Financial Times 13,910 by Monk

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A good crossword, quite tricky to complete.  Thank you Monk.

I got maybe 75% of this very quickly but the last few took a long time to finish, especially the SW corner.  Looking back I’m not sure why, as in retrospect they do not seem any harder than the one’s I got straight away.  There were some obscure definitions in some of the clues, but these were not the ones I got stuck on.

Update: thanks to Gaufrid for pointing out the perimiter letters spell ANTIDISESTABLISHMENTARIANISM.

Across
8 MUSE US (the solver and the setters) in ME (the setter) – definition is ‘muse’, as a noun
9 REAL ESTATE RE (concerning) ALE (alcohol) STATE (say)
10 SITCOM MasOChIST* with ASH (remains) removed (lost) , about=anagram? – programme on UK TV
11 OVERHITS OVER (by means of) THIS* – definition is ‘goes beyond target’
12 ITEM MET (joined) I (1 Roman numeral) reversed – definition is ‘point’
13 OVER AND OUT Cryptic definition
17 NAIR New AIR (voice) – Hindu caste from Kerala
18 ISAAC AISAtiC* – with IT removed, violent=anagram – one of the Patriarchs of the Israelites
19 LEDA LEAD (first place) with D=daughter moved – mother of Helen of Troy
20 ALL THE BEST Definition and cryptic definition – not sure about ‘flower’, intended as some sort of red herring?  ‘the flower’ of something is ‘the best’ of it, so works well as a cryptic definition.
22 VERB BREVe (musical note, end letter missing) reversed – ‘to love’ is an example of a verb
23 IRRIGATE RIG (equipment) in IRATE (wild) – definition is ‘water’
27 CORRAL Run in CORAL (pinkish-red) – definition is ‘pen’
28 REFERENCES North Carolina in REFEREES (judges)
29 SATI Erik SATIe (short=unfinished) – definition is ‘Hindu custom’
Down
1 AUDIT TRAIL AUDI (car manufacturer) TT (race) on RAIL (section of track)
2 NEWCOMER hOME (no roof=top missing) in NEW (additional) CR (credit) – definition is ‘starter’
3 TRAMPOLINE Cryptic definition
4 IAGO I (1 Roman numeral) and AGO (gone) – the villain of Othello
5 DENE deaD whitE EuropeaN malE (is ultimately read=taking last letters of) – a small valley
6 ITCHED wITCH (cruel woman, top removed – or b_? ) and ED (ED=Edward, man briefly) – definition is ‘had urges’
7 STAT SToAT (small beast, heart=middle missing) – thermostat
14 ERASE some of Que SERA SEra
15 ASCETICISM CITIES* in SCAM*
16 UNDERPANTS PANTS (rubbish) underneath (covered by) UN DER (articles in French and German) – definition id ‘drawers’
19 LIVERISH (I SHRIVEL)* up=anagram? – definition is ‘irritable’, once=archaic
21 TRIVET TT (tea total, dry) about RIVE (to split) – definition is ‘old bracket’
24 RHEA waRHEAd – a satellite of Saturn
25 ADEN blockADE Now – port in Yemen
26 ECCE rECCE (reconnaissance, missing r=right) – definition is ‘behold’, Latin

*anagram

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8 comments on “Financial Times 13,910 by Monk”

  1. Thanks PeeDee
    In 9ac it is ALE = ‘alcohol’.

    I think perhaps we ought to mention the perimeter Nina – ANTIDISESTABLISHMENTARIANISM

  3. Thanks Monk for a pleasand crossword and PeeDee for the blog. The Nina was definitely a help and compensates for the somewhat isolated corners.

    20ac: Chambers 2008 gives (among other definitions) flower the best of anything

  5. Thanks Gaufrid. I did see ALE when soving the clue (honestly!), but for some reason I then lost the plot when writing up the blog.

    I missed the Nina completely! But then I find Ninas and pangrams etc more of a thing for the setters than the solvers. Nothing against them of course, and I can clearly see why they would add interest for a setter, but they don’t really add much to the solving experience IMO (themed crossswords excepted).

  6. Thanks for the blog PeeDee, and Monk for yet another top-notch puzzle. I found the nina very helpful as an aid to solving the left-hand side.

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