Financial Times 17,924 by MUDD

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Mudd is the setter today.

I found this a bit of a mixed bag. Some of the clues, especially that for IDIOM (my favourite) were excellent, but others were a bit meh, in my opinion. I couldn't parse AUSTRALIA as there seems to be an unindicated A, so I'm hoping someone can put me right on that one. I also found THREE-POINT TURN a bit clumsy as nearly half a gallon is "three pintS". In 10ac, HATH doesn't mean HAD, it meant HAS.

Thanks, Mudd.

ACROSS
1 STORE DETECTIVE
A shopper’s shopper? (5,9)

Cryptic definition
10 HEATH
Old PM had old jackets back in suitcase (5)

HATH ("had", old) jackets [back in] (suitcas)E

I think hath is old form of "has", rather than "had", though?
11 SPEARMINT
Man with ripest bananas, fresh flavour (9)

*(man ripest) [anag:bananas]
12 NOTABLE
Celebrity hamstrung? (7)

NOT ABLE ("hamstrung?")
13 DUSTMAN
Council worker in the morning back on street with brownish clothing (7)

<=AM (ante meridiem, so "in the morning", back) on St. (street) with DUN ("brownish") clothing
14 STRAP
Belt components reversed (5)

<=PARTS ("components", reversed)
16 AUSTRALIA
United in star-spangled identity originally, a large country (9)

I can' t parse this. I can see U (united) in *(star) [anag:spangled] and I(dentity) [originally] and A + L (large), but there's still an A missing and I can't find a way of putting the AL in the right pplace from the wording of the clue.
19 CRACKDOWN
Restraint shown when miserable after split (9)

DOWN ("miserable") after CRACK ("split")
20 WEIGH
Measure direction for the listener? (5)

Homophone/pun/aural wordplay [for thelistener] of WAY ("direction")
22 PIT PROP
Supporter of mine? (3,4)

Cryptic definition.

Chambers has this as one word, but Oxford has it as two.
25 LETTERS
Learning Latvian and Erse, mostly (7)

LETT ("Latvian") + ERS(e) [mostly]
27 LIKE AS NOT
Soil taken to be scattered, probably (4,2,3)

*(soil taken) [anag:to be scattered]
28 METRE
Measure that’s simple saving time (5)

MERE ("simple") saving T (time)
29 THREE-POINT TURN
Test of driver’s competence ending in fiasco amid theatrical performance after almost half a gallon of beer? (5-5,4)

[ending in] (fiasc)O amid (TURN ("theatrical performance") after THREE PINT ("almost half a gallon beer?"))
DOWN
2 TRATTORIA
Restaurant having served pastry up, what does Vic have for afters? (9)

<=TART ("pastry", served up) + (vic)TORIA ("what does Vic have for afters?")
3 REHAB
Treatment with respect to whaler having lost head (5)

RE ("with respect to") + (a)HAB ("whaler" (in Moby Dick) having lost head)
4 DESPERADO
Criminal deeds a pro carried out (9)

*(deeds a pro) [anag:carried out]
5 TREAD
Surface of tyre, look at — that? (5)

[surface of] T(yre) + READ ("look at") and semi &lit.
6 CORKSCREW
A hundred casual workers claiming minimum of compensation, one’s taken to the bottle (9)

C ("a hundred") + *(workers) [anag:casual] claiming [minimum of] C(ompensation)
7 IDIOM
Expression is deep in one’s memory, initially (5)

I(s) D(eep) I(n) O(ne's) M(emory) [initially]
8 ESTONIA
Erection of perfect Roman feature around capital in troubled country (7)

[erection of] <=A1 NOSE ("perfect Roman feature") around [capital in] T(roubled]
9 THANKS
M. Ryan’s co-star in Sleepless in Seattle cheers (6)

M(eg) Ryan's co-star in Sleepless in Seattle was T(om) HANKS
15 POKER FACE
Index finger on fine card, player might wish to retain it! (5,4)

POKER (finger used to prod, so "poker") on F (fine) + ACE ("card")
17 SINGLETON
Insolent rogue entertaining first of girls, lonely heart say? (9)

*(insolent) [anag:rogue] entertaining [first of] G(irls)
18 LEICESTER
English city re-elects liberal retaining leader of integrity (9)

*(reelects) [anag:liberal] retaining [leader of] I(ntegrity)
19 CO-PILOT
Assistant on plane bound to go up in flier (2-5)

<=LIP ("bound", (as in boundary), to go up) in COOT ("flier")
21 HOSTEL
Leases I see up in youth’s accommodation? (6)

<=(LETS ("leases") + OH ("I see"), up)
23 TAKER
Exchange rate about a thousand, someone accepting offer (5)

*(rate) [anag:exchange] about K (a thousand)
24 PANTO
Christmas show performed on tap (5)

*(on tap) [anag:performed]
26 TEMPT
Egg on toast every morning particularly tasty for starters (5)

T(oast) E(very) M(orning) P(articularly) T(asty) [for starters]

23 comments on “Financial Times 17,924 by MUDD”

  2. Hovis @1 has it for AUSTRALIA.
    I did like TRATTORIA for the “what does Vic have for afters” and TEMPT for the deceptive “egg on toast”.

