This is my last 15sq. blog for 2013, so a Happy New Year to one and all, and have a great festive time tonight. This last 2013 FT offering was a bit difficult to get into, but thankfully got the blog completed before the festivities. Thanks to Aardvark. There are some pairs of connected answers, though I’m not sure if it’s deliberate. 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 Abrupt incitement brought about heavy blows over body of fighter? (8)
FUSELAGE : “fuel”(incitement, as in “adding fuel to the fire”) minus its last letter(Abrupt) containing(brought about) reversal of(over) GALES(heavy winds;blows).
Answer: The body of an aircraft, say, a fighter plane.
5 After retirement, discussed average, accounting for some ducks (6)
EVADES : Reversal of(After retirement) and hidden in(accounting for some) “discussed average “.
9 Working dogs returning last of carrion amid frenzied bark (8)
CINNAMON : ON(working, as with, say, an electrical appliance) placed after(dogs;follows, in an across clue) reversal of(returning) [ last letter of(last of) “carrion ” contained in(amid) MANIC(frenzied;wild) ].
Answer: The aromatic bark of the cinnamon tree, often ground and used as a spice.
10 Impudent supporter joins religious school (6)
BRAZEN : BRA(short for the supporter round female chests) plus(joins) ZEN(a school of Buddhism).
12 Thread runs out embroidering curtains (5)
DEATH : Anagram of(embroidering) [“Thread ” minus(… out) “r”(abbrev. for “runs” in cricket scores) ].
Answer: The ultimate end, or in slang, “curtains”.
13 Piece of writing reportedly illuminated recruit (9)
PROSELYTE : PROSE(a piece of writing) + homophone of(reportedly) “light”(bright;”illuminated” as an adjective).
Answer: A person recently converted to;recruited into a doctrine or religion.
14 I’ve been hit! It’s painful inside vacating table (6)
TOUCHE : OUCH!(exclamation for “it’s painful”) contained in(inside) “table ” minus all its inner letters(vacating).
Answer: Expression acknowledging that one has been hit in a fencing competition.
16 Ideal pop music playing (7)
PARAGON : PA(like “pop”, a nickname for one’s father) + RAG(a piece of music played in ragtime, a style of jazz) + ON(playing, eg. on the radio, the theatre or cinema). A nice compact clue.
19 Board’s not appreciated rising highflyer (7)
BLERIOT : “table”(board) minus(…’s not;has not) “ta”(short for “Much appreciated!”;”Thanks!”) + RIOT(a rising;a violent protest by a mob).
Answer: Louis, French aviator who made the first flight across the English channel.
21 Essentially discredit Tyrolean’s cuisine (6)
CREOLE : The innermost letters respectively of(Essentially) “discredit Tyrolean’s “.
Answer: Cuisine containing or cooked with tomatoes, green peppers, onions, etc. from the Creoles of the Gulf states of the USA.
23 Restless knight in employment with one coming from upper-class (9)
UNSETTLED : N(abbrev. for “knight” in chess) contained in(in) USE(employment) plus(with) “titled”(upper-class) minus(… coming from) “I”(Roman numeral for “one”).
25 One laughs loud and long wearing a joyous expression (5)
HYENA : YEN(to long for;to yearn, as in “she yenned for a cigarette”) contained in(wearing) HA(an exclamation;expression of joy, especially if reiterated).
26 Rubbish golf wood? Hands are switched on the 6th (6)
DRIVEL : “driver”(the club golfers use for achieving long distance shots, originally made of wood, and classed as a wood, in contrast to the irons) with its 6th letter(on the 6th) “r”(abbrev. for the right hand) replaced by(switched) “l”(abbrev. for the left hand).
27 Creature‘s an example mostly inhabiting beneficial surroundings (8)
PLATYPUS : [ A(“an” for nouns beginning with a consonant sound) + “type”(an example;something or someone typifying a group of class of things) minus its last letter(mostly) contained in(inhabiting … surroundings) PLUS(beneficial;having positive advantage or good, as in “a plus factor”).
28 Trial cook lasting forty-five minutes? (6)
RIGOUR : RIG(to cook;to falsify, as in “to rig the accounts”) + last 3 out of 4 letters of “hour”(three-quarters of an “hour”;forty-five minutes).
29 Originally carp here at “revolutionary” trains following first of hold-ups (8)
HATCHERY : [AT + CHE(Guevara, Argentinian Marxist revolutionary) + RY(abbrev. for the railway;trains) ] placed after(following, in an across clue) 1st letter of(first of) “hold-ups ” ].
