Financial Times 13,594 / Jason
Posted by Agentzero on January 18th, 2011
Nothing too difficult today, but some clever constructions and no complaints. 13 across and 1 down were particular favourites.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | AGENDA AGE (become old) + *(AND) |
| 4 | ATLANTIS N[ote] + IT reversed in ATLAS (map book) |
| 9 | THRONG R[uns] in THONG (g-string, say) |
| 10 | MARQUISE MA (mother) + *(SQUIRE) |
| 12 | LASH L[ake] + ASH (tree) |
| 13 | STEPLADDER *(SLEPT) + ADDER (summer) Terrific clue! |
| 15 | PLAIN SAILING I (one) in PLANS (methods) + AILING (weakening) |
| 18 | TOUT ENSEMBLE *(MEN USE BOTTLE) |
| 21 | UPPER CRUST [s]UPPER (son leaves meal) CRUS (vineyards) T (start to “trade”) |
| 22 | EVER LEVER (force) minus the initial letter |
| 24 | SALT AWAY d&cd |
| 25 | EMBARK ME reversed + BARK (growl) |
| 26 | DISHEVEL DISH (good-looker) EVE (the first woman) L[eft] |
| 27 | STOLEN STOLE (scarf) N[ame] |
| Down | |
| 1 | ANTELOPE *(ONE LEAPT) An elegant &lit clue |
| 2 | EUROSTAR *(A ROUTE’S R[ight]) |
| 3 | DONE D (diamonds) ONE (ace) |
| 5 | TRAMPOLINIST IS and L[earner] in *(IMPORTANT) |
| 6 | ACQUAINTED A C QUAINT (charmingly old-fashioned) ED[itor]. Never been a fan of the “stuttering” device. |
| 7 | TRIADS homophone of TRY (judge) + ADS (posters) |
| 8 | SHERRY ERR (go wrong) in SHY (modest) |
| 11 | STEAK TARTARE *(STARTER TAKE A) |
| 14 | IN-YOUR-FACE d&cd |
| 16 | ABOVE ALL d&cd |
| 17 | BEARSKIN BEARS (moves) KIN (family) |
| 19 | NURSED NURSE (fish) D[ied] |
| 20 | APPLES PP (postage and packaging) in ALES (drinks) |
| 23 | OMIT O[ver] MI (note) T[roy] |
January 18th, 2011 at 8:21 am
Very smooth like the 15 year old Dimple I had while solving this. My COD, the &lit 1Down but the other clues were just as well-crafted. Thank you, Jason and AgentZero (when are you getting your double zero so you will be licensed to kill?)
January 18th, 2011 at 11:57 am
Many thanks Agentzero
This was very enjoyable with TOUT ENSEMBLE my last entry.
As Jason was the setter, I anticipated the possibility of a few Greek words but never French.
Oh la la!
January 18th, 2011 at 11:59 am
Oh yes and STEAK TARTARE was another!
Which reminds me that I once visited Paris with an English colleague who tried to order Steak Tartare – Well Done.
January 18th, 2011 at 4:42 pm
Tout ensemble was my last one too, Bryan. That’s the second time we lately that we have had a French phrase; not sure that should be allowed, though my Chambers’s says it is in more or less common use (in English I assume they mean!) and I suppose that is the acid test.
23d bothers me as well. We have had this discussion before, but what exactly legitimizes abbreviating o(ver) and T(roy)?
January 18th, 2011 at 5:06 pm
Tony
O is an abbreviation for over or overs (cricket) and T is an abbreviation for Troy (weight), both are in Chambers (and elsewhere).
January 18th, 2011 at 5:53 pm
Got about half out when my alloted hour was up. I agree with Tony about the French phrase. Looked at ?o?t and the remaining letters I had and tout never came to mind.
I have decided that if I need (say)a “c” for the wordplay to work and there is word that begins with c somewhere in the clue, that will be it on the grounds that no matter how unlikely, it will have c as an abbreviation in some dictionary.
January 18th, 2011 at 11:52 pm
Thanks Agentzero.
Enjoyable puzzle with nothing controversial.Totally agree,1 down and 13 across were the outstanding clues.
Also liked 21 across.
Has anyone else noticed that when a setter uses fruit in a clue it usually refers to the plural?
Bryan @3 – nice one!