Financial Times 18,183 by MUDD

24 comments on “Financial Times 18,183 by MUDD”

1. Double def galore indeed.

   Smiles from Mudd as usual. I best liked OPTIC, AUTOMATON, and SEDATED

   A few misses for me. I did not get change = swing and I thought H = explosive gas a bit remote (particularly following an unusual anagrind). And where is the anagram indicator in GOLD MINER?

   Thanks Mudd and Turbolegs

2. In 11a, I took ‘rich’ in the sense of ‘that’s rich (funny) coming from you’. As you say, Turbolegs, loaded with doubled definitions and so, a typical Mudd diversion with plenty of smiles starting with SLAPSTICK and SILLY BILLY – not sure either how to classify it, just knew I liked it.
   Thanks Mudd and Turbolegs!

3. You need two Hs to make a molecule of the gas, but I guess in general use when we say hydrogen, we more often mean the gas than the bare element.

4. Very enjoyable. Liked set alight, stomach, serif, automaton.

   Didn’t like gold miner where there was no way of knowing which letters to leave out of the anagram fodder.

   1a I think slap=makeup (theatrical use) and stick is put, ie the other way round v the blog

   3d I read as a cryptic definition in its entirety

5. Easier than this setter’s puzzle in yesterday’s G and an interesting mini-theme of double defs. I, too, saw 3d as a CD.

   I came here hoping for an explanation for GOLD MINER but there isn’t one. As per Martyn, I see no anagrind and I agree with James P that the deletion is rather unfairly vague – particularly given that we can’t be sure what we are meant to be doing thereafter. I also raised an eyebrow at CATTINESS: either ‘sort’ on its own is the anagrind which works poorly after the fodder – and which also leaves us with ‘wordplay of definition’. Or ‘sort of’ is the anagrind which is even uglier after the fodder. It’s not an &lit which can sometimes explain a seemingly strange construction and the solution is a noun so the def can’t be ‘of malevolence’. Odd.

   BTW, Turbolegs – very small typo, I think, in EARTHLING where ‘gas’ has become ‘guess’ in your notes.

   Thanks both

6. As per James P @4, “slap” is theatrespeak for makeup (learnt that here on this site).

7. Wow, a lot of fun in this one. I completed it quickly even though I got stuck for a while on the top left corner, having assumed 11a was a synonym for money bags, something like MONEY BONES, making SERIF difficult to spot.

   If “money bones” is not an existing term for a greedy billionaire, then I’d like to claim coinage.

   I really liked EARTHLING, the whole clue reminds me of mid 20th century sci-fi.

8. I know tomatoes are red — mostly — but does tomato mean red? Rich/funny was another head scratcher. “Missing two bits” in GOLD MINER I thought was a bit imprecise. All else enjoyable. Anyone else initially put SNAP for 24d?

9. It’s a good call, Geoff, since it fits the double definition and is the right length; I did this grid pretty much chronologically today though so I had those helpful crossers.

10. Fairly easy for a Mudd crossword today?

11. Thanks Mudd and Turbolegs. I am not a fan of double definition clues except when two words of different origin have converged in spelling, but I have to say that Mudd generally does them very well.

    28ac: I would agree with the criticism of this clue. I think it is asking too much of the solver in a puzzle of this type to choose which letters to remove from the anagram fodder without any indication, and there seems to be no overall indicator for the anagram.

    13dn: I think this needs to be reversal of MOOR RED taken together following POW.

    16dn: ODE 2010 p 1871 has tomato [mass noun] the bright red colour of a ripe tomato.

    24dn: Yes Geoff@8: I did.

12. I also entered snap at first in 24d.

13. Some excellent fun but let down by an editing error. I could not fathom the parse for “gold miner” – I tried deleting the I and O from the fodder at first as those are two bits, but that left too few vowels. I would go as far as to say that the clue was doubly flawed for lack of anagrind and the removed parts not being contiguous.

    That aside, lots to like here. “kittens” was possibly my favourite. I think a clue like “silly billy” is fair game even if it cannot be classified. It passes one key test which is that, once you have the answer you are sure it is right, but it did take some crossers to see. One of those every so often is fine, but please not a whole puzzle of them!

    Thanks Mudd and turbo.

14. Thanks Mudd for an enjoyable set of clues. Favourites included REVEL, STOMACH, SEDATED (great surface), KITTENS, and CORGI. (I’m assuming that GI as soldier is now standard & doesn’t require an American modifier.) I agree with the points PostMark made about GOLD MINER & CATTINESS. Thanks Turbolegs for the blog.

15. SNAP? Snap.

16. I had no problem with 28a GOLD MINER. I didn’t cold solve it on the first run-through, but once I had the crossers at M-N-R, the second word was obvious; then, seeing where MINER might come from, anagram came to mind, and with the remaining letters of dig more land (DGOLOD) the solution was pretty obvious. So the criticisms of the clue, while perhaps technically correct in accordance with perceived rules of construction, are overcome by the gettability of the clue.

    I find the differences between Paul and Mudd quite interesting. My take on it is that when he is Mudd he isn’t working as hard as Paul to be difficult, and the result is more pleasing surfaces. So while I tend to admire Paul for his cleverness, I prefer Mudd for his wit.

    My clue of the day, for the delightful surface, was 19a SEDATED.

    Thanks M&T for the excellent puzzle and blog.

17. I was also a snapper.

18. Cellomaniac@16 The fact that it is possible to arrive at the answer to 28A by the means you employed does not excuse the fact that the clue is both defective (in its omission of an anagram indicator) and unfair (in its extremely vague instruction to remove two letters). As far as the removal of two letters is concerned, given that the (unstated) intention is that DIG MORE LAND is to be anagram fodder, it means that, in the absence of crossing letters, there are 55 possible choices to consider. A crossword clue which is not linked to any other clues should, in fairness to solvers, be solvable in isolation.

19. A late thought on 28A:
    “one”, as in 1A, SLAPSTICK, serves as the anagrind. That leaves “searching for buried treasure” as the definition; surely descriptive of GOLD MINER.

20. Coloradan@19 Nice try, but it doesn’t work, I fear. First, although “searching for buried treasure” could, as a verbal noun, serve well-enough as a definition for GOLD MINING, being the activity of a GOLD MINER, it’s not an appropiate nounal form for a person engaged in that activity. Second, even if “one”, rather than the conventional “1”, were to function as a cross-reference to another clue, it would not be sufficient here to identify 1A, as there is also a 1D.

21. Well taken, Rudolf. I was admittedly racking my brains for some kind of solution, and what I proposed would require more that a modicum of slack afforded to the setter with regard to each of your points.

22. Re 28a, the two bits missing are 1 and 0, gettit? Very clever, Mudd.

23. Yes! Macmorris you got!
    Well done.

24. Macmorris@22 You may well be right, but, if so, I can’t see how the clue works.

    I assume we are in agreement that “one searching for buried treasure” is the definition for GOLD MINER. If “two bits” indicates 1 and 0, I see two possible interpretations.

    First, “missing two bits, one searching for buried treasure” gives G[o]LD M[i]NER. How does “Dig more land” provide the wordplay for the letters that remain?

    Second, “Dig more land, missing two bits” gives D[i]G M[o]RE LAND. How does this provide wordplay for GOLD MINER?

    In either case, if an anagram forms the basis of the wordplay, the indicator is not apparent to me.

    Please elaborate.

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