Financial Times 15,028 by Mudd

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Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of September 5, 2015

I find it hard to single out a clue as the best in this puzzle but I do like 12a (ECRU) and 14a (BONA FIDE).  And I still don’t like ‘pants’ as an anagram indicator (see 15d).

Across
1 GOBLIN
Fiend eatin’ loudly (6)

Homophone (“gobblin'”)
4 ORCHID
Bloomer concealed by monster (6)

ORC (monster) + HID (concealed)
8 DISRUPT
Stupid jerks guzzling last of lager, upset (7)

[lage]R in anagram of STUPID
9 GLIMPSE
Good and soft skin of sausage to see (7)

G (good) + LIMP (soft) + S[ausag]E
11 OEDIPUS REX
Prude is harassed in old, old tragedy (7,3)

O (old) + anagram of PRUDE IS + EX (old)
12 ECRU
Shade, where the sun rises on French vineyard (4)

E (where the Sun rises) + CRU (French vineyard)
13 BUGLE
Vacuous life beyond disease, blow it! (5)

BUG (disease) + L[if]E
14 BONA FIDE
A dog endlessly tucks into his favourite food? True! (4,4)

A (a) + FID[o] (dog endlessly) in BONE (his favourite food)
16 COSMETIC
Superficial, enormous boxing alien! (8)

ET (alien) in COSMIC (enormous)
18 RIGHT
Just one direction (5)

Double definition
20 SKYE
Blue whale finally seen somewhere in the Inner Hebrides (4)

SKY (blue) + [whal]E.  This is the second clue for SKYE in a few weeks.
21 PREHENSILE
First of novels, he replies, failing as a gripping tale, say? (10)

Anagram of N[ovels] HE REPLIES.  This clue is unconventional, some would say broken, in that the definition contains a homophone (“a gripping tail” being suggested).
23 PERTAIN
Apply fixed rate in personal code (7)

Anagram of RATE in PIN (personal code)
24 SIMILAR
Identical part of mineral I mistakenly rejected (7)

Reverse hidden word.  While ‘identical’ and ‘similar’ are, well, similar in meaning, I find it a stretch to use one to define the other.
25 DRIVER
Wood close to wild flower (6)

[wil]D + RIVER (flower)
26 KNIGHT
Join together, keeping greyish edges in one piece (6)

G[reyis]H in KNIT (join together)
Down
1 GUISE
Pretence in men, audible (5)

Homophone (“guys”)
2 BARKING
Cuckoo impersonating a dog? (7)

Double definition
3 IMPRUDENT
Devil insulting religious text, playing with fire (9)

IMP (devil) + RUDE (insulting) + NT (religious text, i.e. New Testament)
5 RELAX
Ten bitter rivals initially wound up, calm down (5)

X (ten) + ALE (bitter) + R[ivals] all backwards
6 HIMSELF
I’m cutting meat up for that inward-looking bloke? (7)

IM (I’m) in FLESH (meat) backwards
7 DISCREDIT
Shame something possibly slipped, blushing with it (9)

DISC (something possibly slipped) + RED (blushing) + IT (it)
10 TREBUCHET
Mile off, much better to redesign old missile launcher (9)

Anagram of [m]UCH BETTER.  Not a word I know well but I have come across it before.  A trebuchet was a medieval war engine for hurling large stones.
13 BLOCKHEAD
Rugby player, he punches awful idiot (9)
LOCK (rugby player) + HE (he) together in BAD (awful)
15 NORWEGIAN
European in orange pants, hugging wife (9)

W (wife) in anagram of IN ORANGE
17 MAESTRI
West then south, short journey for eminent leaders (7)

MAE (West) + S (south) + TRI[p]
19 GOSLING
Try and throw little bird (7)

GO (try) + SLING (throw)
21 PRIME
Prepare one or two, perhaps? (5)

Double definition
22 LEAPT
Exercise at the bottom of field, started (5)

LEA (field) + PT (exercise)
*anagram

9 comments on “Financial Times 15,028 by Mudd”

  1. Poor John Halpern.
    Here he made the same mistake as in a recent Guardian crossword.
    21d: 1 is not a prime number!
    Do I forgive him?
    Yes.

    Thanks Pete – beautiful blog!

  2. I also thought that 21A was unconventional. I don’t think that I have seen this device before where the main definition is in the form of an homophone.

    Thanks to Pete and Mudd

  4. 2,13 and 21 down? I don’t get. What does barking have to do with cuckoo or impersonating dog?? Blockhead? I understand prime meaning prepare, but why is one or two also prime? I know I’m probably missing something here, but not sure what. Thanks for the blog Pete.

  5. Karen @4:

    2dn: Barking and cuckoo are both slang terms for mad. Impersonating here means making a noise like a dog.

    13dn: I have given the bare bones in my previous comment @3 – LOCK is a position in Rugby Union football, and “punches” is the containment indicator.

    21dn: Two is certainly a prime number. Some people also consider that one is a prime number, but the more helpful definition for most of mathematics would exclude it – this is the point made by Sil @1.

  6. Thanks Mudd and Pete

    Think that this is the quickest John Halpern puzzle that I have ever completed – but he drew a slip with KNIGHT (had an unconvincing UNIGHT, thought that it was some spelling variation of UNITE with UNI- G.H. – T – the GH in one).

    It was pointed out in the blog of the Guardian puzzle that ONE could equal PRIME, as in the context of being the first.

    Finished down in the SW with PERTAIN, PRIME and DRIVER being the last few in.

  7. Furthermore to 21d, on August 7 (in The Guardian) our beloved setter clued PRIMED by “1, 2 or 3, perhaps, and 500 ready (6)”.
    Some posters pointed out (see bruce@aus above) that ‘1’ might be seen as a synonym for ‘prime’.
    However, that would mean two definitions for a part of the wordplay.
    This is very unlikely as Paul/Mudd doesn’t do these things.

    Moreover, the editor subsequently changed the clue into “2 or 3, perhaps, and 500 ready (6)”.
    This made clear what Paul’s intention was.
    1 is not a prime number, no discussion possible.
    A prime number is a number divisible by only two numbers, 1 and itself.
    (1 is divisible by only one number)

    I am afraid that this puzzle was written in the same period as The Guardian one, and that Mudd’s intention was exactly the same as his alter ego’s.
    Therefore, I think it’s a mistake (which cannot be put right as the FT has no interactive crossword section).

    As I said in my earlier post, I’ll surely forgive the setter (who gave and gives us so much pleasure) but perhaps the editor should have noticed.
    No-one’s perfect, though.

  8. Pelham Barton, Thank you for furnishing the explanation of 13d. I had not figured out the wordplay and had intended to state that in the blog but somehow forgot. Even though I played rugby as a boy, I have no memory of the lock position.

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