Defn: Where carp (and other fish) might be hatched;originate from.
Down
1 Several keys for exterior (6)
FACADE : F, A, C, A, D, and E(several of the keys in musical).
2,24 I’m drunk and chant an opening with cast (9,5)
SINGAPORE SLING : SING(to chant) + A(“an” ) PORE(a small opening, say, in your skin, allowing for passage of fluid) plus(with) SLING(to cast;to throw).
Answer: The alcoholic concoction, originating from, as legend has it, the Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore.
3 Swimmer‘s trainer using lake instead of clubs (5)
LOACH : “coach”(a trainer) with “l”(abbrev. for “lake”) replacing(using … instead of) “c”(abbrev. for the suit of “clubs” in card games).
4 Devotee taking slice peripherally from beef pasty (7)
GROUPIE : 1st and last letters of(peripherally) “slice ” deleted from(taking … from) “grouse”(a beef;a complaint) + PIE(pasty). Nice misdirection.
Answer: An enthusiastic follower of some activity, especially a female who follows rock groups around on their tours.
6 Organ, speculated vicar, needs looking over – it’s our nerve centre? (9)
VERTEBRAE : Reversal of(needs looking over) [ EAR(your hearing organ) + BET(speculated;gambled) + REV(abbrev. for “reverend”;a vicar’s title) ].
Answer: The bones that protect the spinal cord, the bundle of nerve tissue and from which the spinal nerves branch to various parts of the body.
7,17 Light-headed woman briefly watched jazz musician (5,9)
DIZZY GILLESPIE : DIZZY(light-headed;giddy) + GILL(a girl or sweetheart, from the name Gillian) + “espied”(watched) minus its last letter(briefly).
8 Scorching temperature latterly disturbs vocal performance (8)
SINGEING : Last letter of(latterly) “temperature ” contained in(disturbs) SINGING(vocal performance).
11 Pen love letter in nick (4)
COOP : O(the letter that looks like 0;love in tennis scores) contained in(in) COP(like “nick”, slang for “to steal”).
Defn: … for domestic fowl.
15 Drink made from mint utilised tea-urn largely (9)
COINTREAU : COIN(manufactured product from a mint) + anagram of(utilised) “tea-urn ” minus its last letter(largely).
Answer: The brand of orange-flavoured liqueur.
17 See 7
18 More senseless seamen visit old city knocking back wine (8)
ABSURDER : ABS(abbrev. for “able seamen”) plus(visit) UR(the ancient city) + reversal of(knocking back) RED(a variety of wine).
20 Plough‘s ready to be kept here? (4)
TILL : Double defn: 1st: … farmland, say; and 2nd: Where cash;ready in slang, is kept.
21 Dicky’s found in wood having misplaced last mark on French map? (7)
CEDILLA : ILL(in bad condition;dicky) contained in(found in) “cedar “(wood from the cedar tree) minus its last letter(misplaced last).
Answer: In French, the mark under the letter “c” to indicate that it is pronounced as an “s”, like in “façade”.
22 Jay, in books, appearing colourful around bank (6)
GATSBY : GAY(appearing cheerfully colourful) containing(around) TSB(the British retail bank).
Answer: The character, Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”. The “in books” held my up – I’m not sure if that same character is to be found in other, besides that one, book.
24 See 2
25 Advanced to club somewhere in London (2-3)
HI-TEC : HIT(to beat, with a club, say) + EC(one of the postal code areas in London, from “East Central”).
Answer: Alternate to “high-tech”, advanced technology.
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Thanks Aardvark for a very enjoyable challenge and scchua for the blog.
26ac: A nice indication of which R to change into an L.
3dn: The one thing that stopped me from writing “thoroughly enjoyable”. I really would prefer a more explicit indication that only one of two Cs is to be changed into L. As always, I have no quarrel with those whose preferences differ from mine.
Thanks for the blog Scchua. Quite a tricky puzzle I thought but very worthwhile. Aardvark is one of the very best setters in my opinion. In 4 down, isn’t it the final two letters sliced from “grouse”, rather than the first and last?
jmac@2 re 4dn: I think you can read “taking slice peripherally from” as meaning “remove the last two letters of”, but it is a bit of a stretch. If you take “slice peripherally” to mean “first and last letters of SLICE” and hence “SE”, that is a more precise indication. I certainly took it the same way as scchua.
Thanks for the clarification Pelham. That makes much more sense.
Tough – but well worth the effort. I followed a lot of false trails.
Eg having Ali as my fighter in 1a held me up for a good while.
Many thanks to both setter and blogger.