Financial Times 13921 Phssthpok

Phssthpok travels a lot in this puzzle, with references and words from abroad (including Scotland? 🙂 ).  Very nice clueing, with the added bonus of words whose etymology I enjoyed tracking down.  So thank you, Phssthpok.  Definitions are underlined in the clues.  The pictures at the bottom have an unidentified link with the puzzle; hint – consider them in pairs.

Across

1 Shoot convict exhibiting sickness from being transported (6)

JETLAG :  JET(as a verb, to shoot out in a stream) LAG(a convict)

Defn: Modern sickness caused by being transported by jet across different time zones

5 Stir milk and oats together (8)

PORRIDGE :  What you get if you stir milk and oats together

Defn: One does porridge,slang for a sentenced term in stir,slang for prison.  Is the former derived from what you get to eat in the latter?  A nice WIWD (wordplay intertwined with definition) clue, though a slight mismatch in meaning, I think, between definition and answer. 

9 This could be a clue to ward’s handicap (8)

DRAWBACK :  “Draw back” could be a cryptic crossword reversal type clue whose solution is “ward”

10 Muddy grass bordering nest (6)

SODDEN :  SOD(grass) placed before(bordering,alongside) DEN(an animal’s nest)

11 Quite at home with daring exploit (6)

INDEED :  IN(at home) plus(with) DEED(daring exploit, one sort of exploit, not to be confused with others, like the “dirty deed”)

Defn: An exclamation signifying agreement with what a speaker has said

12 One last night of debauchery, then pray for rehabilitation (3,5)

HEN PARTY :  Anagram of(for rehabilitation) THEN PRAY

Defn: The female equivalent of the stag night, one last night before the wedding (after which there is rehabilitation?) – debauchery depending on the amount of alcohol and the presence of male strippers and such.  I hasten to add this doesn’t imply that it happens all the time (I think) – might the setter draw some flak for not putting a question mark after “debauchery”?  🙂 A great WIWD

14 Diverse variety of sights as epic looked for rejuvenation (12)

KALEIDOSCOPE :  Anagram of(for rejuvenation) AS EPIC LOOKED

18 Exploding slug sounds doubly stupid when hit by train (6,6)

DUMDUM BULLET :  DUMDUM{homophone of (sounds) “dumb”(stupid) twice,doubly} plus(when hit by) BULLET(train, the Shinkansen in Japan that runs at maximum speeds of 240-300 kph

Defn:  A lethal soft- or hollow-nosed slug,slang for bullet, that expands,explodes on impact and causes extensive laceration, named after Dum-Dum, a town near Kolkata, India where these bullets were made in the 19C.

22 Excerpt from essay on a Rabelaisian farewell (8)

SAYONARA :  Hidden in(excerpt from) esSAY ON A Rabelaisian

Defn: What a Japanese might say to one boarding a Shinkansen, literally “if it is to be that way” from “sayo” – “that way”, and “nara” – “if”

25 Green at former girlfriend’s crown (6)

VERTEX :  VERT(the colour green as used in heraldry) EX(informal term for former girlfriend, if not former spouse)

Defn: Top of the head,crown, as used in anatomy and zoology

26 Part of fish that is a guide for anglers (6)

GILLIE :  GILL(the part of fish that extracts dissolved oxygen from water) + IE(that is,Latin id est,i.e.)

Defn: From a Scottish term for someone who serves as a guide to anglers on a fishing trip.

27 It’s crazy to fool around outside mirrored toilet (8)

DOOLALLY :  DALLY(to fool around,play with, as in a dalliance) containing(outside) reversal of(mirrored) LOO(toilet)

Defn: Originally “doolally tap”, military slang meaning “to lose one’s mind”, supposedly from Deolali, the location of a British military transit camp near Mumbai, India, and “tap”, Urdu for a “malarial fever”, which camp was notorious for its unpleasant environment, boredom and psychological problems of the troops passing through it.

