MUDD kicks off the new year…
Happy new year to all of you!
Apologies for the lateness of this blog… but, celebrations last night combined with jet lag have taken their toll.
Thankfully a pretty straightforward puzzle, but enjoyable nonetheless.
Thanks MUDD!
ACROSS
1. Second miserable yield (4,4)
BACK DOWN
BACK (second) + DOWN (miserable)
5. Brief march behind brown bike (6)
TANDEM
DEM[o] (march, brief) behind TAN (brown)
10. Muck up and down! (5)
FLUFF
11. Family stories (9)
RELATIONS
12. Fabulous guy having left university learned to dance (9)
LEGENDARY
(G[u]Y (having left U (university) LEARNED)* (*to dance)
13. Something going on uniform, buttons down the middle? (5)
EVENT
EVEN (uniform) + [but]T[ons] (down the middle)
14. Runt behind sow initially in pain (6)
STITCH
TITCH (runt) behind S[ow] (initially)
15. Something fairly precious editor corrected on page (7)
PERIDOT
(EDITOR)* (*corrected) on P (page)
18. In a bad way, one tucked in behind — is that one’s limit? (7)
TOENAIL
(ONE)* (*in a bad way) tucked in TAIL (behind)
20. Reddish-brown boy in blue? (6)
COPPER
Double (cryptic) definition
22. One written in message, put forward (5)
POSIT
I (one) written in POST (message)
24. Party promises reforms if no seat taken by first of May (9)
MANIFESTO
(IF NO SEAT)* (*reforms) taken by M[ay] (first of)
25. Musical instruction in first half of record and second, amended (9)
CRESCENDO
(REC[ord[ (first half of) and SECOND)* (*amended)
26. Core member of pack (5)
HEART
Double (cryptic) definition
Referring to a pack of cards
27. Run — there are steps on that (6)
LADDER
Double (cryptic) deinition
28. Rough, the track behind meadow (8)
LEATHERY
(THE + RY (track, railway)) behind LEA (meadow)
DOWN
1. Fox finds pair of females in hay (6)
BAFFLE
FF (pair of females) in BALE (hay)
2. Cruet got shaken over top of exotic vegetable (9)
COURGETTE
(CRUET GOT)* (*shaken) over E[xotic] (top of)
3. The tenet clarified, I gathered (8,7)
DEFINITE ARTICLE
(TENET CLARIFIED I)* (*gathered)
4. Old man consumed by wrath, unfortunately — the road to hostility? (7)
WARPATH
PA (old man) consumed by (WRATH)* (*unfortunately)
6. Fall of Panama here, immediately? (2,3,4,2,1,3)
AT THE DROP OF A HAT
Double (cryptic) definition
7. Deep hum from first doctor? (5)
DRONE
8. Wrongly report the most beautiful girl at the gallery? (8)
MISSTATE
MISS TATE (the most beautiful girl at the gallery)
9. Curtain coming down, misbehave (4,2)
PLAY UP
Double (cryptic) definition
16. Rise and fall of rate — is that a million miles away? (4,5)
DEEP SPACE
(SPEED)< (rate, <rise) + PACE (rate)
17. Unusual capital city finally rebuilt (8)
ATYPICAL
(CAPITAL [cit]Y (finally))* (*rebuilt)
19. French article on my novel, sharp (6)
LEMONY
LE (French article) + (ON MY)* (*novel)
20. Comfort breaks close? No! (7)
CONSOLE
21. Fat left, lardy in the extreme? (6)
PORTLY
PORT (left) + L[ard]Y (in the extreme)
23. Horse beginning to catch leader on track (5)
STEED
SEED (beginning) to catch T[rack] (leader)
Thanks Mudd and Teacow. Happy New Year to everyone, with a wonderfully smooth solve. The teeniest possible quibble with the blog is that I would include the question marks in the secondary indications at 7dn and 8dn.
For 18A, I am not understanding what TOENAIL has to do with “one’s limit”? Is there an idiom or something? Thanks for any explanation.
Cineraria@2 I think the reference is just to the fact that a toenail is an extremity, hence the question mark.
Very satisfying start to the year.
Particularly liked the surface for MANIFESTO
The ITU defines deep space to start at 2 million km, so we might argue that a million miles is near space, but it’s deep enough for me!
Thanks MUDD and Teacow
TripleJumper@4 re 16dn: I think the comment made by Rudolf@3 re 18ac is equally applicable here: Mudd is asking a question. Personally I am surprised that anyone would could deep space at such a small fraction of the distance from the Earth to the Sun. I would have thought that the diameter of the Solar System would be an absolute minimum distance to consider as deep space. But then again, it is not really my call. Excellent wordplay in this clue.
Correction to 5: “Personally I am surprised that anyone would count deep space as starting at such a small fraction …”
I have now looked up deep space in Collins 2023. It gives it as “any region of outer space beyond the system of the earth and moon”, so even closer than Mudd is suggesting.
Enjoyable and manageable puzzle. I thought FLUFF was very clever when I finally saw it and DEEPSPACE seems similar now that I’ve seen the parsing. I still don’t understand what question marks signify. To me punctuation seems inserted at random as a distraction so until I know better I’m just ignoring it all!
Thanks to Mudd and Teacow and HNY to all.
Newbie@8 A question mark can be used to indicate a definition by example, but, if so, it must immediately follow the word(s) providing the example. An important principle in fair clueing is that the general may be used to define the specific without the need for any qualification, but the specific can be used to define the general only if it is made clear that it is being used as an example. To illustrate this, suppose the answer to a clue is CAT. This could be defined by “animal” without more, but it could not be fairly clued by, say, “lynx” without some qualification, such as “lynx?” or “lynx, perhaps”.
Thanks Teacow and happy new year
I finished this one in record time (well, for me). At times, it seemed a bit heavy on anagrams and one-dimensional, but in the end I agree with the “enjoyable” verdict of others. I thought his double definitions were great today and, of the others, DEEP SPACE and CRESCENDO were my favourites for their surfaces.
I also wondered about TOENAIL, and the best explanation I could come up with was the same as Rudolf @3
Thanks Mudd and Teacow
TITCH, which Collins describes as British, informal, humorous, was the only word ai didn’t know.
Enjoyed this one immensely, with a speedy solve, other than Toenail which required help from a family member.
To my mind, this is a perfect FT crossword.
Favourites were deep space and legendary
Thank you for the blog
Toenail was my last one in when I finally twigged “one’s limit”! It turned out to be mine too. DEEP SPACE also gave me pause until I saw “deeps” backwards. Here , I must comment, that I was pleased to see Mudd equate speed as a rate – ” high rate of speed” is so common and makes me cringe. Thanks Mudd and Teacow and Happy New Year to all.