FINANCIAL TIMES 12,869 by GOZO
Posted by Gaufrid on September 10th, 2008
This one doesn’t need my usual detailed analysis and so there are few comments (it’s not just laziness on my part 
A good starter for those new to cryptic crosswords but hardly satisfying for more seasoned campaigners. I have a quibble about 15a (see below) but apart from that everything was quite straightforward, although I did need to check the answer to 12a in Chambers before entering it.
Across
1 RENEGADE *(ENRAGED [truc]E)
5 STREET TREE in ST
10 ANGLE cd
11 APOCRYPHA *(CORA HAPPY)
12 ESTUARINE *(ENTIRE USA)
13 WELSH hidden reversal in ‘griffitHS-LEWis’
14 RATING dd
15 SENORAS SARONGS reversed with ‘G’ changed to ‘E’ – I don’t think ‘bands’ is a good indicator for ‘sarongs’; one is a (thin) strip of cloth, the other a piece of cloth that extends from the waist to the ankle
18 CLEAR UP LEAR in CUP
20 SCHISM SCH IS M
22 ADIEU hidden reversal in ”queUE I DAllied’
24 CONSTABLE dd
25 LEGER-LINE *(REEL INGLE) – an alternative spelling of ‘ledger-line’
26 WORLD homophone of ‘whirled’
27 DRESSY hidden in ‘parDRES SYmposium’
28 DEPLOYED PLOY in DEED
Down
1 READER dd
2 NIGHTMARE *(THE MARGIN)
3 GRENADIER GUARDS *(IN RED GEAR) GUARDS
4 DRAWING WIN in DRAG
6 THROW IN THE TOWEL cd
7 EXPEL EX PE L
8 TEA-CHEST EACH in TEST
9 MODELS *(SELDOM) – I can think of better definitions than ‘small cars’; a model can be a small anything (or even large if one includes the human variety)
16 RASPBERRY cd – as in ‘The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town’; a series of sketches performed by Ronnie Barker (Sergeant Balls) and Ronnie Corbett (Inspector Corner of the Yard) and written by that sadly missed comic genius Spike Milligan and a gentleman (Ronnie Barker). David Jason played the raspberry.
17 SCRAWLED SC *(WARDLE)
19 PACK IN PACKIN[g]
20 SINCERE hidden in ‘saluteS IN CEREmonies’
21 MENDED M ENDED
23 INGLE [s]INGLE
September 10th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Agreed; the only remarkable thing about this puzzle is the number of “hidden” clue types, one way or another.
15A – you have a typo. “G” to”A” instead of “G” to “E”. Doesn’t detract from your quibble though.
Kudos to your observations re: 16D. A good example of the blog commentary being far more entertaining that the clue itself!
September 10th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Thanks for pointing out the typo, Smiffy. I had become rather bored with this crossword by the time I’d completed the blog and perhaps I didn’t check it as thoroughly as I normally would.
I was hoping someone would appreciate the comment at 16d. There wasn’t much else to write about!
September 10th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
As a newcomer to crosswords (I’ve been going a couple of months), an easy puzzle now and then is most welcome. Having correctly answered no clues whatsoever in yesterday’s Jason crossword, getting all bar two today means that I won’t be giving up.
This site has been most useful though in guiding me up the learning curve, so many thanks to all the contributors.
September 10th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
25a – Is it too late for an etymological ramble? ‘Leger-line’ actually comes from Fr for a ‘light’ line (added temporarily above/below the stave) so is not truly an alt sp for ‘ledger’, which is from the Dutch for ‘lie’ – which subsequently came to mean a book that stayed where put.
September 11th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Chevalierdurufle
It’s never too late. Let’s see what the standard references say:
Chambers
leger(1) possibly from the French leger (light) but no mention of leger line
leger(2) see ledger
ledger apparently from OE licgan (to lie), lecgan (to lay) – ledger or leger line
COED
leger line (also ledger line) origin C19, variation of ledger
ledger line – a variant spelling of leger line
ledger origin ME legger, ligger probably from variations of lay and lie influenced by dutch legger and ligger
Collins
leger line – a variant spelling of ledger line
ledger C15 probably from leggen (to lay)
So all three appear to indicate that leger and ledger are variant or alternative spellings.
September 11th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Apologies – you are of course quite right – and I admire your thoroughness! Even SOED has only ‘ledger line’. I guess I was trying to get past the alt sp thing to the real origin of the word.