The news in clues
If there’s a theme to this year’s festive clues so far, it is wariness of festivities, especially the food. Knut in the Independent would have us thinking about January’s waistline before we’ve even got started ...
5d For starters, Christmas lunch puts up body mass index scale (5)
[ first letters (‘for starters’) of CHRISTMAS LUNCH, then abbrev. for ‘body mass index’ reading upwards (‘up’) ]
[ CL + reverse of BMI ]
... where the definition, “scale”, is really a verb: CLIMB. Incidentally, the rest of Knut’s puzzle is such an impressive execution of a topical theme that I presumed he had prepared it well in advance of the inevitable event it marks; not so, says Knut at solvers’ blog Fifteen Squared. Recommended.
Bird flu leaves my Christmas feathers unruffled, since I try only to eat two components of the Christmas lunch. But Notabilis in a Telegraph Toughie ...
26ac Party snack that could be pathological, not something eaten at Yule? (9)
[ anagram (‘could be’) of PATHOLOGICAL without (‘not’) a Christmas food ]
[ anagram of PATHOLOGICAL minus LOG ]
[ anagram of PATHOICAL ]
... has put the downers on my beloved CHIPOLATA, leaving me with just a plate of hopefully uncontaminated tatties. Most dispiritingly of all, an anonymous Telegraph setter confronted us ...
2d American soldier visiting upset Christmas host (6)
[ abbrev. for ‘American soldier’ inside (‘visiting’) a synonym for ‘Christmas’ written upwards (‘upset’) ]
[ GI inside reverse of NOEL ]
[ GI inside LEON ]
... in a clue for LEGION, with the image of James “Mad Dog” Mattis gatecrashing your home on the day itself. If your Christmas should become challenging, just keep thanking your luck that Mad Dog is not there – and that he hasn’t brought PEOTUS with him.
Latter patter
In the Guardian, Pasquale (you can Meet the Setter here) offered a different kind of festivity:
5ac Cook has little time left to join in ceremonial feast (7)
[ word for ‘cook’, containing abbrev. (‘little’) for ‘time’ and abbrev. for ‘left’ ]
[ POACH, containing T and L ]
The POTLACH (or indeed POTLATCH) is a Native American festival which takes a different approach to gift-giving. In a potlatch, the more you give away, the better. Once upon a time, this involved feathers, but the Oxford Dictionary of World Mythology describes how things developed:
One chief might ‘shame’ another by destroying valuable pots, killing slaves, and burning down houses. If the other chief failed either to give away or to destroy more things, then he would lose public esteem.
An alternative to Secret Santa, there, for anyone looking for fresh ideas this season.
POTLATCH is also now used in English as a synonym for a “pot luck” party; other words we have borrowed from Native America are the Powhatan MOCASSIN, the probably Algonquin CAUCUS and the Narragansett subject of our next challenge. Reader, how would you clue POWWOW?
Clueing competition
Many thanks for your clues for FUD. Given the tone when the competition word does not mean “bottom”, I was merrily unastonished by entries such as Catarella’s “What starts farting under duvet?”, Robi23’s “Duffer half-raised seat”, GeoScanner’s “Fills up drawers first” and Jamesfarrier’s “Fluids oddly sometimes found here”.
The ingenuity award goes to ID2155366 for “End neighbours, etc.” where ETC leads to FUD as HAL might lead to IBM, and the audacity award could only be Schroduck’s for “Д.
The runners-up are Lizard’s timely “Bitter dispute in which front-runner from Eton’s lost seat” and JollySwagman’s pithy “In Freud’s case you get angst”; the winner is ComedyPseudonym’s lyrical “Head of fox and coypu’s rump, adder’s gut and rabbit’s stump”.
Kudos to Comedy; please leave this fortnight’s entries and your pick of the broadsheet cryptics below.
Clue of the fortnight
Small, perfectly formed ...
7d One sets gems (6)
[ synonym for ‘one’ + synonym for ‘sets’ ]
[ AN + GELS ]
... and slyly seasonal, ANGELS from Wanderer in the FT is also from the realms of glory.
The next post will be on 9 January. Merry Christmas!
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