Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of July 26, 2014
I found this puzzle challenging and only moderately satisfying. My top clues are 1a (COQUET), 24a (FAUSTIAN) and 25a (ARGYLE).
ACROSS
1 What Parisian is in bed with flirty woman? (6)
COQUET – QUE (what Parisian) in COT (bed). ‘Coquet’ in both French and English refers to a flirty man. The clue is a semi-&lit, meaning, in this case, that the whole clue stands as the definition (and a mighty good one) while part of it serves as wordplay. I gather that the very notion of a semi-&lit is contentious but I am content to use the term. I originally did not see this clue as now described here and there is some discussion of it in the comments below that relates to my original and, I regret to say, less appreciative take on it.
4 Steward has plan – mice destroyed (8)
MANCIPLE – anagram of PLAN MICE. Manciple is a word I knew having come across it in a crossword before. The meaning is a person in charge of food purchasing and storage for an institution such as a college.
9 One singer by river bridge is famous here (6)
RIALTO – R (river) + I (one) + ALTO (singer)
10 Fixing a meeting? Attempt to get smart (8)
TRYSTING – TRY (attempt) + STING (smart)
12 Trainee is competent finally to become physician (9)
INTERNIST – INTERN (trainee) + IS (is) + [competen]T
13 Woman overwhelmed by mad element (5)
ADELE – hidden word
14 London building a tram hideously damaged (9,5)
ADMIRALTY HOUSE – anagram of A TRAM HIDEOUSLY
17 Club with new temporary accommodation, intended to dispel a feeling of unease (14)
DISCONTENTMENT – DISCO (club) + N (new) + TENT (temporary accommodation) + ME[a]NT (intended to dispel a)
21 A king beset by fear, tossing and turning? (5)
AWAKE – A (a) + K (king) together in AWE (fear)
22 Leader of revolution is Stalin, violently leaning to the left (9)
SINISTRAL – anagram of R[evolution] IS STALIN
24 As if aunt would be naughty, giving in to the devil! (8)
FAUSTIAN – anagram of AS IF AUNT
25 See about joining a right good Devon football team (6)
ARGYLE – A (a) + R (right) + G (good) + ELY (see) backwards. This clue has a great surface but requires either local knowledge or a look-up (in Wikipedia for me) to find that the football team referred to is Plymouth Argyle.
26 Story-teller meanders entertainingly – several will drop off (8)
ANDERSEN – hidden word. This refers, I take it, to Hans Christian Andersen.
27 Time to get the Olympic-style Jessica into the game (6)
TENNIS – T (time) + ENNIS (the Olympic-style Jessica). This refer to Olympian Jessica Ennis (who is now known as Jessica Ennis-Hill).
DOWN
1 Spanish events? Gosh, free! When? (8)
CORRIDAS – COR (gosh) + RID (free) + AS (when)
2 A tiny bit of scientific theory (7)
QUANTUM – double definition
3 Chemical book hospital disposed of (5)
ESTER – EST[h]ER (book hospital disposed of)
5 One attractive girl can make quite a bit (1,6,5)
A PRETTY PENNY – A (one) + PRETTY (attractive) + PENNY (girl)
6 Search shed before a period doing something (4,5)
CAST ABOUT – CAST (shed) + A (a) + BOUT (period doing something)
7 Note about device for fixing shrubs (7)
PRIVETS – RIVET (device) in PS (note)
8 Little bird, surprisingly elegant, with any number flying (6)
EAGLET – anagram of ELEGA[n]T
11 Ridiculously big tales when fish is caught? Lots of fish here! (12)
BILLINGSGATE – LING (fish) in anagram of BIG TALES. Billingsgate is the name of London’s fish market.
15 Soldiers turning up see fellow married at end of book (9)
ROCHESTER – OR (soldiers, i.e. Other Ranks) backwards + CHESTER (see, as in a bishop’s)
16 Suspicious-looking chaps? May get someone gossiping aboard ship (8)
STALKERS – TALKER (someone gossiping) in SS (aboard ship)
18 Copper in foreign country, Germany, inclined to fly off the handle (7)
IRACUND – CU (copper) in IRAN (foreign country) + D (Germany). This is a new word for me.
19 Attention given to official herald before the main business? (5,2)
EARLY ON – EAR (attention) + LYON (official herald). Lyon is the name given to the chief herald of Scotland apparently.
20 Fliers if ascending must go over a tree (6)
RAFFIA – RAF (fliers) + IF (if) backwards + A (a)
23 What sounds like swell material (5)
SERGE – homophone (“surge”)
Thanks Pete.
