Financial Times 13,345 by Cincinnus

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Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of March 27
Cincinnus has some very artfully fashioned clues here: 1A, 21A, 24A, 6D and 17D.

Across
1. OPERATIC – ERA (long time) in OPTIC (viewer)
6. CHROME – C[zec]H + ROME (capital)
9. GOALIE – GOA (Indian state) + LIE (remain)
10. RALLYING – double definition
11. HYPE – hidden word
12. SHOT-PUTTER – SHOT (fired) + PUTTER (club)
14. BRASILIA – anagram of BLAIR IS + A[ll]
16. ONUS – [b]ONUS (extra payment not initially)
18. RIGA – A (a) + GI (soldier) + R (runs) all backwards. Originally I had this as: LIMA – A + MIL (soldier) backwards. I think Sil’s answer (see comments) fits much better.
19. ENROBING – ROBIN (bird) in ENG (English)
21. SAFE-BLOWER – SAFE (secure) + BLOWER (means of communication)
22. NAVY – NA[v]VY (disheartened labourer)
24. HILL FORT – anagram of OF THRILL
26. GO-SLOW – OSLO (capital) in G[overnment] W[orkers]
27. ON EDGE – ONE (individual) + D[e]G[r]E[e]
28. RHEOSTAT – anagram of HATTER SO

Down
2. PROXY – R[otten] in POXY (rotten)
3. ROLLER-SKATE – ROLLER (flier) + SKATE (swimmer)
4. THESSALY – LASS (girl) backwards in THEY
5. CARBONATED WATER – anagram of BARE ACTOR WANTED
6. CALIPH – A (a) + LIP (mouthpiece) in CH (church)
7. RAY – A[thlete] in RY (line)
8. MANNEQUIN – MANN (German writer) + EQUIN[e] (short horsy)
13. TROMBONISTS – anagram of MOST BRITONS
15. RUINATION – [feb]RU[ary] + I (island) + NATION (state)
17. PROROGUE – PRO (one side of argument) + ROGUE (knave)
20. ALCOVE – A (a) + C[hild] in LOVE (darling)
23. VIOLA – double definition
25. LAD – L[eicester] + A[nd] + D[erby]

2 comments on “Financial Times 13,345 by Cincinnus”

  1. Hi Pete, nice to meet you again in the Wondrous World of Cincinnus :).

    There was even a mini-theme today, very unusual for the FT.
    Four across clues (6, 14, 18 and 26) with the use of capitals (Rome, Brasilia, …. and Oslo).

    As you can see, I put dot-dot-dot-dot for the third one, because we didn’t have LIMA here, but RIGA, capital of Latvia.
    A (a) GI (soldier) R (runs) – backwards.

    A very even, well-balanced crossword, immaculately clued.
    Hard to find clues that stand out [I mean, that are even better than the other ones].

    If I had to choose my Clue of the Day, there would be two, I guess, both splendid anagrams:
    5d (THELONGONEFROMTOPTOBOTTOM) and 13d (TROMBONISTS) [btw, the first word we found]

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