Financial Times 14,807 by CHALMIE

by

A varied set of clues, leading to an interesting set of words in the solution.  All-in-all a very pleasant puzzle  (and even more interesting than I at first realised, thank you Chalmie).

There seem to be a few (1970s?) song titles in the grid.  Can someone with a better knowledge of pop music explain it all?

Click on the links on the solutions below to listen…

completed grid

Across
1 RESCUE
Key in “regret” and save (6)
ESC (key, computing) in RUE (regret)
4 PROBLEMS
Line in test script makes for difficulties (8)
L (line) in PROBE (test) then MS (script)
10 GOOD TIMES
Benefits include back issue of The Age of Prosperity (4,5)
GOODS (benefits) containing EMIT (issue) reversed (back)
11 ORIEL
College professor I elected to be largely ignored (5)
found inside professOR I ELected (other letters ignored) – a college of Oxford University
12 TATI
Cheers oddly thin film-maker (4)
TA (cheers) ThIn (odd letters of)
13 LIFE ON MARS
Curiosity could discover this in flames or destroyed (4,2,4)
(IN FLAMES OR)* anagram=destroyed – Curiosity is the name of a rover landed on Mars (thanks turbolegs)
15 OXALATE
Skeletal axolotl returns carrying salt (7)
found reversed in (returns carrying) skelETAL AXOlotl
16 TEUTON
German out cycling caught in reverse trap (6)
OUT* anagram=cycling in NET (trap) reversed
19 ANGELO
Holy figure round Dundee? (6)
ANGEL (holy figure) O (something round) – Angelo Dundee was a boxing trainer and cornerman for, among others, Mohammed Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and George Foreman
21 TRAMMEL
Confine contents of gallery brought back by Frenchwoman to London opening (7)
ART (contents of gallery) reversed (brought back) by MME (Frenchwoman) to L (opening letter of London)
23 POINT BLANK
Directly west possibly vacant (5-5)
POINT (West possibly, point of compass) BLANK (vacant)
25 TRUE
Turkey rejecting Brussels – honest! (4)
TR (Turkey) EU (Brussels, slang for the EU) reversed (rejecting)
27 HYENA
Predator’s heavy coat new in the middle of ice age (5)
HeavY (coat, outside letters of) then N (new) in icE Age (the middle of)
28 YESTERDAY
Amazingly starry-eyed, having lost a hand in the very recent past (9)
STARrY-EYED* anagram=amazingly missing R (right, a hand)
29 TOMMY GUN
Order to do exercise backwards found in barrel of weapon (5,3)
OM (Order of Merit) GYM (to do excercise) reversed (backwards) found in TUN (barrel)
30 ECHOES
Repeats point about residential care facilities losing money (6)
E (point, of compass) C (circa, about) MOmES (residential care facilities) missing M (money)
Down
1 RIGHT NOW
Used to be left immediately (5,3)
was left but is right now
2 SLOW TRAIN
To make an effort overcoming depression, it stops a lot (4,5)
STRAIN (make an effort) containing (overcoming) LOW (depression) – nice definition!
3 UP TO
Instruction to keep reading university’s first indication of responsibility (2,2)
PTO (instruction to keep reading) with U (university) coming first
5 RESPECT
Relax muscle in deference (7)
PEC (pectoral, muscle) containing (with…in) REST (relax)
6 BROWN SUGAR
Fries you bring finally need a couple of bits of artificial sweetener (5,5)
BROWNS (fries) yoU brinG (finally, last letters of) then ARtificial (a couple of letters of)
7 ELIZA
Woman priest getting the support of South Africa (5)
ELI (priest) on (getting support of) ZA (South Africa)
8 SPLASH
Mounts up before quarter-horse’s dash (6)
ALPS (mountains) reversed (up) before S (quarter, of the compass) then H (horse, slang for heroin, H)
9 EMPIRE
Politician invades foreign country to establish imperium (6)
MP (politician) in EIRE (foreign country)
14 TAKE IT EASY
One key state American devastated to relax (4,2,4)
anagram (devastated) of I (one) KEY STATE and A (American)
17 ON MY RADIO
Where I heard the news of horrible rainy doom? (2,2,5)
(RAINY DOOM)* anagram=horrible
18 BLUE EYES
It’s a Nordic trait to squander energy agreement (4,4)
BLUE (to squander) E (energy) YES (agreement)
20 ONLY YOU
Working lecturer too wise to be heard at university the sole person solving this? (4,3)
ON (working) L (lecturer) YY sounds like “two wise” OU (The Open University)
21 TONISH
Fill with wonder, but not as fashionable (6)
asTONNISH (fill with wonder) missing AS
22 UPSHOT
Happy at second very attractive result (6)
UP (happy) with (at) S (second) HOT (very attractive)
24 ILEUM
Upside-down cereal misses small intestine (5)
MEUsLI (cereal) missing S (small) reversed (upside-down)
26 MERC
Hired soldier as host to welcome queen (4)
MC (Master of Ceremonies, host) contains (to welcome) ER (The Queen)
*anagram
definitions are underlined

18 comments on “Financial Times 14,807 by CHALMIE”

  3. Thanks for the blog, PD.

    There are in fact 21 song titles in the grid. 17 of them were put in deliberately, being songs I knew and in most cases like. Then, while I was clueing it, I happened to notice that RIGHT NOW was listed among the YouTube recommendations next to the video I was listening to at the time, and so I did a bit of Googling, discovering that there were four more entries which would be known at least to fans of the bands, which are asterisked below.

