Financial Times 14,656 COURTIER

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This was a gentle teasing puzzle, perfect for a weekday without anything too complicated.  Being unfamiliar with the language, I had to verify the two French words after I got the answers. Thank you Courtier for the fun and games

Given the timing of the theme, I was curious about the setter and a quick search here revealed that this was an annual ritual between 2008-2011. Not sure what happened since then, but here we are …

Definitions in clues are marked like this.
* anagram, + charade, – deletion, ~ sounds like, <= reversal, H hidden, DD double definition, CD cryptic definition

ACROSS
8 An arrangement is put round a flower to stand in (8) DEPUTISE [IS PUT* inside DEE river]
9 Then, confusingly, I see it sounds like the description of a race (6) ETHNIC [THEN* + I + ~SEE]
10 Hawk a number after church service (6) TERCEL [L after TERCE]
11 Past champion is a record spinner alright with nothing before first three victories (8) DJOKOVIC [DJ + OK + O + VICtories]
12 Defenders attach slice (8) BACKSPIN [BACKS + PIN]
13 Feature // an army unit (6) DETAIL [DD]
14 NHS appointed for a new way of making shots dip (7,8) TOPSPIN FOREHAND [NHS APPOINTED FOR]*
18 Journalist returns to Native American for decision (6) DECREE [ED<= + CREE]
20 Demand payment again to top up battery (8) RECHARGE [RE CHARGE]
23 Mark from Prague we hear is away (5,3) CHECK OFF [~CZECH + OFF]
24 A French wall beam for the current champion (6) MURRAY [MUR + RAY]
25 French gardens the Spanish divide into portions (6) PARCEL [PARC + EL] Is there a plural/singular mismatch between gardens/parc?
26 Veins a seaman used to guide a vessel (8) LODESTAR [LODES + TAR]

DOWN
1 A poser enables concealment of a serial champion (6) SERENA [H]
2 Take cues, and pack around for tea-time fare (8) CUPCAKES [CUES outside PACK*]
3 Call with a finger (4-2) DIAL-UP [CD]
4 Risky behaviour on the way to Victoria perhaps (7,3,1,4) HEADING FOR A FALL [HEADING FOR + A FALL]
5 Judge // an instrument (8) RECORDER [DD]
6 A narrow passage, or that sort of thing (6) THROAT [OR THAT]*
7 Polite Scot who is not in service (8) CIVILIAN [CIVIL + IAN]
15 To lead after six balls is an expense (8) OVERHEAD [HEAD after OVER]
16 It’s nice heading off with money for a cooling treat (3,5) ICE LOLLY [nICE + LOLLY]
17 Refuse after he takes a complaint (4,4) HEAT RASH [TRASH after HE + A]
19 Ornate or backward Colorado company (6) ROCOCO [OR<= + CO + CO]
21 Being demure about a brief medical provides amusement (6) COMEDY [COY outside MEDical]
22 An order to remove (2,4) GO AWAY [CD]

 

20 comments on “Financial Times 14,656 COURTIER”

  2. Bryan – odd. I had no trouble with the PDF (using browser Firefox 30).

    Have you recently updated your browser and not adjusted the options for reading PDFs? I’ve run into that before now.

  3. Am I right in suspect a temporary pseudonym (base on the them) of a regular setter?

    No trouble with the PDF btw, even using IE11.

  4. Hi Conrad
    “Am I right in suspecting a temporary pseudonym (based on the theme) of a regular setter?”

    The following comment was posted by the FT crossword editor back in June 2011 (FT 13731):

    “Courtier is happy to be revealed as John Barrett, Davis Cup and Wimbledon player in the 1950s and 1960s, TV commentator for the BBC and other networks, now retired, author of several books on tennis and for many years the FT’s tennis correspondent.”

  6. Thanks Gaufrid, happy to be corrected.

    I must have accused the setter I was thinking of out of habit. 🙁

  7. I hadn’t come across Courtier before either — a refreshing new voice for me. Very enjoyable. I too had no problem with the PDF. Thanks to Courtier and Bhavan.

  8. Very many thanks for the advice.

    I was using Google Chrome which still doesn’t work but I have now downloaded today’s puzzle using Explorer.

    Bryan

  10. Thanks to Courtier for his annual contribution which went in smoothly.

    I’m not a big fan of “first three victories” for VIC (in 11ac) and I also think that the “a” in 14ac shouldn’t be there as it separates the fodder from the indicator.

    But then 8ac.
    “An arrangement is put round a flower”: how does that lead to (PUT IS)* inside DEE? Does “round” here mean that “a flower” goes around something? If so, then that’s quite a stretch as the clue clearly suggests a construction the other way around.

    Thanks Bhavan.

  12. Bhavan

    Re your question at 25a: The English word ‘gardens’ or ‘grounds’ (in plural form) has the meaning “an area laid out for public enjoyment and recreation”. So ‘French gardens’ could give ‘parc’.
    You worded your doubt carefully. In Madras we have “Island grounds”.

  13. Thanks Bhavan and Courtier.

    Sil@10
    I felt exactly the same about the three clues you mentioned, and I have similar misgivings about another one: 2dn. The solution is clearly CUPCAKES, but
    “Take cues and pack around” would seem to be a strange indicator for either
    CU(PACK*)ES or (CUES+PACK)*.

  14. mike04, thank you for being someone who doesn’t take everything for granted. However, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with 2d. The anagram indicator is ‘around’, so taking something around is OK. (CUES + PACK)*

  15. Thanks, Sil. Perhaps using (CUES+PACK)* is a little inelegant though;
    the order of the letters in CUES is unchanged.

  16. Oops i tried my best to understand this puzzle! The French words confuses me a lot.

    Bhavan could u please share a puzzles which is completely in English, thanks

  17. Hi Sarah @16, I’m not sure I understand your request. Was there a specific part of the puzzle you wanted me to explain/annotate better?

  18. Hi Bhavan I appreciate your quick reply and Thanks with my apologize, actually, I am crazy behind online puzzles, i have many puzzles in my monitor now and I am trying to solve at a light speed..lol..and I missed to read it completely, at a glance my puzzling brain confused thinking some french words are there, now I am going to dedicate some time on solving this puzzle, Thanks again.

  19. I’m a bit late to this party but how interesting to find a real tennis player setting a tennis-themed puzzle. As a once ardent tennis player, I remember John Barrett from his playing days. Thank you, John, for an entertaining puzzle and merci beaucoup to Bhavan.

    Had no difficulty with downloading the pdf on Chrome under XP but I have difficulty seeing 2d and 22d as CDs; they seem to be straight-forward definitions. I also had difficulty with the numeration of 2d. My understanding is that compounds such as “dial-up”, “set-up”, “log-on” etc. are hyphenated only when they are used as adjectives (e.g. a dial-up telephone) or nouns. When used as verbs they do not take the hyphen because one runs into difficult with person and tense e.g. I dial up, he dials up, they dialed up …

    So, is the answer to 2d a verb? If yes, should it have a hyphen?

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