Financial Times 14348 Gaff

Another puzzle with the Gaff trademark of commemorating an event, given in 8,9 across.  But I did it in reverse, with 18 across giving me the E word in full before then getting 1 across and all the other E subspecies of creatures.  Enjoyable and educational with respect to a worthwhile cause.  Thank you to Gaff.  I had to seek help from a friend to parse the last couple of answers.  Definitions are underlined in the clues. [[The pictures at the bottom have unidentified links to the puzzle. Please enclose any comments on them in double brackets. Thank you.]]

Across

8,9 Chancellor follows report of borrowing total; his sort have been E for a year and a day (8,6)

LONESOME GEORGE : GEORGE(Osborne, British Chancellor of the Exchequer)placed after(follows, in an across clue) homophone of(report of) “loan”(a borrowing) “sum”(a total).

Answer:  Given name of a male Pinta Island tortoise, the last known individual of his sort who died on 24 June 2012 (a year and a day ago) of old age. Hence the “In Memoriam” tag to the puzzle, and E for “extinct”, which word is along the rightmost column of the grid. RIP George, and unfortunately there’ll be more species becoming E, perhaps homo sapiens too.

No mate for company, just a human caretaker.

10 See 30

11,12 Possibly been an expiry of E goat (8,4)

PYRENEAN IBEX : Anagram of(Possibly) BEEN AN EXPIRY.

13 Fade when bulb not right, a blurred E bird (6,9)

PALLAS’ CORMORANT : PALL(to fade;to become pale) + AS(at the same time, as in “when/as you enter the room”) + CORM(a bulb ) + anagram of(blurred) [NOT + R(abbrev. for “right”) + A ].

18 E bird passing benchmark (4)

DODO :  Cryptic defn:  Reference to the simile “as dead as a dodo”; the dodo thus becoming a benchmark;a reference point for life that has passed;died.  And of course, the dodo has passed that point.

19 See 21

21,19 E cat, large, possesses curly tail and powerful heart (4,5)

BALI TIGER : BIG(large) containing(possesses) [anagram of(curly) TAIL plus(and) central 2 letters of(heart) “powerful” ].

22 E bird – Grand Peregrine not right – disoriented in relay (9,6)

PASSENGER PIGEON : Anagram of(disoriented) [G(abbrev. for “grand”, say, a 1000 dollars) + “Peregrine ” minus(not) “r”(abbrev. for “right”) ] contained in(in) PASS ON(to relay, say, a message).

This one was named Martha.

25 See 27

27,25 Scottish Island thus in animate home for E creatures (8,4)

JURASSIC PARK : JURA(an island in the Scottish Inner Hebrides) + { SIC(from Latin, thus;so;as such, as in 6 down) contained in(in) SPARK(to animate;to kindle, figuratively).

Answer: The home for dinosaurs and other re-created extinct creatures in the book/films of the same name).

30,10 Preparation of vegetable oil, brewed tea and 15 (6)

OLEATE : Anagram of(brewed) [TEA + LEO(answer to 15 down) ].

Answer: A pharmaceutical preparation;ointment made from oleic acid, a component of vegetable fats;oils.

31,32 Hernias aplenty suffered by E beast (6,8)

SYRIAN ELEPHANT : Anagram of(suffered) HERNIAS APLENTY.

Down

1 See 2

2,1 Spooner’s happy smiling at wedding, maybe (8)

CEREMONY : Spoonerism of “merry”(happy) “sunny”(smiling;beaming).  I’m not sure of the second part of the answer:  I’m under the impression that it’s pronounced “…m-oh-ny” or even “…m-uh-ny”, but not “…m-ah-ny”.

Answer: Of which a wedding is an example;maybe.

3 County set has Morse baffled (8)

SOMERSET : Anagram of(baffled) [ SET plus(has) MORSE ].

4,21 Cushy seat for Atkinson to reserve (4,3)

BEAN BAG : BEAN(Mr., as played by Rowan Atkinson) + BAG(to reserve;to lay claim to the right to do or have something, as in “to bag the best seat in the room”).  Nice surface – the best seat could be a bean bag.

Couldn’t find a picture of Mr. Bean on a bean bag, but then, she’s better looking:

5 Years of prejudice? The opposite (6)

AGEISM : Prejudice of(against) years(the aged) = (the converse;opposite of “Years of prejudice “).

6 Henry, basket-seller of 23(sic) (6)

HOSIER : H(abbrev. for the Henry, the unit of ) + OSIER(a basket made from branches or twigs of various willow trees).

Answer: A seller of nylon stockings(answer to 24 down) and such, for the female sex.

7 Monster is so backward (4)

OGRE : Reversal of(backward) ERGO(Latin for so;hence;therefore, as in “cognito ergo sum”).

14 Smell where roads lead (5)

AROMA : Cryptic defn: Reference to the saying “All roads lead to Rome”. In the local lingo: a(to) Roma(Rome).

15 Sign of pride (3)

LEO : Cryptic defn: The astrological sign represented by a lion, master of a pride.

16 Soggier filling for Welsh pasty (5)

OGGIE : The inner letters of(filling) “Soggier “.

Answer: There’s a Welsh version of the Cornish pasty, or tiddy oggy/oggie in dialect. The Welsh one has a soggier filling?

17 No tricks. None? None! (5)

NULLO : NULL(none, in mathematics, as in a “null set”) + O(the letter that looks like 0;zero;none).

Answer: In certain card games, a bid by a player to take no tricks.

20 Hack hacker? (8)

REPORTER :  Cryptic defn.  Reference to a hack;a mediocre newspaper reporter who might also be a hacker;one who gains unauthorised access into a computer system, as has happened with certain reporters from the now-defunct News of the World hacking into mobile telephone systems.

21 See 4

23 Ski resort at novel mountainous state (6)

SIKKIM : Anagram of(resort) SKI + KIM(the title of the Rudyard Kipling novel).

Answer: A state of India in the Himalayan mountains.

24 Only construction partners may have ladders (6)

NYLONS : Anagram of(construction) ONLY + N,S(abbrevs. for the partners north and south, in bridge notation).

Answer: Nylon stockings that may ladder, if you’re not careful.

26 Starchy Gaff’s in a leather top (4)

AMYL : MY(first person possessive pronoun;self-reference by Gaff, the setter) contained in(in) [A + first letter of(top, in a down clue) “leather ” ].

Answer: In biochemistry, pertaining to or of starch;starch-y, as in the names of compound substances related to starch.

27 Escape ends in magistrate’s wheels (4)

JEEP : The 2 letters at both ends of(ends) “Escape ” contained in(in) J.P.(abbrev. for a Justice of the Peace;a magistrate).

Defn: Slang for a motor vehicle.

28 Turned up in go-go hostess district (4)

SOHO : Reversal of(Turned up, in a down clue) and hidden in(in) “go-go hostess “.

Answer: An entertainment district in London, which at some point in time must have had go-go hostesses. Nice surface.

29 Inspirational island (4)

IONA : Cryptic defn: The island in the Scottish Hebrides, renowned for tranquillity, and hence a popular place for religious or inspirational retreats – providing there aren’t too many of them to spoil the tranquillity.

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