Financial Times 14.185 by Aardvark
Posted by PeeDee on December 12th, 2012
This puzzle was very late appearing on the FT website. If anyone is still awake then here is the blog…
Enjoyable with a few inventive constructions that will appear either interesting or a little dodgy depending on your libertairian/Ximenean leanings. Personally I liked them.
Hold the mouse pointer over any clue number to read the clue.
| Across | ||
| 1 | CERISE | SIRE (make children) in EC (city of London postal area) reversed (reflected) – definition is ‘shade’, colour |
| 4 | JERSEY | Breed of cow and Tour De France leader’s top |
| 8 | ARSENAL | LANES (narrow roads) RA (Royal Artillery) reversed (right to left on map) – definition is ‘store’ |
| 9 | IGNOBLE | sIG (signature, autograph) missing head and L (left) in (during) OBE (award) |
| 11 | IRRELEVANT | LE (the, French) V (first letter of vacationers) in TERRAIN* |
| 12 | KNOB | double definition |
| 13 | EYRIE | anagram (converting) of part of drIER YEsterday |
| 14 | SPATLESE | SPA (bath) ELdEST* missing d=day – German wine made from extra-ripe grapes |
| 16 | CHAINSAW | CHAIN (shops) SAW (spotted) |
| 18 | MOCHA | MO (short time) CHAp (bloke) missing P (quiet) |
| 20 | QUIT | QUILT (bedding) missing L (last letter of spaniel) |
| 21 | THROMBOSIS | THRO (through) MB (doctor) O (old) SISter (nurse, half of) |
| 23 | ST LOUIS | LOUT* in SIS (relative) |
| 24 | AT FIRST | A TT (series of races) around FIRS (cones?) |
| 25 | DOTARD | DO (cook) TAR (salt, sailor) coD (last letter) |
| 26 | FREEZE | sounds like “frees” (releases) |
| Down | ||
| 1 | CORER | CORnER (niche) missing N=new |
| 2 | ROE DEER | REED (grass) reversed (upset) before ROE (eggs) |
| 3 | SHAPELESS | PE (training) in LEASH* (anagram=faulty) and SeemS (vacuous=no insides) |
| 5 | ERGOT | EscaRGOT (snail) missing (eating) SpecifiC (extremes of) A (area) – a fungal disease of cereals. I don’t undertand ‘eating’ here, it does not really mean something removed to me. |
| 6 | SNORKEL | anagram (changing) of bREN’S OK (missing heading) and L (learner) – equipment to be used in the sea (main) |
| 7 | YELLOW SEA | YE (the, traditional=old) LOWS (cyclones) entangled with (disrupting) LEA (meadow) |
| 10 | CASSOWARY | ASS (fool) in CO (company, business) and WARY (not trusting) |
| 13 | EXHAUSTED | EXHAUST (part of a car) insurancE funD (last parts of) – definition is ‘spent’ |
| 15 | ALMA MATER | ALTER (modify) holding (nursing) MA MA (graduate, two of) – an old school or college |
| 17 | INTROIT | IN (popular) deTROIT (Motown) missing two leading letters (churned out) – a piece of church music |
| 19 | CHOC ICE | CHOICE (the best) keeping Cool (initial letter) |
| 21 | TRIER | German city and one who tries people in court |
| 22 | ISSUE | mIsSeS jUnE (regularly=every other letter) |
*anagram
December 12th, 2012 at 6:54 pm
It’s now available on the website (AARDVARK puzzle).
December 12th, 2012 at 7:10 pm
Thanks for the heads-up nmsindy. I’ll get a blog later this evening.
December 14th, 2012 at 11:16 am
Thanks PeeDee and Aardvark, Chainsaw and Cassowary defeated me, quite a few clues with a letter drop perhaps an underused device. I particularly liked Choc Ice.
Shouldn’t it be Spatlese?
December 14th, 2012 at 12:56 pm
Thanks fearsome, corrected. I had forgotten to explain the subsidiary part of the clue too.
December 25th, 2012 at 3:37 am
I doubt anyone will see this post, but I’ll chime in all the same.
Before I got any of the crossing letters, I confidently put in PARIS for 21d, as in the Judgment of Paris (that which precipitated the Trojan War, not the wine competition).
December 26th, 2012 at 10:36 am
Hi Keeper,
A good solution I think and more imaginative than the ‘correct’ one. Its a shame it does not fit the crossing letters as I prefer your version.