Non-prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of June 6, 2020
This strikes me as an especially good but rather atypical Mudd. Good especially for its two &Lits, 1ac (PRAISE) and 16dn (VINDALOO). Atypical especially for having no double definitions. My favourite clues are 2dn (ASTROTURF), 5dn (SOUTHEASTERLY), 10dn (VICTORIA FALLS) and 21dn (SLIP UP).
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | PRAISE | Lift up by prayer, primarily? (6) |
| P[rayer] + RAISE (lift up) &Lit. | ||
| 4 | USHERING | Leading, Nehru is remarkably good (8) |
| Anagram (remarkably) of NEHRU IS + G (good) | ||
| 9 | AFTER | Scratching head, more stupid then (5) |
| [d]AFTER (more stupid, scratching head) | ||
| 10 | VOUCHSAFE | Grant almost all gone, value of cash changes (9) |
| Anagram (changes) of V[al]UE OF CASH | ||
| 11 | GNOSTIC | Knowing costing, upset (7) |
| Anagram (upset) of COSTING | ||
| 12 | HOUSTON | Touring America, interested in Texas city (7) |
| US (America) in (touring) HOT ON (interested in) | ||
| 13 | NOUS | Nothing in tabloid, looking back, is common sense (4) |
| O (nothing) in (in) SUN (tabloid) backwards (looking back) | ||
| 14 | MONASTIR | Start of week busy for African city (8) |
| MON (start of week) + ASTIR (busy). Monastir is a city in Tunisia. | ||
| 17 | FORTIETH | Ruby fastener found in river (8) |
| TIE (fastener) in (found in) FORTH (river) | ||
| 19 | ASTI | Taste of fruit, say, recollected in wine (4) |
| Reverse hidden word | ||
| 22 | NOT HALF | Absolutely ludicrously hot inside baked dish that’s flipped over (3,4) |
| Anagram (ludicrously) of HOT in FLAN (baked dish) backwards (that’s flipped over) | ||
| 24 | RELAYED | Passed on, put down in grass (7) |
| LAY (put down) in (in) REED (grass) | ||
| 25 | PARTIALLY | Not entirely friendly, lorry almost hemmed in (9) |
| ARTI[c] (lorry almost) in (hemmed in) PALLY (friendly) | ||
| 26 | PEARL | Bluish-grey fruit bowl’s back (5) |
| PEAR (fruit) + [bow]L | ||
| 27 | POORNESS | Want person so badly (8) |
| Anagram (badly) of PERSON SO | ||
| 28 | APOLLO | God, a top leader on Olympus (6) |
| A (a) + POLL (top) + O[lympus] | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | PLANGENT | Factory bagging dope, booming (8) |
| GEN (dope) in (bagging) PLANT (factory) | ||
| 2 | ASTROTURF | Jittery start for United – might that be played on? (9) |
| Anagram (jittery) of START FOR U | ||
| 3 | SPRITE | Ill feeling scoffing first bit of repulsive brownie (6) |
| R[epulsive] in (scoffing) SPITE (ill feeling) | ||
| 5 | SOUTHEASTERLY | Struggling out there, as hampered by tricky wind (13) |
| Anagram (struggling) of OUT THERE AS with SLY (tricky) fitted in (hampered by) | ||
| 6 | EXHAUST | Old screw shut a drain (7) |
| EX (old) + anagram (screw) of SHUT A | ||
| 7 | INAPT | Alarm shortly arising over document, in the end irrelevant (5) |
| PANI[c] (alarm shortly) backwards (arising) + [documen]T | ||
| 8 | GREENE | Emerald Isle’s ultimate author (6) |
| GREEN (emerald) + [isl]E. The author is Graham Greene. | ||
| 10 | VICTORIA FALLS | Big splash as sovereign dethroned? (8,5) |
| VICTORIA (sovereign) + FALLS (is dethroned) | ||
| 15 | RUSTY NAIL | Truly is an awful cocktail! (5,4) |
| Anagram (awful) of TRULY IS AN | ||
| 16 | VINDALOO | Very popular Indian dish, doubly hot essential ingredients? (8) |
| V (very) + IN (popular) + DAL (Indian dish) + [h]O[t] [h]O[t] (doubly hot essential) &Lit. Did you know that Vindaloo is not a native Indian dish but one that originated in Portugal and was adapted to Indian ingredients in Goa? The name is a corruption of the Portuguese vinha d’alho meaning “wine and garlic”. I have heard claims that Samosas were also originally a Portuguese thing, developed from chamuças which one can find sold as snacks in almost any cafe in Portugal today. This seems more doubtful however given that dishes very similar to samosas, including some with similar names, have been popular in many parts of the world for centuries. |
||
| 18 | REALIGN | Straighten a line: rule round it (7) |
| A (a) + L (line) together in (round it) REIGN (rule) | ||
| 20 | SNAP UP | Quickly get game finished (4,2) |
| SNAP (game) + UP (finished) | ||
| 21 | SLIP UP | Woman’s undergarment lifted, showing boob (4-2) |
| SLIP (woman’s undergarment) + UP (lifted) | ||
| 23 | TORSO | Somewhat robust or solid body (5) |
| Hidden word (somewhat) | ||
Thanks Pete.
Didn’t get ‘Monastir’.
Your comments on VINDALOO are interesting, thanks.
Liked VICTORIA FALLS and SLIP UP.
I had to look up Monastir. I’d worked out it started “mon” and had it in the back of my mind but was roving mentally around Morocco not Tunisia.
Who would think to learn interesting facts about cooking in a crossword? Thanks Pete for “vindaloo”
Thanks Mudd and Pete
It’s not often that I give up on finishing a puzzle, but am afraid that MONASIR was too good for me after looking at it on and off for the couple of months since this puzzle was published. Found the rest of the puzzle quite challenging in parts as well with convoluted word play such as in 10a and 16d, the bluish-grey definition of PEARL, etc.
Liked the quirky definition for VICTORA FALLS and that construction for VOUCHSAFE when I got my head around it.
(Didn’t) finish with ASTI (cleverly hidden), that PEARL and then the unsolved ‘African city’ (struggled to understand whether African was part of the word play or the definition) – a really tough clue with the hidden starting light.