Financial Times 14668 Sayang

(Please click here for this same blog but with a picture quiz added. Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.)   Perhaps a tad more difficult than previous offerings from Sayang, to whom thanks. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1,4    Gary Anderson on a flight to Vegas or a train to London (6,8)

FLYING SCOTSMAN : Double defn: 1st: Cryptic reference to Gary Anderson, Scottish darts player flying to Vegas for the Desert Classic Tournament. In fact, the answer is his nickname; and 2nd: The express passenger service train between Edinburgh and London.

9    Russian ready for trial although lacking time (6)

ROUBLE : “trouble”(a trial;a testing time) minus(although lacking) “t”(abbrev. for “time”).

Defn: Ready;money in Russia.

10    Criminal cartel retaining popular instrument (8)

CLARINET : Anagram of(Criminal) CARTEL containing(retaining) IN(popular;trendy).

12    Throwing treatment for a toenail, perhaps (8)

INGROWTH : Anagram of(… treatment) THROWING.

Defn: What you might;perhaps call an ingrowing toenail.

13    Agent holding for a superior (6)

SUPERB : SUB(an agent;a substitute for) containing(holding for) PER(a, when expressing rates, as in “kilometres per hour”).

15    Become aware of signal (4)

NOTE : Double defn: 1st: …, as in “to note his discomfort”; and 2nd: A sound, a quality, etc. as an indication, as in, “there was a note of desperation in his voice”.

16    Sally frees doctor in a heroic manner (10)

FEARLESSLY : Anagram of(… doctor) SALLY FREES.

19    Active hormone (10)

ADRENALINE : Cryptic defn: The hormone secreted in response to stress, as a precursor to “fight or flight” action.

20    Tie the bird (4)

KNOT : Double defn.

23    Promote Australian beer endlessly (6)

FOSTER : “Foster’s”(trademark name of an internationally distributed Australian beer) minus its last letter(endlessly).

25    I bet Alec led astray the virgin (8)

CELIBATE : Anagram of(… led astray) I BET ALEC. And if he did lead the virgin really astray, neither of them would be celibate.

Defn:  As an adjective.

27    Let trial unravel abuse (3-5)

ILL-TREAT : Anagram of(… unravel) LET TRIAL.

28    Scholar did not start to call out for the jumbo steward (6)

MAHOUT : MA(scholar with a Master of Arts degree) + “shout”(to call out) minus its 1st letter(did not start …).

Defn: An elephant’s handler.

29    Adele regularly into observing young plant (8)

SEEDLING : The 2nd and 4th letters of(…regularly) “Adele ” contained in(into) SEEING(observing).

30    Take out the key (6)

DELETE : Double defn: 2nd: One of the keys on a computer keyboard.

Down

1,19 Diplomacy, the bedroom antics of James Bond around the world? (7,7)

FOREIGN AFFAIRS : Cryptic defn: Reference to the fictional 007, famed for his romances (euphemistically) around the world.

2    Rug rat in New York is a tyke (9)

YOUNGSTER : Defn: Aka a rug rat in America, a child who can’t walk yet.

3    Hold the column (6)

NELSON : Double defn: 1st: Any of various types of arm holds, used in wrestling; and 2nd: Nelson’s in Trafalgar Square, London.

5    Meat oddly not found on Michael J. Fox, naked (4)

CALF : {“Michael J. Fox ” minus its 2 extreme letters(…, naked) } minus its 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th letters(oddly not found).

Defn: … or flesh on the back of the leg between knee and ankle.

6    Wrong game rejected by FT chief – became very agonised (8)

TORTURED : TORT(a wrongful act for which a civil suit may be brought) + reversal of(… rejected) RU(abbrev. for the game of Rugby Union) plus(by) ED( abbrev. for “editor”, say, of a newspaper like the FT).

7    Downsize in admin centre (5)

MINCE : Hidden in(in) “admin centre “.

Defn: “To cut into smaller pieces”, cryptically expressed.

8    Label in Lyon arranged in a remarkable manner (7)

NOTABLY : TAB(an attached label) contained in(in) anagram of(… arranged) LYON.

11    Exorbitant, the French architectural feature (7)

STEEPLE : STEEP(exorbitantly priced) + LE(French for “the”).

14    Close friends getting drunk between shouts (7)

CRONIES : ON(getting drunk or consuming, as in “he’s still on his first glass of beer”) contained in(between) CRIES(shouts).

17    Island where no pigs are reared (9)

SINGAPORE : Anagram of(… reared) NO PIGS ARE.

18    Whole triangle smashed (8)

INTEGRAL : Anagram of(… smashed) TRIANGLE.

19    See 1 down

21    The art ensemble initially performed here (7)

THEATRE : Anagram of(… performed) [THE ART + the 1st letter of(… initially) “ensemble ” ]. A WIWD (wordplay intertwined with definition) clue.

22    Okay to include a novice for the last movement (6)

FINALE : FINE(okay;satisfactory) containing(to include) [A + L(plate exhibited by a novice driver) ].

Defn: … of a piece of music.

24    What you do (5)

SOLVE : Cryptic defn: From the setter’s viewpoint, what solvers, refered to by the second person pronoun, do.

26    Her patrol members are early risers (4)

DAWN : Cryptic defn: Reference to the “dawn patrol”, either an early morning reconnaissance flight to observe enemy movements or positions, or the personnel who prepare and put on an early morning radio or TV show.

Answer: A feminine proper name.

(Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.)