Financial Times 14,298 by Cinephile

by

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of April 27, 2013

I found this puzzle fairly easy and generally rather good. I am also a little unsure of how to characterize 4A (SPARE RIB). My favourite clue is 9A (NETTLE).

Across
1. SAFARI – AFAR (in the distance) in IS (is) backwards
4. SPARE RIB – double definition?
9. NETTLE – double definition. The second refers to a flower called the Dead Nettle.
10. PRODIGAL – ROD (punishment) in PIG (creature) + A (a) + L (pound)
12, 13, 14. HALF-TIME SCORE – HAL (prince) + FT (paper) + SEMI backwards + CORE (heart). Clever use of ‘semi-retired’!
17. DISAFFECTION – F (francs) in SAFE (a secure place) in DICTION (speaking)
20. CHANGING ROOM – C (many, i.e. 100) + HANG IN (persist) + GROOM (smarten)
23, 24, 25. HAVE ITCHY FEET – anagram of THE CAFE THE IVY
28. NARCOTIC – N (northern) + O (oxygen) in ARCTIC (ocean)
29. CHUBBY – double/cryptic definition
30. ONONDAGA – ON ON (performing continuously) + GADA backwards. The Onondaga people are one of the nations of the Iroquois.
31. ADVENT – V (five) in A (a) DENT (depression)

Down
1. SUNSHADE – SUN SHADE (opposites)
2. FATALIST – anagram of TAIL in FAST (Lent, say)
3, 15, 26. RULE OF THE ROAD – anagram of LOATHED FURORE
5. PERFECT SIGHT – PER (by means of) + ECTs (shock treatments, i.e. electro-convulsive therapyies) in FIGHT (battle). In my original blog posting I had this wrong, thought that the answer was PERFECT LIGHT — which did not fit the wordplay. Thanks to a commenter I am able to correct it.
6, 16, 27. RIDE ROUGHSHOD – RIDER (horseman) + anagram of HUGS HOOD
7. REGION – anagram of IGNORE
8. BALLET – ALL (every) in BET (put your shirt on)
11. LIKE ANYTHING – anagram of A HENTY in LIKING (predilection)
18. HONEYBEE – Spoonerism of BUNNY HE (male rabbit)
19. AMETHYST – METHY[lates] (half the spirits) in A (a) ST (street). I originally had this as “METHY[lated]” but, as a commenter points out (see below), ‘methylates’ has to be right since it is the appropriate part of speech while ‘methylated’ is not.
21. SHINTO – HINT (trace) in SO (like this)
22. OVERDO – REV (clergyman) backwards in ODO (medieval bishop). The only Odo I know is the character in Star Trek Deep Space Nine but Wikipedia tells us that there have been several notable Odos in history including a couple of bishops.

10 comments on “Financial Times 14,298 by Cinephile”

  1. Many thanks, Pete.

    I think 5d is PERFECT SIGHT.
    Definition: “Beatific vision”.
    Construction: PER (by, as ‘by means of’) + {ECTs (plural!!) inside FIGHT (battle)}.

    SPARE RIB was – as my PinC told me – a well-known feminist magazine in the 70s and 80s.

    Good crossword.

    BTW, ever thought of including the clues into your blog?

  2. Thanks, Sil, I have corrected the explanation of 5d.

    I have indeed thought of including the clues in my blog but have not done so so far for two reasons. First I have had no sense that people want that. And second, while I know that you and some other bloggers include clues, I have been concerned about the copyright legality of doing so.

  3. I’ve quite often asked for people to reproduce the clues. I got the reply that, first, the administrators don’t want to impose such a requirement on all bloggers, and secondly that it’s a lot harder to do it with some of the daily cryptically than with others. I don’t think anyone commented on the legal issue. I think it must be ok where the puzzles are already available to everyone but don’t quote me…

    This one seems a long time ago but I remember liking the trickery with “half time score” – the weird split etc. I’d also like to put a word in for “bunny he” – though I don’t expect everyone to agree. Thanks for the blog.

  4. Thoma99, Thank you for commenting. I think I will do a blog with clues included in the near future to get an idea of how much extra work it entails and also to gauge the response. I believe there is some software that can help extract the clues in a handy form.

  5. Thanks for the blog, Pete. And thanks to Sil for the explanation for 4a. I wondered whether it was some reference to Adam and Eve, but couldn’t justify feminists. But perhaps that is the origin of the name of the magazine. The Spoonerism at 18d eluded me, but I smiled when I read the solution. Finally, to really pick nits, I think one component of 19d is METHY[lates] (vice METHY[lated]).

  7. On the subject of including the clues in the blog, I’ve never done it (except for an Azed recently that required the clues) because, quite apart from the hassle involved, it has always seemed to me that anyone who has done the crossword and is interested enough to look at its blog will have the clues to hand.

  9. I’d like the clues, please, at least in the case of a prize crossword: either I will have thrown the clues away in frustration or I will have sent the finished puzzle to the FT. There should be no copyright objection: fair dealing for criticism and review (Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 30) ought to cover it (but TINLA).

Comments are closed.