Financial Times 13,254 / Phssthpok

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Some nicely tricky clues today.  I am still unsure about the solution for 10 across, though.

Across
1 FENCES dd
5 SIGNPOST SIGN (write name) POST (letters)
9 PERSONAL hidden in paPERS ON ALexandria
10 ENNEAD EN NE [directions reversed] AD [modern times]: the nine deities of Egyptian mythology.  EONIAN This is my best guess.  The ancient gods would then be EO and NAIN, with the latter being reversed.  Thanks to Eileen for setting me straight
11 SPASMS PAs (secretaries) in SMS (text messages)
12 SUNBATHE UN (a, French) BAT (vampire, for example) in SHE (woman); the definition is “brown”
14 UNREASONABLE REASON (explanation) in UNABLE (can’t)
18 CITY OF LONDON *(FIND O[i]L TYCOON)
22 ELECTRIC ELECT (choose) RICH (wealthy) minus H (hard)
25 ROUTED There is an implied container indicator here:  “owing money” needs to be read as “in the red.”  The solution is then OUT (caught, perhaps) in RED
26 ENERGY *(GREEN) (from 6 down) Y (unknown number)
27 IDIOCIES I (one) + *(E[p]ISODIC)
28 VEHICLES VESICLES (blisters) substituting H (hard) for S (soft at first)
29 SADDLE DD (large bust!) in SALE (disposal)
 
Down
2 EXEMPT EX (retired) MP (politician) in ET (alien)
3 CASE STUDY d&cd.  This didn’t quite work for me because a baggage-handler doesn’t “study” suitcases.
4 SANS SERIF SANS (clinics) + FIRES (discharges) reversed
5 SILESIA ILES (French islands) I (island) in SA (South Africa).  Not sure I would have called it a “country.”
6 GREEN dd
7 PANDA P (piano) AND A (top of accordion)
8 SEASHELL SEA’S HELL (ocean’s awful)
13 BAN BA (airline) N (north)
15 ORDERLIES ORDER (law) LIES (is deceptive)
16 ANNOUNCED NOUN (part of speech) CE (church) in AND
17 VIOLENCE *(ONCE EVIL)
19 OPT OP (work) T (time)
20 ORCHIDS HID in ORCS (monsters)
21 REPEAL PE (exercise) in REAL (genuine)
23 CORGI COR (my, as an expostulation) GI (soldier)
24 ROYAL alternate letters of RoOm YeArLy; the royal flush is the highest-ranking flush in poker

6 comments on “Financial Times 13,254 / Phssthpok”

  1. Thanks, Agentzero.

    0ac is ENNEAD: EN NE [directions reversed] AD [modern times]: the nine deities of Egyptian mythology.

  3. Finished this after today’s Guardian so 29a was easy with mammary-related clues still fresh in the mind!

  5. Hi 44,

    Since SMS refers primarily to the messaging system (although “an SMS” can also refer to an individual message), I thought “text messages” was fair.

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