  3. A fine puzzle from Mudd in the run-up to the holidays.
    I had so many ticks: REHAB, THANKS (‘Cheers’ in italics might have been a neat deception here), TEMPT and, as an East Midlander, how could I not love LEICESTER (nice surface)?
    There were more but suffice it to say, I was well entertained today.
    Thanks to Mudd and Loonapick

  6. Being not merely an East Midlander but an actual Leicestrian, I’m even more chuffed than Diane.

    My other faves were the same as KVa’s (I loved the ‘egg on toast’).

    Thanks Mudd and loonapick.

  7. Thanks loonapick, I agree that “hath” is more likely to mean “has” than “had”. Although Shakespeare used “Cassius HAS a lean and hungry look”, so “hath”, if it ever existed, must predate that.

    The most common use of “hath” that I have seen would be in the common phrase “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” but this is incorrect as the original quotation was “Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.” Many people equate it with Shakespeare” but it is from “The Mourning Bride” by William Congreve.

    Re 29D: I solved it from the definition and the “(5-5,4)” as I have no idea of what pints and gallons are. It’s time that the US and UK joined the rest of the world and adopted decimals!

    Thanks to all who contributed.

  8. As clear as Mudd….by which I mean, a gridful of clean and clever clues.
    Nice to see “criminal” as a wrong-footing element in 4(down).
    Lots of well-constructed surfaces, in fact, 100% I think.
    26(down) is such a lovely clue, TEMPT being ” to entice in” rather than “to urge on” would be a very petty quibble.
    Ditto, TREAD in 5(down), where I’m very happy to accept that the grooves in a tyre are an integral part of its surface.

    16(ac)…….AUSTRALIA: I went into the same cul-de-sac, loonapick, and it took me ages to see the setter’s crafty play.
    A totally enjoyable puzzle, too many winning clues to single one out.

    Regards, Mudd & loonapick

  9. I could not parse HEATH and did not think through AUSTRALIA. Is “star-spangled” = “astral,” even cryptically? I guess so. Thanks for the discussion.

  10. Having wrestled with Mudd’s alter ego in the Guardian this morning, I found this a relief in comparison. There is always going to be the odd quibble with this setter but there was a lot of fun, some very neat cluing and some good surfaces. DUSTMAN, AUSTRALIAN, PIT PROP, LETTERS, LIKE AS NOT, DESPERADO, IDIOM, POKER FACE and TEMPT were my faves today.

    Thanks Paul and Loonapick

  11. Thanks Mudd and Loonapick

    10ac: Looking in the usual dictionaries, I could only find hath as present tense, not past.

    16ac in answer to Cineraria@9: Chambers 2016 p 90 has “starry” as a definition of astral, which must be broad enough in meaning to cover “star-spangled adj spangled or studded with stars” (p 1519).

    While I am in, did anyone else try (or, will anyone else admit to trying) WAIST at 20ac, as a very approximate soundalike for west?

  12. PostMark@10: forgive my ignorance, I’m a relative newcomer. Are PAUL and MUDD, the Clark Kent and Superman of the setting world?
    If so, CHALK and CHEESE come to mind.
    And I will feel like a Yoghurt after my postings today.

    cheers IanB

  14. Thanks Mudd and Loonapick. The whaler had me laughing aloud when I finally saw it. This was decidedly Mudd-y, lots of fun.

  15. A bit of a mixed bag we thought. Some excellent clues such as for REHAB and CORKSCREW but also some that we found hardly cryptic; 22ac and 9dn were almost simple GK clues.
    9dn, though, to Mudd and loonapick (and to Hovis for parsing 16ac).

  19. Claudia@18: The site’s FAQ page includes the statement “Our aim is to have a full blog of each daily puzzle published by mid-afternoon.”

  21. 19dn replying to christopher@20: I think the intended meaning of lip is the one given in ODE 2010 p 1029 “the edge of a hollow container or an opening: the lip of the cup.” This can be compared to “bound² a boundary”, which is explicitly in ODE p 202.

  22. Probably nobody will see this now, but I made AUSTRALIA U(nited) in (STAR)* with “spangled” as anagrind, plus ALIA(s) for the “identity originally” bit. Don’t think it’s the intended parsing, but it worked for me.

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