[If you’re attending York S&B please see comments 32&33] - here
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of November 22, 2014
Some people have mentioned this before and, on this occasion, even I am struck by Mudd’s heavy use of double definitions. He starts off with a grand one, 1a, a double definition for ‘double’, follows up with another I like in 23d (STIFF), but also includes one that seems a bit lazy, 16a (BANANAS). My out-front favourite clue in the puzzle is 19d (BY GEORGE) and I also applaud 24a (PERNICKETY).
ACROSS
1 Final dart for drink (6)
DOUBLE – double definition — how appropriate!!!
4 Seducer – one’s thick and fruity! (8)
SMOOTHIE – double definition
10 A musician – someone not to be trusted! (7)
FIDDLER – double definition
11 This roc, extraordinary bird (7)
OSTRICH – anagram of THIS ROC
12 Grass lawn’s ending on ship (4)
NARK – [law]N + ARK (ship)
13 Line relieving tension in vessel (3-7)
ICE-BREAKER – double definition
15 Mild earthquake knocking over capitals of Italy, Russia and Turkey (6)
TREMOR – ROME (capital of Italy) R[ussia] T[urkey] all backwards
16 Insane hand? (7)
BANANAS – double definition
20 Slowing down, boast about family (7)
BRAKING – KIN (family) in BRAG (boast)
21 Last of metal in copper, blotchy (6)
BLOBBY – [meta]L in BOBBY (copper)
24 Particular nicety with perk that’s unexpected (10)
PERNICKETY – anagram of NICETY PERK
26 Painful thing faced last year, to some extent (4)
STYE – hidden word
28 Lovely thing, cool fruit (7)
ROSEHIP – ROSE (lovely thing) + HIP (cool)
29 Smack all the faces on Mount Rushmore, including John! (7)
FLAVOUR – LAV (john) in FOUR (all the faces on Mount Rushmore). Before solving it I suspected this clue had something very clever in it but it turned out to be nothing special just with an extravagant definition for FOUR.
30 Holiness starts to come through in reason (8)
SANCTITY – C[ome] T[hrough] in SANITY (reason)
31 Sitter fumbled – that’s sad (6)
TRISTE – anagram of SITTER
DOWN
1 Certain energy comes with bit of fish in varied diet (8)
DEFINITE – E (energy) + FIN (bit of fish) together in anagram of DIET
2 Wife in rare nude snaps – this nowhere to be seen? (9)
UNDERWEAR – W (wife) in anagram of RARE NUDE
3 Calm university, some of those learning to embrace it? (4)
LULL – U (university) in LLL (some of those learning)
5 Gaze dreamily and smile, seeing night light (8)
MOONBEAM – MOON (gaze dreamily) + BEAM (smile)
6 Where placemats are submitted for consideration (2,3,5)
ON THE TABLE – double definition
7 Yank, one into wine (5)
HOICK – I (one) in HOCK (wine)
8 Old codger ultimately partial to passionate urge (6)
EXHORT – EX (old) + [codge]R in HOT (passionate)
9 Good bloke building unit (5)
BRICK – double definition
14 Lie on one’s head? (4-3,3)
PORK-PIE HAT – cryptic definition
17 Burden of rare success on a golf course? (9)
ALBATROSS – double definition. In golf, an albatross refers to a double eagle. What’s an eagle? A score of two under par at a hole.
18 Chaotic situation is taken badly, parliamentary leader admitted (5,3)
SNAKE PIT – P[arliamentary] in anagram of IS TAKEN
19 Among Orwell’s oeuvre, possibly? Well well! (2,6)
BY GEORGE – double definition
22 Female novelist’s flashes (6)
SPARKS – SPARK’S (female novelist’s). This refers to Muriel Spark.
23 Difficult responsibility of an undertaker? (5)
STIFF – double definition
25 Solvent initially kept in check, as sticky substance (5)
RESIN – S[olvent] in REIN (check)
27 So-so entertainment (4)
FAIR – double definition
Pete, I am glad you agree with me that Mudd (a very well respected and admired setter) overuses the “Double definition” device too often.
Today there were 10 of them!
Still, an enjoyable solve.
There’s a typo in 12ac, should be NARK.
This would have been a record solve time for me had it not been for 16a where I stared at ?a?a?a?. I got fixated on mada?a?. My solve process for this puzzle was more or less look at clue , think about it, write in answer but despite that I was nowhere near being under 10 minutes (bar 16a). How on earth do solvers do crosswords in about 5 minutes ? I know that speed isn’t everything but I’m intrigued as to how they can do it so fast .
Thanks Mudd and Pete
BANANAS was my last one in too !!
A workmanlike Paul which took just on the hour to get through.
No real standouts … and I don’t get carried away too much with his double definitions, mainly because they are not just double definitions – there’s usually a cryptic twist to at least one of his definitions.
Ah, yes, I misspelled NARK — thank you, Sil. That prompted me to look up the original of the word to learn that it comes from a Romany word ‘nak’ meaning nose. Fascinating.
Bamberger, I am typically not a quick solver even though I have been doing it for decades. I do occasionally finish in a single sitting, perhaps 20 minutes or so, but never in as little as 5.
Bruce, as I wrote, I thought for the first time that Mudd might be overdoing it a little with double definitions but I totally acknowledge that he is very good at them!
Hamburger why do you worry? If I solve one completely at all it is usually a week, just time enough to get the entry in.
Malcolm @5 -not really worrying just wondering how it is physically possible to read a clue , think about it, solve it, write it in and not get stuck and get under 10 minutes
Thanks Pete and Mudd
When I finally got bananas I was reminded of another dd to it “Fruit and nuts!”