Financial Times 13,954 by Bradman
Posted by Jed on March 16th, 2012
Tough call today with a couple not fully explained as yet especially 7d. 13d is a stretch
ACROSS
1 SHODDY ODD in SHY shoddy reused yarn
4 MAQUIS French guerrilla R right from MARQUIS
8 LIEFEST most willing LIE FEST humorous definition
9 FOXHOLE soldiers shelter : home of animal with brush
11 BETELGEUSE anagram GETS BLUE [obsen]E
12 RASH hasty R run ASH wood
13 COTTA short garment COTTA[r] villein
14 TABLEAUX dramatic scenes TABLE altar AU gold X cross
16 PANACEAN cure all PAN criticize ACE celeb AN article
18 LUCKY rub of the green (sport) [p]LUCKY game
20 OMSK Russian city O old MASK a taken out
21 WHARFINGER one who welcomes sailors anagram RAF in WHINGER
23 PEANUTS low pay anagram (NUTS) of APE
24 OGREISH anagram HERO IS G[row]
25 SATANG currency in Thailand TAN in SAG
26 STATIN drug STATIN[g]
DOWN
1 SEIZE get hold of E drug in SIZE gelatinous stuff
2 OFFBEAT quirky humorous definition
3 DESIGNATE D E rows anagram of SEATING
5 ANODE positive electrode AN ODE Horace poet
6 UNHORSE ?&lit
7 SALISBURY
10 JUSTINIAN ruler JUST IN IAN scot
13 CHARMLESS unattractive CH companion ARMLESS can’t roll up sleeves!
15 BULLFIGHT FULL with f on end in BIGHT
17 ALKANET plant ALKANE hydrocarbon [shu]T
19 CONVERT CON tory VERT green
21 WITAN TA army in WIN but in Chambers this is not a supreme god
22 ESSEN German city NESSIE< minus I
March 16th, 2012 at 1:33 pm
I thought this was really difficult today (possibly the most difficult of all six cryptics done). 7d SILAS was a missionary with St Paul and he is reversed (upset) and put with Bury, once near and probably now part of Manchester. I agree with your ? after 6d too. Well done, glad it wasn’t me who had to blog this one, people would have been waiting for some time.
March 16th, 2012 at 1:37 pm
Thanks Jed
7 dn is SILAS (missionary, companion of Paul) reversed and BURY (suburb of Manchester) definition is ‘City’.
Your explanation of 13dn seems fine to me.
March 16th, 2012 at 1:56 pm
Thanks for the blog Jed, and to Bradman for his usual fine, fair puzzle. I thought 21 down was WOTAN, TA in WON, which accords with the tense.
March 16th, 2012 at 1:59 pm
Isn’t 5D factually wrong? I thought cathode was positive and anode negative? Made good cryptic sense, though.
I think I get the idea of 6D (several farmhands would be without their mounts), but it stinks.
March 16th, 2012 at 2:20 pm
Hi everyone.
6dn: I think this is a cryptic definition based on “hand” as a measure of height for a horse.
March 16th, 2012 at 2:34 pm
An anode is an electrode though which current flows into an electrical device, the cathode is where the current flows out of the device. These could have a positive or negative potential depending on the setup and what your viewpoint is.
For example, in a valve the anode is thought of as the +ve electrode because that is where the electons are attracted to (electrons flow out of this end, so current flows in).
In a battery the anode is condidered the -ve electrode, since that is where the electrons flow out of the battery (so the current flows in through this electrode).
March 16th, 2012 at 3:38 pm
I agree with Pelham Barton re 6d. I think it’s a rather good Cryptic Definition clue – superficially about playing cards, but in fact a slightly elaborate/poetic but grammatically perfect description of unhorsing someone. And it seems to have flummoxed a few people, so it’s not too easy (a fairly frequent complaint against Rufus’ CDs, which usually surprises me).
March 16th, 2012 at 3:40 pm
PS. jmac @3 is surely right about 21d. Witan doesn’t fit the definition or the wordplay and Wotan does.
March 16th, 2012 at 3:41 pm
Thanks, Jed and Bradman. Yes, this was pretty tough and it took me ages to see UNHORSE in the NE corner which I found the most difficult. I agree with PB at #5 that this refers to hands as measure of height for a horse. Everything very fair and clear in the end. What may have made it a little harder is that it is a pangram ie every letter of the alphabet is used in the grid.
March 16th, 2012 at 7:24 pm
I agree with crypticsue that this is the most difficult of today’s puzzles, although I only did the T***s and the Independent before I tried it. I thought the Don was really flexing his muscles with this. Unknowns for me were: Cottar, Wharfinger, Satang, Alkane, Alkanet and Silas. Everything was just about gettable from the wordplay but I have to admit I got the right call between Alkane and Alkene on a flip of a coin.
I was not helped by getting the anagram at 11 since my best initial attempt at the spelling was Beetelgeus, which threw me on 4 of the 5 crossers. I’ll go and write it 100 times. Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse…
March 16th, 2012 at 11:53 pm
the supreme god is WOTAN (achieved victory=won)
March 18th, 2012 at 3:05 pm
This was the first FT I’ve attempted ( I’ve only just discovered that crosswords can be accessed and printed online). I always start with the last, down clues and the ” first” three went straight in and I thought it was going to be a doddle. I managed in the end about 3/4 so was pleased to see it is rated a toughie. I’m definitely in the liking 6 dn camp and 2 dn offbeat was a nice get.
I was wondering why the crosswords are given online; what is in it for the paper?
March 18th, 2012 at 3:12 pm
Oh could anyone tell me how 23 ac “peanuts” works. Maybe not getting a refernce to “nuts” means I am thinking too politlye and should get out more
March 18th, 2012 at 9:24 pm
Re pennes at #13, I think the idea is that “nuts” is an anagram indicator and pea is an anagram of ape.