FT Puzzle 12502 by Flimsy

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Solving time: 11 minutes

Apologies for the late posting but those nice folks on the FT website didn’t put today’s (or yesterday’s) puzzles up until late tonight. 

A very easy puzzle with too many anagrams for my liking, a good puzzle for those wishing to get into solving cryptics, but the experienced solver won’t probably get too much out if it.  Nice appropriate Nina in the completed grid.  Don’t understand 6 down, though.

 ACROSS   * = ANAGRAM  CD = Cryptic definition   (R) = REVERSAL

1   ALMOST   A SLOT + M*

4   MASCOT   SAM (R) + COT

8   BOLSTER   STOLE* in BR

9   TAXICAB   CD   in US a hack is a type of cab

11  UNBEATABLE   B in UNEATABLE

12  EASE  Homophone – E’s

13  LADEN  LADE + N

14  NO GO AREA   Not sure about using a word from the answer in the clue.  Surely “without energy” would have been OK.  Bit of a weak clue, I feel 

16  LISTERIA   IT IS + REAL *

18  NOTED  ETON (R) + D

20  LUDO   LOUD*

21  TACHOMETER   CD  – Can’t help feeling that this is an inadequate clue.

23  SEAPORT  –  Does “Marine left” equal sea port?  I think it’s a bit weak.

24  ADDRESS      A D(r) + DRESS

25  YARROW     NARROW “with a fresh head”

26  PRIMAL     RIM inside PAL

DOWN

1   ADORN   ADO + RN

2   MISLEAD   SMILE*  +  AD

3   SWEETENER   CD clue 

5   ABASE   Homophone of  “a bass”

6   CHIMERA  Can’t understand this clue “Famcy a monster?”

7   TRANSCENDS   TRENDS CAN*

10 ABUNDANCE   BUN in A DANCE

13  LEISURELY   LEI (Romanian Money) + SURELY

15  GUNPOWDER   Double definition.  Gunpowder is an old type of tea.

17  TROOPER   REPORT* around O (head of Olympics)

18  THEOREM   T + HE + MORE *   Nice surface

21  TORSO   Hidden answer

22  EASEL   CD

3 comments on “FT Puzzle 12502 by Flimsy”

  1. I quite liked 23A personally.

    Re 6D a chimera can mean a fanciful idea. See Chambers online (first definition)http://www.chambersharrap.co.uk/chambers/features/chref/chref.py/main?query=chimera&title=21st

    (…grunt of exertion as I mount my hobby-horse…)
    Another weak FT grid having 5 answers with

  2. … Oops I forgot you can’t use less than signs!

    Another weak FT grid having 5 answers with less than 50% checking. I guess if I’d spotted the Nina it would have helped, but I didn’t.

    I also wonder how many solvers even know that Ninas exist. I certainly wasn’t aware that setters put these hidden messages in until I started reading this blog! Therefore I don’t feel that they could be used as an excuse for dodgy grid.

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