Financial Times 13,450 – Falconry
Posted by smiffy on July 29th, 2010
Another bout of Falconry for the Thursday slot. Progress seemed a little too easy in parts, with the gradient never getting beyond a gentle slope, but I did particularly enjoy 9A and 19D along the way.
Across
1 SET THE SCENE - figurative/literal double def’n.
7 LAC - hidden reversal.
9 LIE IN - lie + in.
10 ALL AT ONCE – C[harlie] in (all at one).
11 DAILY HELP - (play Delhi)*.
12 ROUSE - {g}rouse.
13 WHEREAS - (we share)*.
15 ET AL - late<. ‘Departed’ in the bucket-kicking sense.
18 SCAM - c in SA + m[illions].
20 SINCERE – hidden. One of the better concealed ones that I’ve seen of late.
23 LEARN - Lear + n.
24 DALLIANCE - D + alliance. I think it must be forbidden by xwd editors to clue this word via any other form of wordplay…
26 INTERCEDE - inter + homophone of “seed”.
27 DRONE - {afte}r{noon} in done. I preferred this clue to the one for the same word in yesterday’s Times.
28 ODE - {c}ode.
29 COME TO A HEAD - double def’n. [On edit: straight from the horse's mouth. come to + ahead (via the deliciously subtle portmanteau of "wake up")].
Down
1,2 SELL DOWN THE RIVER - the in (lover, swindler)*.
3 HANDY – H and Y (in ‘Hungary’).
4 SEA LEGS - (a + l) in see + GS. I’m not familiar with the ‘musical’, but the wordplay is pretty unambiguous.
5 ECLIPSE – L in (pieces)*.
6 ENTERTAIN- double def’n.
7 LINE-UP- double def’n.
8 CLEVER – C + lever.
14 ECCENTRIC- c-cent in Eric. Can anyone date the earliest incident of the “stuttering” clue type device, or has it been around since the cruciverbal Ark?
16 BEANPOLE – a in Ben + Pole.
17 REVEREND – cryptic definition, by example.
19 MIDTERM – (tired)* in m+m.
20 SALIENT - alien in St.
21 EL NINO – (online)*.
22 RATTLE- double def’n. Conductor Sir Simon R. is now wielding his baton somewhere over in Germany, if I recall correctly.
25 INDIA- in + (I in DA).
July 29th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Straight forward except for 5d if musical is anagram indication then there is no definiton
July 29th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Sorry but I don’t get line-up as ‘bill’ though it is obviously an identity parade.
Similarly I don’t get ‘come to a head’ as meaning’wake up’.
Probably me but any ideas appreciated.
And ‘sea legs’ as ‘musical’. What is that about? The word play gives sea legs, for sure, but after that…….????
I never like entering answers where I haven’t completely grasped what the compiler is on about.
July 29th, 2010 at 3:40 pm
Assume you are referring to 4d.
The solution, SEA LEGS, is a musical
(se-a + L-e + G&S)
July 29th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
and pretty obscure if wiki is right
Sea Legs is an American musical with music by Michael H. Cleary and lyrics by Arthur Swanstrom. The musical book by Swanstrom is based on the play The Cat Came Back by Laurence E. Johnson, Beula King, and Avery Hopwood. Produced by Albert Bannister and J. Edmund Byrne, the production opened on Broadway at the Mansfield Theatre where it ran from May 18, 1937 through May 29, 1937 for a total of 15 performances.
July 29th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
re comment 2
Bill as in programme of entertainment
COME TO A HEAD – wake = come to, up = ahead
July 29th, 2010 at 4:16 pm
Falcon,thank you. Did anyone ever say you were more devious than the average bear (or raptor)?
July 29th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
Just for a change I managed this one quite quickly and no problem with any clues.
Good to see the setter commenting.
July 29th, 2010 at 6:53 pm
Yes – sincere thanks to Falcon for swooping by in person to demystify matters. I think the subtlety of 29A may have been a case of “pearls before swine”.
July 29th, 2010 at 8:49 pm
Thanks smiffy.
Agree with your comment @8,I thought the clue didn’t quite work,but,thanks Falcon,I now see it’s only my brain not quite working,the clue is spot on.
Thanks rrc for the info on the musical in 4 down,must admit to my ignorance here as well.Somehow the 15 performances in 1937 must have passed me by.
Nevertheless I did enjoy the puzzle,favourite clues being the anagram at 11 across and 26 across.
BTW smiffy,love the cruciverbial ark!