Financial Times 13839 Jason

A straightforward Jason, with some clever cryptic definitions and surfaces.  Thanks, Jason.  Definitions are underlined in the clues.  Hidden connection in the picture sets.

Across

1 Metal bands stumped by charges (6)

STRAPS :  ST(stumped, as in cricket nomenclature) RAPS(accusations,charges for an offence/wrongdoing)

4 Fellow like diminutive Edmund dieted? (6)

FASTED :  F(fellow) AS(like,as in “as in ….”) TED(diminutive,short for Edmund)

Answer:  The question mark denoting an extreme form of dieting?

8 Beef cut teacher, say, with learner round at home (7)

SIRLOIN :  SIR(how one might,say address one’s teacher) L(learner) O(round letter) IN(at home)

9 Sinatra could be a craftsman of his trade (7)

ARTISAN :  Anagram of(could be) SINATRA

Answer:  It’s Francis Albert if you consider its obsolete meaning of artist, and if you equate artist to artiste.

11 Careful reprimand applied to a little food store (10)

DELIBERATE :  BERATE(scold,reprimand as a verb) placed after(applied to) DELI(short for,little “delicatessen”,food store)

12 Drink after time – that’s a porky pie! (4)

TALE :  ALE(alcoholic drink) placed after(after) T(time)

Answer:  A lie, or porky pie in rhyming slang

13 Cook a soft sweet (5)

FUDGE :  Double defn:  1st: As in “cook the books”, falsify accounts (of a company, say) almost always with no good or with criminal intent; and 2nd: A soft candy,sweet

14 Shorten sailor’s passage (8)

ABSTRACT :  AB’S(sailor’s,­able-bodied seaman’s) TRACT(a piece of writing,passage, usually on a religious or political topic

Answer:  The verb, meaning to shorten.

16 Support also floundering for union offer? (8)

PROPOSAL :  PROP(support) plus anagram of(floundering) ALSO

Answer:  Cryptically,? defined as an offer of union,marriage

   

18 A sailor’s westbound with this world record? (5)

ATLAS :  A plus reversal of(westbound, in an across clue) SALT(sailor)

Answer:  Cryptically,? defined as a record,documentation of what’s on this world,earth

20 Soft song for duet (4)

PAIR :  P(piano, musical instruction to play softly) AIR(a tune,song – a famous one is played on a G string – on the musical instrument)

21 Black tree and dead tree rot (10)

BALDERDASH :  B(black) ALDER(any tree of the genus Alnus, related to the birch) D(dead) ASH(any tree of the genus Fraxinus, related to the olive and the lilac)

Answer:  A relatively restrained way of saying “Nonsense!”

23 Shout about men shifting offcut (7)

REMNANT :  RANT(shout,rave at – perhaps not what you do at the party of the same name?) containing(about) anagram of(shifting) MEN

Defn:  What’s left after the main pieces of a material to be used, have been cut off

24 Stock holder, perhaps, is beyond help with no head for counting (7)

PASTURE :  PAST(is beyond,gone) URE{“cure”,help for an ailment/problem minus(with no) “c”,initial letter of,head for “counting”}

Answer:  Cryptically,? defined as the place where stock,livestock are put,held for grazing.

25 Force husband to be part of faith (6)

THRUST :  H(husband) contained in(to be part of) TRUST(faith in someone or something)

26 Salad veg, in haste it goes off (6)

CELERY :  “Celerity”,haste,swiftness minus(goes off) “it”

Down

1 Son covers fruit tree’s ooze (5)

SLIME :  S(son) placed before(covers, in a down clue) LIME(tree bearing that sour fruit)

2 Brought together, the Royal Academy and Liberal fibbed (7)

RALLIED :  RA(Royal Academy) L(Liberal, a member of the political party) LIED(fibbed,told a porky pie)

3 Like the royal spinster without a name? Hilarious! (9)

PRICELESS :  “princeless”,without a prince – descriptive of,like the unmarried,spinster royal princess minus(without) “n”,name

Answer:  Highly amusing.

5 Go along with a part of golf course needing a trim (5)

AGREE :  A GREE{“green”,a part of golf course, where one putts into the hole, minus(needing a trim) the last letter}

6 Tons write on the move about time in networker’s site (7)

TWITTER :  T(abbrev. for tons weight) anagram of(on the move) WRITE containing(about) T(time)

7 Unfortunately docks lead standoffs (9)

DEADLOCKS :  Anagram of(unfortunately) DOCKS LEAD

10 Greatest golfer, Ernie, is below standard in matches (9)

PARALLELS :  {ALL(everything,greatest possible) ELS(Ernie, S. African former World No.1 golfer, a favourite of crossword setters)} placed after(is below, in a down clue) PAR(a standard, such as in the number of strokes for a round of golf)

13 Company’s last word on closure for loft space (9)

FIRMAMENT :  FIRM(company) AMEN(the last word said in prayer) placed before(on, in a down clue) T(last letter of,closure for “loft”)

Answer:  The sky or heavens, which we now know is just space – lots of it

15 Manage set flamboyantly for Lady Gaga, say (5,4)

STAGE NAME :  Anagram of(flamboyantly) MANAGE SET

Defn:  A performing alternative for Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, who joins the ranks of Dino Paul Crocetti, Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., Brenda Gail Webb, Michael John Douglas, Eleanor Nancy Gow, Jerome Levitch, Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff, John Eric Bartholomew…who?

17 Consort let cuff ride up (7)

PARTNER :  Reversal of(ride up, in a down clue) [RENT(let,lease out) RAP(a blow,cuff)]

19 Frothy coffee daughter (European) gulped being a lively girl (7)

LADETTE :  LATTE{outside Italy, the coffee and steamed milk drink, with a layer of foam,froth – in Italy, latte just means milk, and the original, proper term is caffe latte, with the original drink made from heated milk which is not foamed.  Rightly or wrongly, latte drinkers seem to be a common target of scorn – to quote Wiki: “In Canada, a latte-drinker is the political representation of a left-wing ballet-watching bleeding-heart urban elitist (as opposed to an ordinary, Mainstream suburban and small-town hockey-watching Tim Hortons coffee drinker).“} containing(gulped?) D(daughter) E(European).  Not sure about the containment indicator – from the surface, the coffee is being gulped, which should make LATTE contained in DE

Answer:  The feminine counterpart of “the lads” who engage in “laddishness”, ie. young women who behave in a boisterously assertive or crude manner and engage in heavy drinking sessions.  So Jason is being generous with “lively”

21 Reward bishop on openings for unrecognised Samaritans (5)

BONUS :  B(bishop, as in chess notation) ON US(initial letters of,openings for “unrecognised” “Samaritans” respectively)

22 Drench a posy of flowers (5)

SPRAY :  Double defn.

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