28 Caught snippet of music with adjacent notes (8)

SNATCHED :  SNATCH(bit,snippet of music) plus(with) E D(notes adjacent to each other on the musical scale)

29 Reduce power to interior of display (6)

SPLASH :  SLASH(to reduce, eg. prices in a sale) containing(to interior) P(abbrev. for ­power, especially in physics)

Defn: Eg. across the front page of the newspaper

Down

2 Stumble and trip (6)

ERRANT :  Double defn: 1st: Deviating from the proper course,erring – Sir Lancelot was an errant knight for being intimate with his (or rather, Arthur’s) Queen; and 2nd: Journeying in a quest of adventure – the very same Sir Lancelot was a knight errant searching for the Holy Grail.  Another mismatch in that the answer is an adjective, whilst the definitions in the clues can only be verbs or nouns.  Edit.note: Apologies to all (including setter) for my mistake – I was hung up on it being a double definition, misdirected by the conjunction.  Thanks to George Ashton@1 and mike04@2, the correct answer is ERR(stumble) + AND – a trip to do a chore.  A compact little clue that can really make a solver like me trip and stumble! 

3 Revealing almost new intrusion into mixed wedlock (3-6)

LOW-NECKED :  Anagram of(mixed) WEDLOCK containing(intrusion into) NE{“new” minus its last letter(almost)}

Defn: Descriptive of ladies’ garments, where the neckline is much lower than where the neck is.

4 Thousands go on strike in major event (5,4)

GRAND SLAM :  GRANDS(plural of grand,thousand in number, especially dollars or pounds) placed above(go on, in a down clue) LAM(hit,strike)

Defn: The achievement,major event in sports like golf or tennis where a player wins in a single year all the major events (including the British Open in golf, or Wimbledon in tennis) in that sport.

5 No time to pick a hot recipe for cabbage (3,4)

PAK CHOI :  Anagram of(recipe) [PICK A + HO(“hot” minus(no) T(time)]

Defn: Brassica rapa chinensis, aka Chinese cabbage, Chinese chard, Chinese mustard and pak choy or bok choi – from the Cantonese dialect for the Mandarin words for “white” and “vegetable” respectively

6 It’s sticky to misbehave once more (5)

RESIN :  RE-(prefix indicating a repeat,once more) + SIN(to misbehave, in a serious manner)

7 Home help raised in Asian country (5)

INDIA :  IN(at home) + reversal of(raised, in a down clue) AID(help)

8 Gorilla, perhaps, to feed with skin of fruit (5,3)

GREAT APE :  EAT(to feed on) contained in(with skin of) GRAPE(fruit)

Defn: An example of which,perhaps is the gorilla

13 Discharge Manx cat? (3)

PUS :  “Puss”(cat) minus its last letter,tail, like a Manx cat which has no tail

15 Flip contents in clear out (9)

OBLIVIOUS :  LI(inner letters,contents of “flip”) contained in(in) OBVIOUS(clear,plain to see)

Defn: Not aware of,not conscious of,unconscious,knocked out

16 Disturbed at a curlew’s screech (9)

CATERWAUL :  Anagram of(disturbed) AT A CURLEW.  Another WIWD clue

17 Fraction split tax period (8)

DURATION :  RATIO(fraction,a number divided by another) contained in(split) DUN(to demand, usually for payment,tax as in “to tax one’s patience,to place a demand on)

19 Make noise in vessel (3)

URN :  Homophone of(noise) of “earn”,make as in “how much do you make for doing that?”

20 Even extracts from quinoa and birdseed are combined without any help (7)

UNAIDED :  Every second letter of(even extracts from) “qUiNoA” + “bIrDsEeD

21 Men were killed when thrown together (6)

FELLAS :  FELL(were killed, as in battle) placed above(thrown together) AS(as and when)

23 It hurts to go along with baby bird (5)

OWLET :  OW(exclamation to signify “It hurts!”) + LET(to go along with,allow,permit)

24 Abroad, a measure of acidity in alcohol? (5)

ALEPH :  ALE(alcohol) PH(measure of acidity; in a scale from 0 to 14, pH 7 is neutral, neither acidic nor basic, less than 7 is acidic, and more than 7 is alkaline)

Defn: The first letter in the Hebrew alphabet, a foreign,abroad equivalent to A in the English alphabet

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