In 15d (ROCHESTER), I think, you should take ‘see’ as the definition for CHESTER (like Ely, in most crosswords).
Which leaves us with “fellow at the end of book” for the definition.
Bradman doesn’t so mistakes, you know.
Good puzzle.
I particularly liked the original hidden indicator in 26ac.
ps, to be pedantic, your blog would really benefit from underlining the definition as most of the bloggers do nowadays.
Bradman doesn’t do mistakes – with a “d” not an “s”, of course.
Phew, one more post.
ROCHESTER = ‘fellow married at the end of book’.
[it’s all so difficult – that’s why I never married – or whatever]
Sil, I am shocked that I managed to parse 15d wrongly! Thank you for setting me straight. I have fixed the error.
I have considered underlining definitions and will actually do it in future. Thanks for that nudge.
18 down is one of the 400 or so words to have disappeared from the paper version of the 13th Chambers edition, though it is still there in electronic versions.
Anyone contemplating buying the new paper version should be aware of this. There has been, variously, talk of Chambers pulping it and starting again, or issuing a supplement with the missing words in prior to a revamped inclusive print.
I was also rather bemused by 1A as I only knew coquette as a flirty woman from the French.
27A The athlete was known as Jessica Ennis before she got married last year.
3D I was thinking of the OT book Est(h)er.
Thanks to Pete & Bradman
This was equivalent of booking on a skiing holiday to Ellmau and ending up in St Anton in icy conditions. Coquet, manciple, trysting,internist, corridas and iracund were unknown or perhaps known but forgotten. I solved about 7 or 8 and had a pub lunch which spilled into a sesion with someone who solves the Times completely about 50% of the time and we got about about another ten out but the NW was completely blank.
I know Sil will disagree but I think this was too hard for the FT Saturday -there is always the Indie, Times and Grauniad for those wanting a stiffer challenge.
Thanks Bradman and Pete
Enjoyable puzzle from the Don in his FT guise.
I read 1a as an &lit with the ‘Parisian in bed with flirty woman’ being the COQUET and she would be the COQUETTE.
Agree with Ernie’s version on 3d and 27a.
ARGYLE was a bit hard to find … and see that they play in Football League Two – which is a few grades down from the EPL (fourth level according to wiki) … and you would’ve had to be a keen follower to know of them I’m thinking.
The setter is prone for obscure words and MANCIPLE and INTERNIST were new to me. I had seen IRACUND before, but probably only in another crossword.
ernie, My bad regarding 3d (ESTER). I knew well that the book referred to was the biblical Esther but somehow managed to get it wrong in the blog. I have now corrected the explanation. Thanks for pointing it out.
Thank you ernie and brucew for the clarification about 27a. I am not much of a sports fan (although I did watch this year’s World Cup final) and had not heard of Jessica Ennis (or Ennis-Hill) before. So I gather now that, as an Olympian, she was known simply as Jessica Ennis.
Regarding 1a (COQUET), I have now received communications from two people claiming that this clue is an &lit. I cannot quite see it that way. On the one hand, reading the entire clue as the definition does serve well to clue COQUET. On the other hand, reading the whole clue as wordplay does not seem to work because “with flirty woman” plays no role that I can see. So, at best, it would seem to be what some people call a semi-&lit — which exposes it as a much finer clue than I originally gave it credit for being (sorry Don!). The trouble for me is that the very notion of a semi-&lit. seems to be very contentious; some people claim that there is (or should be) no such thing.
Any more opinions about this?
On 4 ac you will find Chaucer has a Manciple’s tale. (I forgot)
On 1ac I worked out it had to be coquet and assumed the setter had been confused. However, if you assume that there is a coquet and a coquette in the bed it makes perfect sense.
COQUET – I am not sure that coquet in French (or in English) has the meaning of a man who flirts. In French it seems to be used only as an adjective and in English only as a verb.
Hi ernie
I use freedictionary.com which seems to father definitions from a range of sources.. It has this as an entry for coquet:
co•quet (ko??k?t)
3. Obs. a male flirt.
Pete, just going back to 1a – with the &lit argument , I think ‘with flirty woman.’ is required to put context around the male … so he is not a paramour, roué, etc … but a coquet. 🙂
This was tough. Never met internist as a physician, tho’ knew intern and couldn’t connect. Iracund also totally new. I try not to use the dictionary and wouldn’t have found these words in my Chambers even if I did.
Agree this was a tough one but don’t agree grauniad is tougher. I visit a friend occasionally on a Saturday evening and between us we usually finish the Guardian.
thanks as ever Pete I just don’t know how you do it!