    RESCUE Echo & the Bunnymen
    PROBLEMS Sex Pistols
    GOOD TIMES Chic
    LIFE ON MARS David Bowie
    ANGELO Brotherhood of Man
    POINT BLANK Bruce Springsteen
    TRUE Spandau Ballet
    YESTERDAY The Beatles
    TOMMY GUN Clash
    ECHOES Pink Floyd
    RIGHT NOW Van Halen *
    SLOW TRAIN Bob Dylan
    RESPECT Aretha Franklin
    BROWN SUGAR Rolling Stones
    ELIZA Phish *
    SPLASH Can *
    EMPIRE Kasabian *
    TAKE IT EASY Eagles
    ON MY RADIO Selecter
    BLUE EYES Elton John
    ONLY YOU Yazoo

  4. Thanks Peedee and Chalmie.

    13ac – Curiosity is the name of the rover that landed on Mars.

    An enjoyable puzzle which I over-complicated for myself, in parsing a couple.

    8d – I parsed it as SPLA + SH (SH being a quarter of SHetland, with horse alluding to Pony, from the Shetland Pony). If this was contrived enough, then 20d was even worse:

    20d – ON + LYYO + U where I parsed LYYO as sounding like Leo, and likened it to Leo VI The Wise (wiki here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_VI_the_Wise)

    Cheers
    TL

  7. This is quite incredible.
    And there’s one more: HYENA is an R.E.M. song (on Lifes Rich Pageant, 1986) …..

    Meanwhile, the clueing was as sound as it could be.
    Nothing’s too convoluted in order to squeeze all these song titles in.
    Many thanks to Chalmie for the fun.

    And to PeeDee for adding links ….. 🙂

  8. Sil @7

    Bloody hell. And “LRP” is an album I like a great deal. I even saw them when they toured it. As I write, I’m listening to it, and I’m just about note-perfect playing along on air guitar. But I’ve never had any idea what Stipe’s lyrics are about and mostly know the words to their songs having learned them parrot-fashion, so heaven knows how many REM mondegreens I’m guilty of.

  10. Well done in solving this, PeeDee, and thank you for the blog.
    This was far too convoluted for me and reading some of your answers and parsings has caused me to bang my head on my desk in frustration…

  11. Thanks Chalmie and PeeDee

    Great effort to fit that many connected words into the grid, let alone them being songs. Completely passed me by of course, in no small part because of the actual effort just to complete the puzzle.

    Found it tough, but fair going all the way through – hmm apart from a pet hate at 7d where ELISA is an answer that is just as valid. Thought that ‘tonnish’ was the usual spelling for fashionable in this sense, but see that Collins lists TONISH as well.

    Much to like in the wide variety of devices and some of the unusual definitions. HYENA and UPSHOT were the last couple in after an enjoyable struggle.

  12. I actually just realised that I (also) entered ELISA at 7d.
    I agree with Bruce that this answer is just as valid, so a small minus point for Chalmie.

    BTW, just read today’s The Times a review of Anna Calvi’s concert in London. It says that she did a song called … ELIZA.

    BTW2, when I did the puzzle this morning I initially saw both 1ac and 1d as “half-songs”: Fontalla Bass’ RESCUE (ME) and Free’s (ALL) RIGHT NOW.

    BTW3, a different ONLY YOU was made famous by The Platters, covered by Ringo Starr in 1974. The Yazoo song hit the charts again in 1983 by The Flying Picketts (an a-cappella group).

    BTW4, PROBLEMS was also a UK Top 10 hit for The Everly Brothers in 1959.

    BTW5, for me GOOD TIMES was the 1967 hit by Eric Burdon & The Animals – although I also considered an Easybeats song of that name from a year later.

    BTW6, BLUE EYES was the title of the late Don Partridge’s follow-up to “Rosie”, becoming a UK #3 in the summer of 1968.

    Now, is this about crosswords or about music? 🙂

  13. My first thoughts on finishing this crossword was that the collection words in the solution were more interesting than usual. At the time I couldn’t say why, they just felt pleasing.

    Looking back, as the words are song titles they would have been chosen precisely because they formed some sort of resonance in peoples minds.

    The constraints on filling in the remaining entries produced some more obscure words to make a balanced set.

    Normally I find the current trend for themed puzzles detracts a little from the puzzle itself, but in this case it has enhanced it.

  15. What do you actually mean, flash?
    Either you are trying to be funny or you really found this ‘rubbish’.
    The latter I can not agree with at all.
    But then @9 PeeDee thinks that this puzzle might have been written for me …. 🙂

  16. Flashling once promised never to be nice about one of my puzzles ever again, so I treat his worthless comments with the utter contempt that only one fourth-rater can have for another.

    And I certainly hope to get to Cambridge – a feat I didn’t quite manage via the examination route in the mid-70s.

  17. Thanks Alchemi, I don’t actually remember how this started but it’s just a bit of banter. Michael would be offended if I didn’t consider his work worthless.

    To those that misunderstood I’m sorry.

  18. So, that’s sorted then.
    But be aware that others (including me) weren’t aware of this apparently ongoing ‘banter’, and might see Chalmie’s post @16 as a comment of an angry and insulted setter.

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