Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of January 16, 2016
Despite a number of unusual clues, I managed to solve this rather quickly so I must be getting well used to Goliath by now. My clue of the week is 12, 13, 23 (SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET) and I also like Goliath’s several clever hidden-word clues.
ACROSS
1 Rejected talent-spotter bill, including script (8)
LIBRETTO – reverse hidden word
5 Was chief police officer whiffy? (6)
RANCID – RAN CID (was chief police officer)
9 Fish for musical instrument, one of a pair (8)
CASTANET – CAST A NET (fish)
10, 11 This notion is playing on pantomime feature (2,2,2,4)
OH NO IT ISNT – anagram of THIS NOTION IS
12, 13, 23 Kent loses, Larking not out? Potential scandal! (9,2,3,6)
SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET – anagram of KENT LOSES + IN THE CLOSET (not out). I take it that the surface references the cricketer John Larking who played for Kent.
14, 26 George starts to live it up with potato salad (9)
AUTOPILOT – anagram of L[ive] I[t] U[p] POTATO
16 Measure the speed of a bird (7)
TITRATE – TIT RATE (the speed of a bird)
19 Stylish coverage of an orderly transition starts to get messy (7)
CHAOTIC – A[n] O[rderly] T[ransition] in CHIC (stylish)
21 Spice club (4)
MACE – double definition
24 Fancy something after cream? (5)
DREAM – after Cream. This is an unconventional clue of a type I like a lot.
25 It is cooking apples that absorb cutback (3,6)
SEX APPEAL – AXE (cut) backwards in anagram of APPLES
27 Note very little time at home in quiet setting (6)
MINUTE – IN (at home) in MUTE (quiet)
28 Begs to be simple or complicated (8)
IMPLORES – anagram of SIMPLE OR
29 Fall gutted: “adieu, thou maiden . . . . (6)
AUTUMN – A[die]U T[ho]U M[aide]N
30 . . . . round thy stem, a rolling stone ” (8)
AMETHYST – reverse hidden word
DOWN
1 Place mat finally for grasshopper (6)
LOCUST – LOCUS (place) + [ma]T
2, 20 One’s hopeless with containers (6,4)
BASKET CASE – BASKET (one container) + CASE (another container)
3 Duck bill eaten by the preceding day (5)
EVADE – AD (bill) in EVE (the preceding day)
4 In the middle of shopping centre, Molotov cocktail causes vibration (7)
TREMOLO – hidden word
6 What he is tickled by is, to some extent, like Dawkins (9)
ATHEISTIC – hidden word
7 European style of raincoat (8)
CROATIAN – anagram of RAINCOAT
8 One doesn’t decide to throw dirt round this place (8)
DITHERER – HERE (this place) in anagram of DIRT
11 See 10
15 Demand mutating mice to lure – only 50% rise (9)
ULTIMATUM – MUTA[ting] MI[ce] T[o] LU[re] all backwards
17 Right away from arches and point back to reach ivory tower (8)
ACADEMIA – A[r]CADE (right away from arches) + AIM (point) backwards
18 After mist starts to lift, notice uprooted tree or shrub (8)
HAZELNUT – HAZE (mist) + L[ift] N[notice] U[prooted] T[ree]
20 See 2
21 Isn’t location embraced by mothers the greatest ? (7)
MAXIMUM – MA (one mother) + XI (isn’t location, referring to 11 across) + MUM (another mother). Originally I was unable to understand how the ‘XI’ was clued here. My thanks to the commenters who supplied the explanation.
22 Gamble with Charles and cheat (6)
BETRAY – BET (gamble) + RAY (Charles)
23 See 12
26 See 14
Thanks Goliath and Pete
21dn: “Isn’t location” is the location of ISN’T at 11ac, so clues XI.
Minor points:
25ac: I am sure you meant to say AXE(cut) reversed (…back).
27ac: I took this as starting with three definitions, separating “very little” from “time”.
3dn: I think the definition is just “Evade”.
… except that I should have said 11dn for the location of ISN’T.
Thanks Pete.
My last one to parse was 21d too.
It is:
ISN’T location = the place where ISN’T can be found in this puzzle: at 11 (down).
11 = XI.
Next, XI is ’embraced’ by MA (mother) and MUM (mother).
Sorry, PB, we crossed.
Sil – no problem. Saying that gives me a chance to correct my other mistake in the first comment.
In 3dn, I meant to say “I think the definition is just “Duck”.
And you’re right.
Thanks, Pete, for a great blog. You seem to be well up with us Goliath fans now!
Like you, I was foxed by the parsing of 21dn and had to phone a friend. I was doubly exasperated with myself because I had earlier that morning solved a similar clue in Tramp’s Prize puzzle!
Many thanks to Goliath, as ever, for another super puzzle.
I lost my original solution to this puzzle and had to re-solve it very quickly again yesterday for the blog. I hope this explains my slip-ups here and there.
Thank you Pelham and Sil for explaining 21d.
The number of the puzzle is wrong! You show it as 15,135 and it was actually 15,139.
Thanks Bob, now corrected.
Thanks Pete and Goliath.
Gaufrid’s last comment explains why I didn’t see the blog till this morning. So once again I suspect I’ll be last in.
I did like this on the whole and spotted the XI in 21dn so was pleased with myself.
But I am a bit perplexed by the number of hidden words – both forward and reverse in 1, 28, 4 & 6 when there are also a large number of take the initial or first two letter extractions in 14/26, 18 and 15.
I remain a fan but this I feel was not Goliath’s best.
Pete in the explanation of 21d you need to lose the +I(???) as the I is included in the X! (eleven)
Thanks Malcolm, I have made the correction.
Late to the party.
How does 24a work please? All I can think of is that dream rhymes with cream and d is after c in the alphabet but that can’t be it.
My take on 24a is that D comes after C in the dictionary so that DREAM would appear right after CREAM in a dictionary in which words are spelled backwards. Does anyone have a different view of this?
Thanks Goliath and Pete
Did this one last week, but only got around to checking it off tonight. Quite an enjoyable solve, although I agree with Hamish about the unusually high number of hidden answers (most of them, very cleverly done) and initial letters – it almost constitutes a theme of sorts !!!
Was able to finish the puzzle off well inside the hour which is a bit unusual for a Goliath and ended up in the SW corner with ACADEMIA, the clever triple definition MINUTE and HAZELNUT as the last few in.