Financial Times no.14,778 by Redshank

by

A flawed masterpiece from the always-reliable Redshank.

I thought there were some absolute gems (9ac., 18dn., 2dn., for instance) in this inventive, original and witty puzzle. At times I felt that Redshank was perhaps overreaching himself, pushing clue complexity beyond the point of workability – but everything held together, and in the end (with the exception of 25ac., which I hope someone can help me with) I found it a thoroughly satisfying solve. Thank-you, Redshank.

 

Across
1 SCAR TISSUE
Plug problem that’s a reaction to cuts (4,6)
SCART [electrical connector, plug] + issue [problem]
7 BATS
Try turning nuts (4)
Reversal of stab [try]
9 SAKI
Secure alpine knot invented originally for Munro (4)
Initial letters of Secure Alpine Knot Invented – ‘Saki’ was the pen-name of Hector Hugh Munro
10 PALLBEARER
Supporter of a law graduate seized by Grim Reaper? (10)
A + LLB [law graduate – thank-you Eileen] within anagram of reaper
11 RENOWN
Quick splits here gutted woman celebrity (6)
Reno [Nevada city known for rapid divorces, or quick splits] + w(oma)n
12 DOORKNOB
Dr No book’s sophisticated opening device (8)
Anagram of dr no book
13 FULL STOP
Period when drunk’s drink’s withdrawn (4,4)
Full [drunk] + reversal of pot’s [drink’s]
15 PADS
Fills out parking notices (4)
P [parking] + ads [notices]
17 OPEN
Frank’s workspace (4)
Op [work]  en [space]
19 EXACTORS
Retired Thespians who demand tributes? (8)
Ex [retired] + actors [thespians]
22 BABUSHKA
Degree given to ex-president Ford’s granny in Moscow (8)
BA [Bachelor of Arts, degree] + Bush [ex-president GW or HW] + Ka [model of Ford car]
23 AROUND
Roughly where some ships run, bypassing Gulf (6)
Aground [where some ships run] minus g [gulf]
25 WINDOWSILL
Where to set Wind in the Willows novel when it is put aside? (10)
Anagram of wind in the willows minus the letters of when it (thank-you (again), Eileen!) 
26 ERNE
Big bird seen in Inverness lough (4)
Hidden in invERNEss – an allusion to Lough Erne makes this another triple-tiered clue (thank-you JollySwagman!)
27 OTIC
The Listener’s foolish not to feature old dictator (4)
Idiotic [foolish] minus Idi [Amin, old dictator]
28 REGULATION
Ian got rule changed for another one (10)
Anagram of ian got rule
Down
2 CHATEAU
Angers vineyard bird on water there (7)
Chat [thrush-like bird] + eau [‘water’ in French] – ‘Angers’ is not a verb but the city in France
3 RHINO
It’s big in Africa and may charge money (5)
Double definition
4 IMPUNITY
Freedom from guilt is the same if male usurps power (8)
Immunity [freedom from guilt] with p [power] in place of m [male]
5 SELF-DEPRECATING
Somehow deflecting praise, suppressing ego (4-11)
Anagram of deflecting praise minus I [ego]
6 EN BLOC
Cycle after noble savage all at once (2,4)
Anagram of noble + c [cycle]
7 BLACK SPOT
Boycott’s drug problem for climbers (5,4)
Blacks [boycotts] + pot [drug]
8 TOEHOLD
Advantageous place to see bishop departing (7)
To behold [see] minus b [bishop]
14 LANGUE D’OC
Sort of code in Gaul that’s not current (6,3)
Anagram of code in gaul minus I [current]
16 PARALLEL
Correspond with mate about keeping everyone in (8)
All [everyone] within re [about] within pal [mate]
18 PIANIST
Monk perhaps is obstructing devout worker (7)
Is within pi [pious, devout] + ant [worker], alluding to the jazz pianist Thelonious Monk
20 RUN INTO
Rugby video games designer’s endless hit (3,4)
RU [Rugby Union] + Nintendo minus end
21 SHOWER
Someone who demonstrates cleaner in rain (6)
Triple definition
24 OVERT
Overturns vessels left out in the open (5)
Overturns minus urns [vessels]

13 comments on “Financial Times no.14,778 by Redshank”

  1. Thanks, Ringo.

    25ac: Anagram of Wind in the Willows minus ‘when it’.

    I think there’s a mountaineering reference in 9ac to the Munros: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munro.

    In 5dn, you need to take out I [ego] = makes it &lit, I think.

    Huge thanks, as ever, Redshank – brilliant stuff!

  6. Yes, another delightful Redshank.
    I particularly liked the &lit of 5d.
    That said, what’s not to like here? So much inventiveness and misdirection.

    Perhaps, 7ac is slightly out of place here. A bit of a throwaway clue, also spoilt by the infamous ambiguity having the indicator in the middle.
    I think 4d might suffer from some ambiguity too. I entered “immunity” here, only to find out that PALLBEARER (my LOI) proved me wrong.

    Some people might argue that “lough” in 26ac (ERNE) is padding but the allusion to Inverness makes it perfectly acceptable.

    copmus @4, strictly speaking you’re right but on wine bottles you will find Languedoc (as a region) written as one word. This is surely another clue that’s meant to be an &lit, although I’m afraid I do not get the definition this time.

    Most difficult clue to parse, for me: 16d (PARALLEL).
    I had to read it a few times and even your explanation, Turbolegs, didn’t do the trick for me. If I’m right it seems to be: “PAL, RE keeping ALL, in” with “in” meaning the lot going into “PAL”. Not the most elegant of constructions but it’s alright.

    Thanks, Turbolegs, for the blog.
    I shared your admiration for 18d.
    And I also admired 27ac, 28ac, 8d, 20d and so on, and so on.

    Many thanks to Redshank for the fun.

  7. Many thanks to Redshank for the fun and to Ringo for the 5 answers I failed on. I shared SvdH’s issue with PARALLEL and wondered if someone else would comment.
    I would also query whether IMPUNITY (or indeed immunity) is properly defined as “freedom from guilt” – is it not just “freedom from punishment whether or not guilty”?

    Anyhoo, much enjoyment.

  8. Thanks Redshank and Ringo

    14dn: Chambers 2008 supports my understanding that LANGUE D’OC is the language, while LANGUEDOC as a single word is the region. What is not clear (to me, anyway) is whether langue d’oc specifically refers to obsolete dialects, which is what the clue implies if it is to be taken as a complete “& lit”.

  9. The Compact OED gives LANGUE D’OC as “The form of medieval French spoken south of the Loire, characterised by the use of ‘oc’ to mean ‘yes’, and forming the basis of modern Provencal”, implying that it does refer to obsolete dialects.

  10. Thanks Redshank and Ringo

    Certainly not for the faint-hearted, this one. Found it hard, particularly to parse some of the answers, but filled with some excellent &lit clues.

    I had entered a very unconvincing ‘lingua Deo’ and ‘Otto’ in the SW before seeing the right pair – still had not seen OTIC defined as the actual ear itself before – or have I missed something?

    Didn’t see the full parsing of WINDOWSILL, but should have – this setter seems to like the complex anagram structure.

    Lots to like … and I did!

  12. All clues should be solvable as they stand on their own. With 7A we don’t know for certain whether the answer is stab or bats. We need crossing letters to confirm that it is indeed bats. I therefore agree with Sil on this one.
    Thanks to Ringo and Redshank

  13. Shall I be nasty and say that Gaul wasn’t France but included it, and that Langue d’Oc is currently also spoken in Spain, Italy and Monaco? Or that a code isn’t really a language except for poota programmers?

    Just jealous.

Comments are closed.