Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of April 12, 2015
Gaff is new to me and new to this space but known elsewhere, especially for themed puzzles. This puzzle took me some time. I am not used to answers such as TEE UP TWICE (1a) and GAY LAD (20a), phrases that are not terms one finds in dictionaries. I don’t mean to suggest there is anything wrong with cluing such terms but it does seem unconventional. And while most clues are pretty solid, I do not find any that stand out.
Seeing that Gaff is known for themed puzzles, I was originally a little disappointed not to find a theme in this one. But I missed it! There is not a theme in the clues, but a strong theme in the answers. Many of them (or combinations of them) are Grand National winners. My great thanks to Muffyword for pointing this out in a comment. This raises my esteem of the puzzle considerably. I am also kicking myself because I did not spot Red Rum (13a and 23a) which is the only one of the winners whose name I knew.
ACROSS
1 What bad driver may have to do after accident with cute peewit (3,2,5)
TEE UP TWICE – anagram of CUTE PEEWIT
6 High rollers make site visits (4)
SURF – double definition
9 Determine whether to follow City and watch outside (7)
SPECIFY – EC (city) + IF (whether) together in SPY (watch)
10 Hearing two insects is a possibility (5,2)
MIGHT BE – homophone (“mite bee”). It is hardly reprehensible but technically this clue is faulty because a mite is an arachnid, not an insect.
12 Cocktail girl follows secure convention (4,6)
PINA COLADA – PIN (secure) + ACOL (convention) + ADA (girl). ACOL is a convention in the game of bridge — something I did not know.
13 Bloody warfare destroys houses (3)
RED – hidden word
15 Girls regularly former partners of The Hollies (6)
ILEXES – [g]I[r]L + EXES (former partners). Ilex is a genus of trees that includes the hollies.
16 Gypsy starts winning with pair of queens (8)
WANDERER – W[inning] + AND (with) + ER ER (pair of queens)
18 Bad vibes about endless Benny Hill (3,5)
BEN NEVIS – [b]ENN[y] in anagram of VIBES. Are we Scots going to let Gaff get away with calling Ben Nevis a hill?!?!
20 Happy chappy, happy to secure a happy ending (3,3)
GAY LAD – A (a) + [happ]Y together in GLAD (happy)
23 24 of West Indian cricketers? (3)
RUM – RUM (passion of West Indians)
24 Passion for side order is part time (4,6)
TEAM SPIRIT – anagram of IS PART TIME
26 Thus maintaining degree of restraint (7)
EMBARGO – MBA (degree) in ERGO (thus)
27 Child keeps close after dark (7)
TONIGHT – NIGH (close) in TOT (child)
28 Dealt with missing opener being out for a duck (4)
TEAL – anagram of [d]EALT
29 Piece of America revolutionised in one click (6,4)
NICKEL COIN – anagram of IN ONE CLICK
DOWN
1 International trial (4)
TEST – double definition
2 Say I start singing Elijah after end of Handel’s lament (7)
ELEGISE – [hand]EL + EG (say) + I (I) + S[inging] E[lijah]
3 Where investor seeks company to tackle city hill (7,6)
PRIVATE SECTOR – PRIVATES (tackle) + EC (city) + TOR (hill)
4 Might as well report champagne stolen in Stepney (3,3)
WHY NOT – homophone (“wine hot” in a Cockney accent)
5 Invitation to elope or separate (4,4)
COME AWAY – double definition
7 Apparently more complete speaker (7)
UTTERER – UTTER-ER (more complete)
8 Middle ranking new age fiddler (5,5)
FIELD GRADE – anagram of AGE FIDDLER
11 Magnificent gallery featuring Chair once (5,8)
GRAND NATIONAL – GRAND (magnificent) + NATIONAL (gallery) with a cryptic definition referring to “The Chair” which is the name of a fence at Aintree race course that, unlike most fences, is jumped only once in the course of the Grand National.
14 Expulsion by run down landlords before time (10)
DISBARMENT – DIS (run down) + BARMEN (landlords) + T (time)
17 Italian constituent’s austerity Blair quoted (8)
RIGATONI – homophone (“rigour Tony”)
19 No-one asked Mandela if being independent advantaged leaders of country (7)
NAMIBIA – first letters
21 It only gets slightly damaged alongside (5,2)
LYING TO – anagram of IT ONLY G[ets]. “Lie to” is a nautical term.
22 Half wits add to speed king’s disapproval (3,3)
TSK TSK – [wi]TS + KTS (speed, i.e. knots) + K (king)
25 Overwhelm insane uprising (4)
STUN – NUTS (insane) backwards
Hi Pete,
I think the reason for some obscure entries is that racehorses’ names are often a little strange.
I always enjoy Gaff’s puzzles, and this was no exception.
Ah, Muffyword, are you suggesting that Gaff is the Dick Francis of crossword compilers? I see now that Gaylad (not Gay Lad) is the name of a racehorse. “Tee Up Twice” does not reveal any such provenance. (Maybe it should be Gee Up Twice?)
RED RUM, BEN NEVIS, WHY NOT, WANDERER, TEAM SPIRIT, NICKEL COIN, TEAL, GAYLAD and ILEX(es) are all GN winners. I assumed TEE UP TWICE, PINA COLADA and TSK TSK would be too, but this isn’t the case.
Any more?
The puzzle appeared on the day of the race.
I solved all apart from 22d despite going through the alphabet numerous times -no wonder.
I tackled this after watching the two hour Morning Line special on the Grand National.
Last solved clue in was 11d which I had stared at for ages. Didn’t spot any of the others -there really is no hope ….
Thanks Gaff and Pete
There is a bit more to 11dn than is stated in the blog. The Grand National course has 16 fences, 14 of which are jumped twice. The Chair is one of the two that is only jumped once – the other is the Water Jump – which accounts for the word “once” on the end of the clue. Also, I think only the last three words are meant to be the definition, with wordplay a charade of GRAND (Magnificent) and NATIONAL (gallery).
I should of course have said “one of the two that are only jumped once”.
Pelham, thank you for shedding some more light on this. My original thought was that “magnificent gallery” was the definition even though it seemed hardly fitting. Later, as blogged, I figured the whole clue must be a cryptic definition although still a messy one. Now I am taken by your analysis. It makes more sense than any other and the significance of “once” seems to clinch it. But I still do not much like it. “Featuring the Chair once” would seem to be appropriate for defining an adjectival phrase, not a noun one. Am I am being too picky?
Pete @8: It is quite common these days to see (for example) “in Kent” as the full definition for the name of a town in Kent, and my suggestion for 11dn is analogous to that.
Okay, I’ll shut up!
Thanks Gaff and Pete
Was late to finish this one only yesterday – and found it a typically well constructed puzzle by this setter. The theme which I half heartedly looked for passed me by – but once highlighted, I can’t see how I missed it !!! There was one additional winner to add to Muffyword’s list – COME AWAY won in 1891 as an 11yo.
Couldn’t parse TSK TSK as I failed to see the abbrev kts for knots. Doh !!
I had RUM more as a ‘team (alcoholic) spirit’ for West Indians, rather than a passion.
Hadn’t heard of the ACOL convention in bridge and only discovered the meaning of DIS (to show disrespect) in another crossword recently.