Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of February 7, 2015
I found this a fairly easy puzzle with no obscure words or unknown references. My clue of the week is, unusually, a hidden-word one: 8d (RINGTONE). I don’t find any other outstanding clues but the rest are solidly good as usual.
ACROSS
1 Second issue that promotes rebellion (8)
SEDITION – S (second) + EDITION (issue)
5 First in work, Frenchman then retires (6)
OPENER – OP (work) + RENE (Frenchman) backwards
9 Steamship built with air, ton lighter? (8)
ARSONIST – anagram of SS (steamship) AIR TON
10 Source payment that’s brought back in (6)
ORIGIN – GIRO (payment) backwards + IN (in)
12 Clerical residence awfully sore with pagan (9)
PARSONAGE – anagram of SORE PAGAN
13 Love in film is wet (5)
MOIST – O (love) in MIST (film)
14 Dirty colour (4)
BLUE – double definition
16 Design funny lines, an indefinite number (7)
PATTERN – PATTER (funny lines) + N (an indefinite number)
19 Fast fleet, first two switching with last of seven (7)
RAMADAN – ARMADA (fleet) with first two letters transposed + [seve]N
21 Red Cross beyond stain (4)
MARX – MAR (stain) + X (cross)
24 A politician dropping back, concede (5)
AGREE – A (a) + GREE[n] (politician dropping back)
25 Ear piercings ultimately diabolical (5-4)
SHELL-LIKE – [piercing]S + HELL-LIKE (diabolical)
27 Look to cut identical opera (6)
SALOME – LO (look) in SAME (identical)
28 Craft created, welcoming northern vessel (8)
DECANTER – N (northern) in anagram of CREATED
29 Careful boxing right in the corner (6)
CRANNY – R (right) in CANNY (careful)
30 Shark’s relative staying elusive, tiddler finally caught (8)
STINGRAY – [tiddle]R in anagram of STAYING
DOWN
1 Smart and edgy (6)
SNAPPY – double definition
2 Dry ditch (6)
DESERT – double definition
3 Dance beat with energy (5)
TANGO – TAN (beat) + GO (energy)
4 Single enthralling male in a play? (2,5)
ON STAGE – STAG (male) in ONE (single)
6 Variable amount of memory existing primarily in dad! (9)
PARAMETER – RAM (memory) + E[xisting] in PATER (dad)
7 That’s sheer glee I suspect after information turns up (8)
NEGLIGEE – GEN (information) + anagram of I GLEE
8 Sound of modern life somewhat jarring to neighbours? (8)
RINGTONE – hidden word (and a very good one!)
11 Source of drug, male member (4)
HEMP – HE (male) + MP (member)
15 Philanderer succumbs in embrace of priest, ending in salvation (6,3)
LADIES MAN – DIES (succumbs) in LAMA (priest) + [salvatio]N
17 Appalling racist is millions of years behind a Neanderthal! (8)
TRIASSIC – anagram of RACIST IS
18 Comprehensive cover for the British weather? (8)
UMBRELLA – double definition
20 Audible refusals, blow it! (4)
NOSE – homophone (“noes”)
21 Main supporter rescuing sheep, a life-saver (3,4)
MAE WEST – EWES (sheep) in MAST (main)
22 Hard to accept drink (6)
BITTER – double definition
23 Not entirely new, then old (6)
NEARLY – N (new) + EARLY (old)
26 Pick up king and knight (5)
LEARN – LEAR (king) + N (knight)
Sometimes it must be a wavelength thing as I solved less than 50% of this and thought I was lucky to get that far.
I assume that 21d is rhyming slang for life vest -but I’d never come across it.
I don’t really see how elusive is an anagram indicator in 30a .
I’m interested to see how the other regulars got on .
Thanks Mudd and Pete
Found this a workmanlike puzzle – not easy / not hard. Didn’t spot the hidden RINGTONE which was very clever – had based the answer on a weak cryptic definition.
Didn’t realise that the shark and stingray were related before this.
Hi Bamberger … I think that they were called Mae Wests because they resembled her bust when they were put on. :).
Found this relatively easy (so it must have been bearing in mind my capabilities,) but got hell-ole not hell-like and so couldn’t get the bitter. Apart from that good
I did the same thing–shell hole, and could not get bitter even as I look at it now a straightforward clue.
I, too, thought ringtone was a brilliant clue. Especially with “sound” in the clue, leading towards a homophone.
I have heard of Mae West as a life preserver but still I stared at the M-E for the longest time. Why do those light bulb moment take so long?
Thanks to Mudd and Pete