Non-prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of August 1, 2020
In this very divided grid, I started with 30 ac (RED GIANT), completed that bottom-right quadrant and then worked around each quadrant in turn counter-clockwise to end with 14ac (TROT). Only that last quadrant gave me any difficulty. My favourite clues are 12ac (NAPPY RASH) and 16 ac (WALKIES). Thank you, Mudd.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | POSTCARD | Message illustrated by character going after job (8) |
| POST (job) + CARD (character) | ||
| 5 | STITCH | Darn pain that’s acute (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 9 | TRIANGLE | Instrument altering circles (8) |
| Anagram (circles) of ALTERING | ||
| 10 | SPIRIT | Determination one’s seen in journeys to the west (6) |
| I (one) in (seen in) TRIPS (journeys) backwards (to the west) | ||
| 12 | NAPPY RASH | Round rear of baby one’s gone in sharp pain, unfortunately? (5,4) |
| [bab]Y in (round) in anagram (unfortunately) of SHARP PA[i]N. &Lit. | ||
| 13 | OUTDO | Unconscious celebration better (5) |
| OUT (unconscious) + DO (celebration) | ||
| 14 | TROT | Communist movement of hacks, for example (4) |
| Double definition, the first referring to a radical who supported Trotsky’s theory that socialism must be established throughout the world by continuing revolution and the second to ‘hacks’ in the sense of ‘saddle horses’. | ||
| 16 | WALKIES | A come-on to dogs was like barking! (7) |
| Anagram (barking) of WAS LIKE | ||
| 19 | VANILLA | Ordinary house in which article stored (7) |
| AN (article) in (in which stored) VILLA (house) | ||
| 21 | MORE | Extra jam, or extra sandwiches (4) |
| Hidden word | ||
| 24 | ROOST | Perch in the way of a marsupial? (5) |
| ROO (marsupial) + ST (the way) | ||
| 25 | COCKROACH | Pest serving fish after bird (9) |
| COCK (bird) + ROACH (fish) | ||
| 27 | LUMMOX | Donkey kicking head of fox (6) |
| [F]LUMMOX (kicking head of fox) | ||
| 28 | BANJOIST | Boycott supporter, player (8) |
| BAN (boycott) + JOIST (supporter) | ||
| 29 | SADIST | Brute down first (6) |
| SAD (down) + IST (first) | ||
| 30 | RED GIANT | Bloody great star (3,5) |
| RED (bloody) + GIANT (great) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | PATENT | Obvious all fingers and thumbs smothered in butter (6) |
| TEN (all fingers and thumbs) in (smothered in) PAT (butter) | ||
| 2 | SKIMPY | Revealing book by Kipling, notice covers (6) |
| KIM (book by [Rudyard] Kipling) in (covers) SPY (notice) | ||
| 3 | CANDY | All but the filling in crunchy sweets (5) |
| C AND Y (all but the filling in crunchy) | ||
| 4 | RELIANT | Maverick later in contingent (7) |
| Anagram (maverick) of LATER IN | ||
| 6 | TOP DOLLAR | Negotiate drop: a toll a high price to pay (3,6) |
| Anagram (negotiate) of DROP A TOLL | ||
| 7 | TURN TAIL | Spin yarn, say, and leave (4,4) |
| TURN (spin) + TAIL (homophone of TALE [yarn]) | ||
| 8 | HOTHOUSE | Intense seeing you in nylons! (8) |
| THOU (you) in (in) HOSE (nylons) | ||
| 11 | PHEW | Bottom on couch occupying seat that was close! (4) |
| [couc]H in (occupying) PEW (seat) | ||
| 15 | RELATIONS | Political dealings perhaps in congress (9) |
| Double definition. I was unsure how the first definition worked but see comment #3 below. | ||
| 17 | OVERALLS | Protective clothing a solver left out (8) |
| Anagram (out) of A SOLVER L | ||
| 18 | INFORMED | Knowledgeable journalist going through purple patch? (8) |
| IN FORM (going through purple patch) + ED (journalist). I was unfamiliar with the expression “purple patch” and learned that it refers to a period during which a person or a group (especially a sports team) is unusually lucky or successful. | ||
| 20 | ARCH | Chief topping tramp (4) |
| [m]ARCH (topping tramp) | ||
| 21 | MACRAME | Securing male, staff tying string (7) |
| RAM (male) in (securing) MACE (staff) | ||
| 22 | LAMINA | Plate critter flipped over (6) |
| ANIMAL (critter) backwards (flipped over) | ||
| 23 | SHUT IT | Quiet shack, model houses (4,2) |
| HUT (shack) in (houses) SIT (model) | ||
| 26 | REJIG | Change rule briefly to accommodate Jack (5) |
| J (Jack) in (to accommodate) REIG[n] (rule briefly) | ||
Made steady progress with this grid over the course of the weekend, starting off with SPIRIT. I was left with one in each quadrant which I struggled to parse but could glean from the crossers. TROT, however, eluded me entirely. Thanks, as ever, to Pete for making things plain…I’m reminded of my Mum who used ‘hose’ to tie the plants in the greenhouse!
TURN TAIL, PHEW, SKIMPY and WALKIES were favourites. A decent workout for the old grey matter overall, thanks to Mudd.
Thanks Mudd for another amusing weekend crossword. Even though I failed at TROT and RELIANT (it must have been the Laphroaig because they’re not that difficult) I found much to like — OUTDO, LUMMOX, BANJOIST, PATENT, and CANDY among them. Thanks Pete for parsing.
15D Dictionary.com has this definition for RELATIONS: “social, political, or personal connections or dealings”
Thank you Mudd and Pete.
trenodia, Thank you for that definition.
Thanks to both and sorry for being late to the party as I do not always see these when they are published. I do appreciate the work put in for the blog and usually only comment if I have something new to add. This time it is MACRAME – from memory it turned up in two different crosswords about the same time and with very similar parsings
Thanks Mudd and Pete
Found this on the easier end of the Mudd difficulty scale and worked in an opposite way to Pete, starting with TRIANGLE in the NW and travelling clockwise around the grid to end up in the same quadrant. Many of the clues seemed to be charade type ones and was able to land into that mode of solving.
No particular favourites and finished with TROT, INFORMED and the new word LUMMOX.