Financial Times 14259 Dante

As one would expect from Dante, an enjoyable puzzle with compact clues and neat surfaces.  Thanks to Dante.  Definitions are underlined in the clues.  [[The pictures at the bottom have unidentified links to the puzzle.]]

Across
1 Knocked, but the sound is absorbed (6)

RAPPED : Homophone of(the sound) “rapt”(is absorbed;is entranced).

4 When retired, Edward longed to be free of ties (8)

DETACHED : Reversal of(When retired) TED(a form of “Edward”) + ACHED(longed to be;yearned to be).

9 Barred outlaw Kelly (6)

BANNED : BAN(to outlaw eg. to ban/outlaw marijuana) + NED(Kelly, a notorious Australian outlaw).

10 Firm left to slip into bankruptcy (8)

COLLAPSE : CO(abbrev. for “company”;a commercial firm) + L(abbrev. for “left”) + LAPSE(to slip into;to drift into, as in “to lapse into unconsciousness”).

12 Study group is occupied by a number of great literary works (8)

CLASSICS : CLASS(a study group) + IS containing(occupied by) C(the Roman numeral for 100).

13 It’s completely in Latin (2,4)

IN TOTO : Cryptic defn: “completely”;in total in the Latin language.

15 Current assertion of private secretary status (4)

AMPS : AM(an assertion of being;status, as in “I am the one”) PS(abbrev. for “private secretary”).

Answer:  The units of an electric current.

16 Promise  loyalty (10)

COMMITMENT : Double defn: 1st: An undertaking;a promise to act; and 2nd: Adherence;faithfulness;loyalty to a cause, say.

19 Nerds arise! Break the monotony (10)

DREARINESS : Anagram of(Break) NERDS ARISE.

20 Transmit broadcast of quarter-final (4)

SEND : S(abbrev. for “south”, one of the four cardinal points of the compass;a quarter. alternatively one of the 4 players in the game of bridge) + END(the last bit;the final).

23 Put money into underwear (6)

INVEST : IN(into) VEST(an undershirt, an item of underwear).

25 They make the grandee enraged or angered (8)

ANAGRAMS : Cryptic defn: “enraged” and “angered” are anagrams of “grandee”.

27 Extra-large portion of chicken or moussaka (8)

ENORMOUS : Hidden in(portion of) “chicken or moussaka”.

28 It could get Charon in a fix on the Styx (6)

ANCHOR : Anagram of(could get) CHARON.

Defn: Cryptic. Something that might put in a fix;a spot of trouble  Charon, the mythical ferryman of the souls of the dead across the river Styx in Hades, by restricting/making stationary, his boat.  A neat WIWD(wordplay intertwined with definition) clue.

29 The usual  range of colours (8)

STANDARD : Double defn: 1st: The norm, the usual level; and 2nd: Any of the range of distinguishing military flags;colours borne by military units.

30 Highly bred? (6)

RAISED : Cryptic defn: Reference to the raising of, say, livestock on a farm, perhaps at a higher;raised elevation. Nothing to do with the upper class of society, as the surface might suggest.

Down
1 Novel title of Esau’s mother (7)

REBECCA : Double defn: 1st: Title of the novel by English writer Daphne du Maurier; and 2nd: Esau’s mother, also spelled Rebekah, in the Bible.

2 Fruit from two trees (9)

PINEAPPLE : PINE(a type of tree) + APPLE(another type of tree).

3 Still rings up, nevertheless (4,2)

EVEN SO : EVEN(an intensifier, eg. “this is even;still more suitable”) + reversal of(up, in a down clue) OS(more than one O;the letter that looks like a ring).

5 Tender put up for capital statue (4)

EROS : Reversal of(put up, in a down clue) “sore”(tender;painful).

Answer: The statue in Picadilly Circus, in London, the capital city.

6 How one may seem to be lying, eventually (2,6)

AT LENGTH : Cryptic defn: If one is lying;in a horizontal position, then one may be said to be lying along;at one’s length;the longest dimension. The surface suggests one lying in a grave.

7 Animal finds fruit on river (5)

HIPPO : HIP(the ripe fruit of the wild rose plant) plus(finds) PO(the river in Italy).

8 Side playing away from home fails to survive (4,3)

DIES OUT : Anagram of(playing) SIDE + OUT(away from home;not in).

11 Bill, an aristocrat we hear (7)

ACCOUNT : Homophone of(we hear) “a count”;an aristocrat.

14 A fault in a fool or comic (7)

AMUSING : SIN(a fault;a wrongdoing) contained in(in) { A + MUG(slang for a fool;a dupe) }.

Defn:  As an adjective.

17 Look! He is taken in by girl – fluttering them? (9)

EYELASHES : EYE(to look at carefully and/or with intent) + { HE contained in(is taken in by) LASS(a girl). Another nice WIWD – a male might very well be taken in by her fluttering eyelashes.

18 Quietly carried on as expected (8)

PRESUMED : P(abbrev. for “piano”;musical instruction to play quietly) PRESUMED(carried on from where one stopped).

Answer: To take for granted;to have an expectation of, eg. “your loyalty is presumed/expected”.

19 Motoring clubs? (7)

DRIVERS : Cryptic defn: Big headed golf clubs normally used to drive the ball off the tee, are called drivers, as are motorists.

21 A title in fact much wished for (7)

DESIRED : SIR(the title for a knight) contained in(in) DEED{ an act – “fact” minus its last letter(much), with the indicator after, instead of before, the subject word. Another explanation is that there a misprint in the clue, and “much” is part of the defn. }.

22 Mature and moving programme (6)

AGENDA : AGE(to grow older;to mature) + anagram of(moving) AND.

Answer: A schedule;programme of items for a formal meeting.

24 Orsino’s favourite musical instrument (5)

VIOLA : Cryptic defn: Reference to Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night”, in which Orsino, a duke, grows fonder of his handsome new page boy, Cesario, who is actually the cross-dressing Viola.

26 Tom’s euphoric vibes (4)

PURR : Cryptic defn: The euphoric;happy vibes;noises made by, say, a tom;a male cat.

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