Financial Times 13,708 by Cinephile

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Another enjoyable mixed bag from Cinephile.  We get the full range from the sublime (12) and the fiendish (21 ac) to the obscure (10) and just plain rubbish (17, 19).   It was much easier to guess the answers than to explain why they were right.

Hold mouse over clue number to see clue

Click a solution for a link to the definition.

Across
1, 4 HABEAS CORPUS A BEASt (tailless animal) between Hot and Cold and OR PUSs (Manx cat = puss with no tail)
8 RICOTTA The literal meaning of ricotta is ‘recooked’ – so is also the derivation of the word biscuit, ‘twice cooked’ in French.
9 See 16
11 STIMULATOR T (model T Ford) in SIMULATOR
12 TOAD TADpOle* (with ‘elp removed) – a very nice &lit clue.
13 CURVE Cryptic definition – to be on a ‘learning curve’
14 NEVER DIE NEE (name before marriage) containing Giuseppe VERDI
16, 9 LACHRYMA CHRISTI LAST I (1 as Roman numeral) containing CHurch and ARMY* RICH*. Lachryma Christi ‘Christ’s tears’ is such a beautiful name for a wine.
18 ROWAN Double definition – tree and Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury
20 See 26
21 GOD WILLING DV (500 and 5 Roman numerals) abbreviation for Deo Volente, which translated gives ‘God Willing’
23 HAIRPIN Double definition – ‘hairpin bend’
24 DISROBE Benjamin DISRaeli (half of) and OBE (medal – Order of the British Empire)
25 See 7
26, 20 ANIMAL FARM FAMILy* inside AN ARM (a branch) – novel by George Orwell
Down
1 HOIST I (1 as Roman numeral) inside HOST (many)
2 BLOOMER Definition and cryptic definition – a bloom is a flower
3 ARTILLERY ILL (as adverb = badly) inside ARTERY (canal)
5 OTHER TO reversed and HER
6 PAINTER Double definition – a painter is a rope
7, 25 SITUATION COMEDY (YOU AIN’T DOMESTIC)* – comedy program shown over a number of episodes
10 STANDARDS STAND (tolerate) and ARDS (historical name for the districts of the Ards Peninsular in Northern Ireland)
13 CHARABANC ARAB (a Semite) inside CHANCe (fortune, nearly = not all of)
15 VERMILION REV (priest) reversed and MILION (sounds like ‘million’, they say = as it is heard)
17 HUMDRUM ordinary = humdrum, and a ‘hum’ is vaguely musical, and ‘hum’ rhymes with ‘drum’. Is this it? If so it is a pretty weak clue. Please someone prove me wrong and show me I have missed something.
19 WOLFRAM WOLF (predator) and RAM (source of wool for clothing) – Wolfram is another name for the chemical element Tungsten which is actually quite soft and not ‘hard stuff’ at all, it is compounds of Tungsten with other elements, such as Tunsten Carbide, which are hard. Also, I thik it is fair to describe a ram as a source of wool, but not a source of clothing.

UPDATE: I just remebered the phrase ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’, so RAM is OK for a source of clothing in this clue.
21 GRIND Definition and cryptic definition
22 NOBEL Born inside NOEL (Christmas, holiday)

*anagram

6 comments on “Financial Times 13,708 by Cinephile”

  1. Re 17d, “Ordinary, vaguely musical, rhyme (7”) HUMDRUM, my take is this:

    ‘Ordinary’ is the def, of course.

    HUM is from ‘vaguely musical’. When we hum a song, we may not be quite accurate or too musical.

    Its rhyme gives DRUM !

  2. Took me a while to get started on this one, but Habeas Corpus got me going.

    Was pleased with Animal Farm, then stumped for ages with the final clue- the 16,9 wine.
    I’m not oenophile (is that the right word?) but decided that if there ISN’T a wine called Lachryma Christi, then there certainly should be. Cetainly never seen it in Tesco.

    As PeeDee said, a few of my answers were guesses, including God Willing – Thank you for the expanation

  3. Thanks for the DV illumination at 21A PeeDee. I actually solved this puzzle late last night, but was still racking my brains some 12hrs later, trying to figure out the word(or should that be number?)play.
    At least RICOTTA was easier to verify! HUMDRUM didn’t bother me to much, but I do agree that th clue for WOLFRAM is too busy and Ill-defined for it’s own good.

  4. Many thanks PeeDee I failed to understand GOD WILLING and I failed to get AGATHA CHRISTY or whatever the so-called wine is supposed to be called.

    It’s probably just plonk with a fancy label. After all, most wine arrives in this country in bulk and it then gets bottled and labelled. Otherwise it’s all the same subject only to a few variables such as colour.

    I once served my late mother-in-law with some Ribena in a wine glass. She sipped it carefully and proclaimed it excellent.

  5. Thanks PeeDee, not that difficult.
    I think the Rev had his Rev hat on today.
    HABEAS CORPUS, LACHRYMA CHRISTI, ROWAN and GOD WILLING.
    The latter I did understand, but something inside me tells me that I don’t like 5005 to be split into 500 and 5.

    My take on 19d (WOLFRAM) was a bit different.
    I had to think of “a wolf in sheep’s clothing”.
    As a ‘ram’ is a male sheep, this makes perfect sense.

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