Financial Times 14504 Gaff

Firstly, Season’s Greetings and a Happy New Year to all.  Not an easy one from Gaff today, especially his cryptic caption, which, even after much time trying to decipher, has completely eluded me.  Thanks to Gaff.  Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1 Stumble at second hearing of panel (8)

TRIPTYCH : TRIP(a stumble) plus(at) homophone of(hearing) “tick”(a moment;a second, as in “hang on a tick!”.

Answer: A set of 3 panels (or pictures) hinged together, often used as an altarpiece.

5 An unrefined state of the Caribbean (6)

ARAWAK : A(an) RAW(unrefined;unprocessed) + AK(abbrev. for the US state of Alaska).

Answer: A member of the South American Indian people formerly inhabiting much of the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean.

9 It’s logical for Capone to supplement share (8)

RATIONAL : AL(Capone, the US racketeer) placed after(to supplement, in an across clue) RATION(an allotted share).

10 Follows camera in studio suit (6)

ACTION : Cryptic defn: Reference to “Lights, camera, action!” the traditional cue to the crew in a film studio at the start of a take.

Defn: … heard in a court of law.

12 Hagar’s despairing cry (5)

AARGH : Anagram of(…’s despairing) HAGAR.

13 Ruler repeatedly needled by chisellers (9)

CLEOPATRA : Cryptic defn: Reference to Cleopatra’s Needle, the popular name for each of 3 Ancient Egyptian obelisks, chiselled with hieroglyphs, re-erected in London, Paris and New York -a misnomer, as apart from being in the same country, they were unconnected to Queen Cleopatra of Egypt (and even she was of Greek origin).

14 Sound of film came too late (6)

MISSED : Homophone of(Sound of) “mist”(a thin film that obscures or blurs).

Answer: As in “I missed the bus”.

16 States a degree of limitation for boy (7)

AMERICA : A + MA(abbrev. for “Master of Arts” academic degree) containing(limitation for) ERIC(a boy’s name).

19 Posh area of Manchester range taken apart (7)

UNWOVEN : U(characteristic of the upper class;posh) + NW(abbrev. for the North West of England, in which Manchester is located) + OVEN(making up, together with other ovens and burners, the range in the kitchen).

21 Persuade rebellious niece to swallow tablet, finally (6)

ENTICE : Anagram of(rebellious) NIECE containing(to swallow) the last letter of(finally) “tablet “.

23 Long to hold damaged lower cable (5,4)

POWER LINE : PINE(to long for;to yearn) containing(to hold) anagram of(damaged) LOWER.

25 Give secretary a hand with fruit (5)

PAPAW : PA(abbrev. for “personal assistant”;a secretary) + PAW(informally, a hand, especially if large and clumsy).

26 More island retsinas lost from faulty pasteurisation (6)

UTOPIA : “retsinas ” deleted from(lost from) anagram of(faulty) “pasteurisation “.

Answer: The island inhabited by the perfect society in Thomas More’s book of the same title.

27 It’s likely to pay bad debt on us (5,3)

SOUND BET : Anagram of(bad) DEBT ON US.

28 Tying up loose ends isn’t dumb (6)

SILENT : Anagram of(Tying up) [ the 1st and last letters of(ends) “loose ” + ISN’T].

29 Cutting edge tools for fledgling escapologist (3-5)

EGG-TEETH : Cryptic defn: The temporary teeth or beak projections possessed by hatchling birds and reptiles, with which they pierce the eggshell and “escape”.

Down

1 Jane’s swinging partner? (6)

TARZAN : Cryptic defn: Reference to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ fictional character, the “apeman” swinging through the jungle on vines, but definitely not sexually – those were the partners of other Janes.

2 Bury struggle with questions (9)

INTERVIEW : INTER(to bury, the dead, usually) + VIE(to struggle;to compete for a prize) + W(abbrev. for “with”).

3 Taste for drilling and extraction (5)

TOOTH : Double defn: 1st: As in “a sweet tooth”; and 2nd: … by a dentist.

4 Happened to be copied about solo from Star Wars (7)

CHANCED : CC’ED(abbrev. for “copied”, to be simultaneously given a copy of a letter, etc.) containing(about) HAN(Solo, the character in the Star War series of movies).

6 Beneficiary of up-to-date computer address I stored (9)

RECIPIENT : RECENT(up-to-date) containing(… stored) [ IP(abbrev. for “Internet Protocol”, which, among other things, stands for the address used to route data on the Internet to a specific computer) + I].

7 Where to keep watch on joint (5)

WRIST : Cryptic defn: Reference to where you would wear;keep your wristwatch on.

8 Middle East city where Spooner may help a vehicle (8)

KANDAHAR : Spoonerism of “hand”(help, as in “to lend a hand”) + A + “car”(a vehicle).

Answer: City in Afghanistan, in (Greater) Middle East.

11,22 Prepare to make a circuit with injury to chest and waist (3,1,6)

SET A SWITCH : Anagram of(injury to) [CHEST plus(and) WAIST].

Defn: …, electrically.

15 Test, part English, in device of ruler (9)

SOVEREIGN : [ OVER(a series of 6 balls delivered by a bowler, a part of a cricket Test match) + E(abbrev. for “English”) ] contained in(in) SIGN(which in heraldry could constitute a device;a symbol).

17 Useless rain-cap a blemish exposed (9)

INCAPABLE : Hidden in(exposed) “rain-cap a blemish “.

18 Treats with element of additional raise Ben’s after (8)

SULPHURS : Reversal of(raise, in a down clue) PLUS(additional;extra) + HUR(Ben, in Lew Wallace’s novel) ‘S.

Answer: Treats with the element sulphur, which is used as an insecticide.

20 See 25

21 Nothing relieves a general disaster soon (7)

ERELONG : Anagram of(disaster) [ “general ” with O(the letter representing 0;nothing) replacing(relieves) “a ” ].

22 See 11

24 Doctor both hands in turn (5)

WHORL : WHO(the timelord doctor in the TV series) + R,L(abbrev. for “right” and “left”, both hands).

25,20 Variety of hazy premonition excludes me (5,4)

PINOT NOIR : Anagram of(hazy) [“premonition ” minus(excludes) “me “].

Defn: … of grapes in wine-making.