Financial Times 13969 Armonie

A straightforward start to the FT week again (and no glitches too), so thanks to Armonie for an enjoyable crossword.  Definitions are underlined in the clues.  Each picture at the bottom has an unidentified link to the crossword (3 of the pictures, though unconnected, have the same connection to the crossword).

Across  

1 Monster is wildly amused (6)

MEDUSA :  Anagram of(wildly) AMUSED

4 Obedient, putting supplement back in book (8)

BIDDABLE :  Reversal of(back) ADD(to supplement) contained in(putting…in) BIBLE(in lowercase, any book that serves as an authoritative reference on a subject, eg. the crossword solvers’ bible).

10 Quite a few noticed bagging game (9)

SEVENTEEN :  SEEN(noticed) containing(bagging) EVENT(a game,match,tie of any sort of game,sports)

11 Publish recipe in volume (5)

PRINT :  R{abbrev. for recipe, much debated in 15sq; to cut that long story short, it’s abbreviated from the Latin “recipere” for “to receive”, whose imperative form is “to take”, which is why medical prescriptions used to be (perhaps still are) abbreviated as  the symbol “R with a slash across its tail” } contained in(in) PINT(a measure of volume in the Imperial system, as in “Drink a pinta beer a day”, or was that “milk”?  🙂

12 Excellent runs? About time! (4)

RARE :  R(“runs” in cricket notation) + reversal of(about) ERA(a long time period).

Answer: Something rare is deemed excellent (perhaps not for everything?).

13 Official’s opportunity to get register back (10)

CHANCELLOR :  CHANCE(opportunity) plus(to get) reversal of(back) ROLL(a register,list)

15 First of injections in bottom? Not one thing or the other! (7)

NEITHER :  I(initial letter,first of “injections”) contained in(in) NETHER(adjective describing what’s situated below,under, thus one’s bottom region).  An amusing surface.

16 Resist fanciful nurse (6)

SISTER :  Anagram of(fanciful) RESIST.

Answer:  A nurse in charge of a hospital ward.

19 Beastly mother gets covered in dye (6)

ANIMAL :  MA(mother) contained in(gets covered in) ANIL(indigo, a blue dye).

Answer: As an adjective, eg. “animal behaviour”.

21 Observer makes son mess about (7)

SPOTTER :  S(abbrev. for son) + POTTER(to mess about, achieving nothing).

23 Showing wilfulness the gods ran amok (10)

HEADSTRONG :  Anagram of(amok) THE GODS RAN.

25 Endless cheek from women’s supporters (4)

BRAS :  “brass”(cheek, as in “as bold as brass”) minus last letter(endless).  An amusing surface involving 2 pairs of anatomical regions.

27 Soldier’s spirit returned in Africa (5)

NIGER :  Reversal of(returned) [RE(Royal Engineer, a soldier that builds bridges, etc. in support of the fighters) + GIN(a drink with spirit)]. 

Answer:  A republic in West Africa, and a river thereabouts, and a state in Nigeria, all in Africa.

28 Fish arrive for artisan (9)

CARPENTER :  CARP(one of various types of fish, including freshwater food fish and ornamental fish and pedicuring fish) + ENTER(arrive,come in).

   

29 Knowingly dry Welsh assembly (8)

SHREWDLY :  Anagram of(assembly) DRY WELSH. 

Answer: Having the smarts.

30 Rodent eating Sunday’s dessert (6)

MOUSSE :  MOUSE(rodent) containing(eating) S(abbrev. for Sunday).

Down

1 Slip in mile race (8)

MISPRINT :  MI(abbrev. for mile) + SPRINT(race, as a verb – at a fast pace, or as a noun – a short event run at full speed). 

Answer: What is usually called a “typo” nowadays.  Second appearance of PRINT.

2 Little girl’s type of entertainment (9)

DIVERSION :  DI(short form of,little “Diana”, girl’s name) + VERSION(type,variant).

3 Thrilled by pronounced smell (4)

SENT :  Homophone of(pronounced) “scent”,smell. 

Answer: To be thrilled to a state of delight or excitement.  A nice surface.

5 Prize money initially lacking for part of cricket match (7)

INNINGS :  “winnings”(prize money) minus initial letter(initially lacking).

6 Pit of despair (10)

DEPRESSION :  Double defn.

7 Proposed legislation about river fish (5)

BRILL :  BILL(what is proposed in the legislature, to be debated and voted on before becoming legislation) containing(about) R(river).

8 Hospital department’s anger is complete (6)

ENTIRE :  ENT(abbrev. for the “Ear, Nose and Throat Department” of a hospital, a favourite of crossword setters) + IRE(anger)

9 Being late the ruler shows restraint (6)

TETHER :  Hidden in(shows) laTE THE Ruler.

14 Asks for lift from gang? That could be unpleasant! (10)

THUMBSCREW :  THUMBS(asks for a lift from passing vehicles by showing one’s thumb; a common practice in innocent days, long gone since) CREW(gang of workers).

Answer:  An instrument that when used on you, will definitely be unpleasant.

17 Interest I developed in illness (9)

ENTERITIS :  Anagram of(developed) INTEREST I. 

Answer: Inflammation of the intestines.

18 Protect Penny’s modesty (8)

PRESERVE :  P(abbrev. for currency unit, penny) + RESERVE(modesty,shyness)

20 Car Lily crashed when carried away (7)

LYRICAL :  Anagram of(crashed) CAR LILY. 

Answer: Involving the expression of spontaneous, enthusiastic feeling,carried away as in “to wax lyrical”.

21 Sunbathe with dull divers (6)

SUNDRY :  SUN plus(bathe with) DRY(dull,uninteresting).

Defn: Alternative spelling of “diverse”.  Answer: Varied, as in “all and sundry”.  Another nice surface.

22 Recognition for Forrest Gump star (6)

THANKS :  T.HANKS(in full, Tom Hanks, star of the movie “Forrest Gump”)

24 Risk losing head or spleen (5)

ANGER :  “danger”(risk) minus its initial letter(losing head).

Answer: Ill-humour,anger, named after the spleen, the organ that was thought to be the seat of emotions such as ill-humour and its opposite, mirth.

26 Literary captain raised a warning (4)

NEMO :  Reversal of(raised, in a down clue) OMEN(a warning,portent). 

Answer: Literary character, the anti-hero, Captain Nemo from the Jules Verne books “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” and “The Mysterious Island”.

 ===========================================================