My first time blogging this setter. A solid challenge from Artexlen – one that was eventually solved after some intriguing trysts with word play. I would have liked to see some of the long-winded clues be more crisp. Speaking of which 4d was incredibly so – a 17 letter clue for a 14 letter solution! 🙂 Thanks Artexlen – it wasnt easy going but totally worth it !!
I got sidetracked by two clues in particular – 3d where I tied myself up in knots reading the clue the wrong way and 7d where I have only seen the word spelt with a ‘H” in it but found out today that there is a variation without the ‘H’ as well.
FF: 10 DD: 9
| Across | ||
| 1 | TAKEOUTS |
Provisions to go south to be moved to end in police observation (8)
STAKEOUT (police observation) with S (south) moved to the end. |
| 5 | KASBAH |
King has initially ignored expression of disgust for fortress (6)
K (king) hAS (has, initially ignored) BAH (expression of disgust) |
| 10 | TORONTO |
Big city companion to homesick girl crosses river – no going back (7)
TOTO (companion to homesick girl, Wizard of Oz) crosses [R (river) ON (no going back)] |
| 11 | AROUSAL |
Love powerful nation in a sport bringing excitement (7)
[O (love) USA (powerful nation)] in A RL (sport, Rugby League) |
| 12 | ON AIR |
Live roughly in a row, with the last being detached (2,3)
Anagram of IN A ROw (last being detached) |
| 13 | BRIDE TO BE |
British free alien, with honour intended (5-2-2)
Charade of B (british) RID (free) ET (alien) OBE (honour) |
| 14 | JE NE SAIS QUOI |
Japanese mash-up of Queen and Oasis with one special ingredient (2,2,4,4)
Anagram of J (japanese) QUEEN OASIS with I (one) |
| 18 | PRESS CHARGES |
Journalists rush son to make accusation (5,7)
PRESS (journalists) CHARGE (rush) S (son) |
| 21 | EMILE ZOLA |
Author from east, distance unknown, vacated oriental area (5,4)
Charade of E (east) MILE (distance) Z (unknown, in Algebra) OL (vacated OrientaL) A (area) |
| 23 | TROVE |
Valuable collection is the last in art range (5)
T (last in arT) ROVE (range) |
| 24 | SHORTIE |
Sally hugging Henry’s little one (7)
SORTIE (sally) hugging H (Henry) |
| 25 | IMAGINE |
Fancy a drink, with one compiler getting round? (7)
[ I(one) ME (compiler)] around A GIN (a drink) |
| 26 | DESIRE |
What we want of French father (6)
DE (of, French) SIRE (father) |
| 27 | SMOKE OUT |
Attempt to oust pesky mouse, spanning fair time (5,3)
Anagram of MOUSE around OK (fair) followed by T (time) |
| Down | ||
| 1 | TATTOO |
Marks on skin from grot, moreover (6)
TAT (grot) TOO (moreover) |
| 2 | KOREAN |
European absorbed by religious text’s language (6)
E (European) in KORAN (religious text) |
| 3 | OWNERLESS |
Bats, ernes and owls not under control (9)
Anagram of ERNES and OWLS (bats being the anagram indicator) – had me confused for quite a while as I interpreted “not under control” to be the anagram indicator. |
| 4 | TROUBLESHOOTER |
Solver scrapes nose (14)
TROUBLES (scrapes) HOOTER (nose) |
| 6 | ADORE |
Party in upcoming period to enjoy (5)
DO (party) in ARE (period = ERA, reversed) |
| 7 | BOSPORUS |
Turned up carrying gold in chief shipping route (8)
[OR (gold) in PU (up, reversed)] in BOSS (chief) |
| 8 | HELLENIC |
Greek’s anguish with opponents in charge (8)
HELL (anguish) EN (East, North – opponents at a Bridge game) IC (in charge) |
| 9 | MAGICAL REALISM |
Publication is all crime, a flexible literary genre (7,7)
MAG (publication) followed by anagram of IS ALL CRIME A |
| 15 | SWEET TALK |
Flatter track possesses little gradient, ultimately (5-4)
STALK (track) containing [ WEE (little) T (gradienT, ultimately) ] |
| 16 | APPEASED |
Happy to be docked pound after upset father’s pacified (8)
PlEASED (happy, without L – pound) after AP (father = PA, reversed) |
| 17 | LEXICONS |
Reference works by venerated people supporting learner with English (8)
[X (by, in multiplication) ICONS (venerated people)] supporting [ L (learner) E (English) ] |
| 19 | MOJITO |
Charm about Italian cocktail (6)
MOJO (charm) about IT (italian) |
| 20 | DECENT |
Reasonable day to replace contemporary’s leader (6)
D (day) replacing first letter of RECENT (contemporary) |
| 22 | ENTER |
Semi-firm board (5)
ENTERprise (semi-firm) |
Thank you, Turbolegs. I shared your initial doubt about 7d – just goes to show that you’re never too old to learn.
All in all, an enjoyable solve with some really nice clues. Special mention for 4d; was quite daunted by it at first – couldn’t think of a 14 letter word meaning nose! Thanks to Artexlen.
Thanks Artexlen and Turbolegs
I really hope that more people are doing the FT crosswords than are reflected in these blogs. This was a terrific puzzle with a bit of everything in it – a wide variety of subject matter in the solutions, good mix of clue devices and the sort of misdirection that makes one think that this guy must have worked in government before !!! Also like the precision with the clueing here – one has no ambiguity at all after the answer is revealed.
Finished up in the NW corner with TAKEOUTS (the neat US-style definition), OWNERLESS (gave up trying to work out why it meant ‘bats’ – and only put out of my misery by coming here) and ON AIR the last in.
See that M. Zola has appeared a number of times recently (or maybe not recently – have been doing a lot of backlog ones of late and he seems to have surfaced regularly – and all clued differently). Really liked JE NE SAIS QUOI, TAKEOUTS and LEXICONS.
Thanks Artexlen and Turbolegs.
Beaten by a certain Je Ne Sais Quoi. I was convinced I was looking for a Japanese culinary delicacy from an anagram of queen, oasis, I and s(pecial) and missed the obvious – doh!
A lot to like here – especially 4dn, 10ac, 1ac and – grudgingly because it beat me – 14ac.
I agree with Bruce that I’m surprised at the apparent lack of interest in the FT as opposed to the Guardian puzzles.
These are every bit as good and often better.
Every answer in this crossword was unambiguous so long as you have the ability to work it out.
So more of the same please.
Great setter. And with all that ingenuity, a pangram (is that also the term for crosswords) to boot!
A really big thank you to all the bloggers who help me improve my cruciverbalistic prowess; I really appreciate this site!