Financial Times 14432 Sayang

A gentle puzzle to start the FT week with.  An FT debut for this pseudonym, which I don’t think anyone has come across before, here or in the other UK dailies.  I suspect some connection with S.E.Asia, as the principal meaning of “sayang” in Indonesian and Malay is “sweetheart” or “loved one”, and the word is also in Tagalog.  Perhaps the setter will shed some light him/herself.  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

1 Dr Tippen is tailored such a suit (10)

PINSTRIPED : Anagram of(tailored) DR TIPPEN IS.

7 Friend with sweetheart, rather wan (4)

PALE : PAL(a friend) plus(with) middle letter of(…heart) “sweet”.

9 Waited to predict (4)

BODE : Double defn: 1st: Past tense of “bide”, as in “bide one’s time”; and 2nd: As in “the statistics bode well for the economy”.

10 “Three cheers for our queer old dean!”, à la Oxford don (10)

SPOONERISM : Cryptic defn: Reference to a statement à la Rev. William Spooner, Oxford don, eg. the abovementioned toast to the “dear old queen” or, instead of cheers, “Let’s glaze our rasses to our queer old dean”.

The weight of rages will press hard upon the employer.

Kinkering Congs Their Titles Take.

And (not one of his), in reverse: “You’re a smart fella!”

11 Rush  calling (6)

CAREER : Double defn: 1st: Move along at full speed; and 2nd: One’s chosen profession or occupation.

12 Not a hierocrat spouting bombast (8)

RHETORIC : Anagram of(spouting) “hierocrat ” minus(Not) “a“. A “hierocracy” is rule by the clergy, but I’m not sure that “hierocrat”, though a logical back-formation, is proper.

13 Liberal urges one struggles with (8)

GENEROUS : Anagram of(struggles with) URGES ONE.

15 Setter in order (4)

MONK : Cryptic defn: Reference to crossword setter Monk (in the FT and Independent), one in a religious order – the pseudonym, that is, not the setter.

17 Hanker for a revolutionary (4)

ACHE : A + CHE(Guevara, Argentinean Marxist revolutionary).

19 God, I am human (8)

IMMORTAL : I’M(contraction of “I am”) + MORTAL(human).

22 Three articles on mother’s object of loathing (8)

ANATHEMA : AN, A, THE(three articles in grammar) plus(on) MA(informal term for one’s mother).

23 Love to hum with first player (6)

OBOIST : O(letter representing 0;”love” in tennis scores) plus(to) B.O.(abbrev. for “body odour”;an upleasant smell;a hum, in slang) plus(with) IST(letters looking like 1st;first).

25 Not unknown for limey bodies to break up and disband (10)

DEMOBILISE : Anagram of(to break up) “limey bodies ” minus(Not … for) “y”(symbol for an unknown quantity, in mathematics).

26 Staff with walking-stick from Malacca, perhaps (4)

CANE : Double defn: 1st: A staff used as an aid to walking; and 2nd: A walking stick which might;perhaps be made from the stem of the Malacca cane, the rattan palm. Perhaps not a double defn., more a repeated one.

27 Vulgar  colour (4)

BLUE : Double defn: 1st: As in “blue movies”.

28 Entrant so riled, at the start, to be ruffled and scratched (3-7)

NON-STARTER : Anagram of(to be ruffled) [ENTRANT SO + first letter of(…, at the start) “riled“]. “Entrant” serving double duty.

Down

2 Set apart stiff confession? (7)

ISOLATE : Cryptic defn: Reference to what a corpse;a stiff in slang might confess to ungrammatically, if it had the power of speech (1,2,4).

3 Tantrum‘s part of act (5)

SCENE : Double defn: 1st: As thrown by little children.

4 Breather space for John (8)

RESTROOM : REST(a breather;a pause) + ROOM(space).

Answer: A slang for which is “the John”.

5 Deferral for Costa Rica Wine Society (15)

PROCRASTINATION : PRO-(for;in support of) + CR(the international code for Costa Rica) + ASTI(a sparkling Italian wine) + NATION(a society under a single government).

6 Fred Astaire, say, behind Rudolph (6)

DANCER : Cryptic defn: Reference to one of Santa Claus’s reindeer behind the leader, the red-nosed Rudolph.

Answer: An example of which;say, is Astaire.

7 According to the late Fred Astaire, say (9)

PERFORMER : PER(according to, as in “…per your instructions”) + FORMER(as in “the late;former US President, Clinton”).

Answer: Same comment as in 6 across.

8 Perhaps, islander Sappho harassed Balinese no end (7)

LESBIAN : Anagram of(harassed)”Balinese ” minus its last letter(no end).

Answer: One from the Greek island of Lesbos, including;perhaps, Sappho, the ancient lyric poet (or poetess, even).

14 This conductor can be positive (9)

ELECTRODE : Cryptic defn: Reference to an electrical conductor, eg. in an electrolytic cell (a battery in layman terms) which can be either positive or negative.

16 Ineffective for one redcap round shelter (8)

IMPOTENT : I(Roman numeral for “one”) MP(abbrev. for the military police, nicknamed “the redcaps”) + O(the round-shaped letter) + TENT(a portable shelter, say, of canvas).

18 Previously in California to hide (7)

CONCEAL : ONCE(previously, as in “once upon a time”) contained in(in) CAL(abbrev. for the US State of California).

20 Need seaman to rearrange scene (7)

ABSENCE : AB(abbrev. for “able-bodied seaman” + anagram of(to rearrange) SCENE.

Answer: The lack of something which might result in a need for it.

21 Reuben ignored confiscated sweet (6)

BENIGN : Hidden in(… confiscated) “Reuben ignored “.

Answer: Sweet and gentle.

24 Award between Niven & Peck initially (5)

OSCAR : Cryptic defn: Between N & P (initial letters respectively of “Niven” and “Peck”) is “O”, represented by “Oscar” in the phonetic alphabet. And of course David Niven and Gregory Peck have received Oscars for their acting.

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For answers to pic1 please click here and here; pic2 here ; pic3 here; to pic4 here (cf. pic1); pic5 here; pic6 here and here.