Financial Times 13,275 / Jason

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Happy New Year to all!  Some interesting clues from Jason today, but as usual, I’m afraid, also a few that didn’t quite seem to work. 

Across
9 INSTANTER STAN (Laurel of Laurel and Hardy) in INTER (bury)
10 IMAGO I (one) MAG (small periodical) O (nothing)
11 STRATUM TARTS (loose ladies) reversed + UM (er)
12 TROUNCE TR[icks] + OUNCE (cat)
13 AWN FAWN (light brown) minus the initial F (its tip)
14 CATASTROPHE *(AH SPECTATOR)
17 CHEAP C (Charlie) HEAP (large amount)
18 ERA hidden in thE RAw
19 DIVER I’VE (I have) in DR (GP)
21 CONCENTRATE *(TENOR + ACCENT)
23 CUR CU (copper) R (beginning to restrain)
25 CADUCEI CA (about) DUCE (Mussolini, say) I (one)
27 PARSNIP RAP (chat) reversed + SNIP (cut)
28 LIFER *(RIFLE)
29 ALIENATES ALIEN (foreigner) + *(SEAT)
 
Down
1 SIESTA T (time) in *(SEA IS) I like the way this clue reads.
2 ESTRANGE *(SERGEANT)
3 PARTICIPLE *(PIRATE CLIP)
4 ITEM IT (Italian) EM (a letter)
5 BRATISLAVA BRAT (urchin) IS LAVA (red-hot stuff)
6 SILO IS reversed + L (lake) O (Ontario)
7 CATNAP PANT (long for) reversed after CA (about)
8 FOREBEAR FORE (watch out!) BEAR (could be a grizzly)
15 THEATRICAL *(RECITAL THA[t])
16 RED HERRING RED (homophone of READ) HERRING (fish)
17 COCA-COLA CA (California) in between CO and CO + LA (the, French).  Enumeration here should be 4-4 rather than 4,4, as a glance at the world’s most famous logo will show
20 VICINITY VI (six) + IN (trendy) in CITY (cathedral town)
22 NOD OFF NO DOFF (keep hat on) This was amusing.
24 REPOSE dd This doesn’t quite work: “repose” does not mean “place trust in;” it simply means “place.” 
26 CORK OR (either?) in C K (either end of candlestick)?  I don’t quite see how the wordplay works here.
27 PAIR I (one) in PAR (short paragraph)

9 comments on “Financial Times 13,275 / Jason”

  1. I had also wondered how 26d worked when I solved it idly (without entering any word in the grid).

    Only now after I saw your query and again looked at the clue in the pdf did it dawn on me.

    “C or K” is another way of saying “either end of CandlesticK”.

    No container/contained.

  2. Agreed about it beinng a mixed bag. As the outliers, 3D struck me as a very neat (albeit easy) surface and execution; on the other hand, its symmetric partner at 16D is plain ugly on a number of levels.

    I beg to differ with the query at 24D, as I’ve certainly seen repose used in the sense of “placing trust in” before.

    Best wishes to all in 2010!

  3. Thanks Rishi, I think you have it. Now I think it’s quite a clever clue.

    Smiffy, I think the phrase is always “I reposed my trust in him.” You wouldn’t simply say “I reposed in him.” Thus, the word “repose” by itself (which is the word that needs to be defined in the clue) means “place” and not “place trust in.”

  4. Hi Agentzero
    For ‘repose’ Chambers has as a definition “to place in trust” and “place one’s trust” so surely ‘reposed my trust’ would be tautology.

  6. Hi Gaufrid

    Then Chambers stands alone, as far as I can tell. For example, Collins has “to put (trust or confidence) in a person or thing.” COED has “place (something, especially one’s confidence or trust) in.” The parentheses indicate that “confidence” or “trust” must be supplied and are not encompassed by the word “repose” itself. I think “reposed my trust,” rather than a tautology, is standard usage and it is supported by these two. I know, I know: if a dictionary says it, a setter is entitled to rely on it, but sometimes a dictionary is simply wrong.

    JB, COED has as a definition “an article consisting of two joined or corresponding parts.” For example, a pair of glasses or a pair of scissors.

  7. Hi Agentzero
    Chambers also has “to place (eg in confidence) in a person or thing” but then follows on with the definitions I quoted before.

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