 | COPYRIGHT |
Forger attempts to do it and break it (9)
|
| COPY RIGHT (forger attempts to do it) | ||
| 13 | APPOINTMENT |
Applicant for job must keep it to stand any chance of getting it (11)
|
| Dual definition | ||
| 14 | CLIP JOINT |
Barber’s shop where customers are overcharged (4,5)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 16 | AD NAUSEAM |
To a disgusting extent in a dead language (2,7)
|
| Seems like a non-cryptic clue to me | ||
| 18 | FUMBLED |
Was angry that legal scholar inside did not pick up cleanly (7)
|
| BL (legal scholar) in (inside) FUMED (was angry) | ||
| 19 | THIN AIR |
Area of nothing to disappear into? (4,3)
|
| Cryptic definition? | ||
| 21 | SUGAR |
Tease you and me over sweetener (5)
|
| RAG (tease) + US (you and me) all backwards (over) | ||
| 23 | KLEIN |
Sprinkle inner contents of bottle (5)
|
| Hidden word (contents of). A Klein bottle is a mathematical thing. | ||
| 25 | LAC |
Take off at the end, be without resin (3)
|
| LAC[k] (be without, take off at the end) | ||
Pedrock’s Polymaths are absolutely excellent. His entry here into the cryptic world seems to have been somewhat of a tricky fit, but there are some lovely ideas here. I liked the IN plus FORMATION split very much.
Thanks Pete
After sailing through the Jumbo, I answered six or seven clues from this puzzle in short time. Well, pride does come before a fall, it seems. I then found the rest of the puzzle quite difficult, taking me a long time to complete.
I agree with your comments, both overall and for individual clues. I must admit I still do not know why CLIP JOINT is a place were customers are overcharged – I am sure it stems from an expression that is unknown to me. And I thank you for parsing MOIRA – I happened to throw in the correct answer without really understanding the clue.
Agree with lady gewgaw on IN FORMATION, and I rather liked CATAMARAN.
Thanks Pedrock and Pete.
Thanks, Pedrock and Pete Maclean!
CUE, JUMP-START, THIN AIR and AD NAUSEUM: I share your views.
Liked HASTA MANANA and COPYRIGHT.
Martyn@2
CLIP JOINT (wiktionary)
Etymology
From clip (“to cheat, swindle, or fleece”) and joint (“disparaging US slang for a place of business”).
Noun
(informal) An establishment, usually a strip club or bar, in which customers are tricked into paying money only to receive poor goods or services or none at all.
I have a different doubt: Do people (at times) mean ‘a barber’s shop’ when they say ‘a clip joint’?
I tried treating ‘barber’ as a verb, but the ‘s was spoiling my parsing.
AD NAUSEUM
Considered ‘a dead’ as AD and then got stuck. Couldn’t see any wordplay.
Just to add – it’s a pangram.
The solutions are available online on the same day. Looks like it is not a prize puzzle.
For MOIRA I had MOA(n) about IR(e) , both with no end by one letter.
Thanks for the blog, another new setter for me, very concise clues , generally pretty neat.
KVA@3 you are right , a barbers or hairdressers may be facetiously called a clip-joint , I think I may even have seen it as a shop name, barbers tend to show a bit of imagination naming their places, more than other types of shop.
The (Felix) KLEIN bottle is a bit like a Mobius band with no boundaries, I have seen glass versions of thes but they are not fully genuine, it is only totally possible in 4-D space.
Thank you, Roz. I have edited the description of MOIRA.
Thanks Pedrock for a super crossword. Whenever I see a word like EXCHEQUER I look for a pangram and I was not disappointed. My top choices were INFORMATION, ILLEGAL, and MAESTRI. Thanks Pete for the blog.
KVa@5
https://app.ft.com/content/a5c6b91c-1ae2-11e7-9519-a200b6e21c5a
says ‘Crossword and Polymath competitions suspended
Dear readers – we have suspended the competitions while our editors work from home.
We hope you continue to enjoy completing them until services resume
June 5 2020’
It’s coming up for three years now. Isn’t it about time 225 gave up waiting for services to resume and blogged the Saturdays without waiting a week?
I quite agree with FrankieG @10. We did try with the FT crossword editor last year but it should be worth another go? Perhaps through 225.It is always a little tricky to remember the puzzle after seven days.
I enjoyed this puzzle so thanks to both.
SM & FrankieG, I deal with the 7-day delay by waiting 6 days before tackling the puzzle. There are always other puzzles to do on the day this one comes out, so I don’t see any problem.
Thanks Pedrock and Pete for the fun and wise comments.