Financial Times no.13,982 by JASON

by

Nothing hugely challenging. An overdose of charades and a few too many four-letter words for my taste, but some solid clueing and some marvellously misleading definitions. Thank-you, Jason. Nice way to start a rainy Thursday.

ACROSS

8. REVEAL  Re [about] + veal [meat]

9. WAR PAINT  W [with] + a + RP [Received Pronunciation] + ain’t [isn’t] to give a slang term for make-up or ‘slap’

10. TAXI  Tax [make heavy demands on] + I [current]

11. UNBELIEVER  Lovely anagram of Reuben Levi

12. SHOE  S(hove) + hoe [till, prepare soil]

13. BONKBUSTER  Bon [French for ‘good’] + k(iss) + Buster [as in Buster Keaton]; but isn’t a ‘bonkbuster’ more usually a book (by Jilly Cooper or Jackie Collins) than a film?

17. ARIA  Hidden in invARIAbly

18. REVUE  Revenue [receipts] minus (g)en(t)

19. PACE  Hidden in steP A CErtain distance

21. STREET CRED  Street [St] + C [Charlie] + red [rose]

23. LOAF  A [area] within lof(t) [upper room]

24. CRANKSHAFT  Cranks [fools] + haft [handle]

28. MILK  M [monsieur] + ilk [kind, type]

29. READJUST  Read [study] + just [fair]

30. CANDID  Can [office??] + did [was good enough, as in ‘it’ll do’]

DOWN

1. METAPHOR  Anagram of to hamper

2. DELIBERATE  De-liberate [remove freedom]

3. CLOUDBURST  C [caught] + loud [noisy] + burst [rush]

4. SWAB  Anagram of was + b [black]

5. ORAL  O [nothing, 0] + R [right] + a + L [Latin]; a viva is an oral exam

6. BALE  B [British] + ale [booze]

7. SNEEZE  A tissue sounds like a-tishoo, the usual rendering of a sneeze

14. NEVER  Névé [hardened snow – a new one on me] + R [Regina, queen]

15. BREADSTICK  Bread [money, perhaps (small) change] + stick [jam]

16. SUPPLEMENT  Supple [lithe] + men [players] + t [time]

20. CHAPLAIN  Cha(r) [tea: cha without the r would have been acceptable in any case] + homely [plain]

22. TARGET  Tar [pitch] + get [achieve]

25. NUDE  Nudge [dig] minus g [good]

26. SMUG  S [son] + mug [jump, take by surprise]

27. ALTO  Hidden in reversal of scOTLAnd; alto is the highest man’s vocal part

 

2 comments on “Financial Times no.13,982 by JASON”

  1. Many thanks, Ringo.

    I was looking for some sort of theme in a grid with so many four-letter words.
    Haven’t found one yet. A very enjoyable puzzle though. Thanks, Jason.

    Chambers (12th Edition) comes to the rescue with your (and my) questions:
    CAN, a lavatory. OFFICE, a euphemism for lavatory.
    BLOCKBUSTER, a novel, film, etc featuring …

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