(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.) Thanks to Dante for the usual staple of anagrams, double and cryptic definitions (and simple definitions too?). Today is an unusual slot for him. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Fraud bound to include city in retrospect (0,(sic)6)
DECEIT : Reversal of(… in retrospect) [ TIED(bound) containing(to include) EC(postal code of the London area that includes the City of London) ].
4 Suddenly stop riding? Time to get your skates on (6,2)
FREEZE UP : FREEZE(suddenly stop, as in “freeze! don’t move!” or when a computer stops working for apparently no reason) + UP(on a horse;riding).
Defn: A period of freezing weather (shouldn’t there be a hyphen to indicate that it’s a noun?).
9 Article in duplicate goes over the pilot’s head (6)
CANOPY : AN(an article in grammar) contained in(in) COPY(a duplicate).
10 He gets car to start after machine breakdown (8)
MECHANIC : The 1st letter of(… to start) “car ” placed after(after, in an across clue) anagram of(… breakdown) MACHINE. A WIWD (wordplay intertwined with definition) clue.
11 See an election return in the lounge (6)
LOLLOP : LO(see, as in “lo and behold”) + reversal of(… return) POLL(an election).
Defn: …, as a verb.
12 Rare slip in play results in retaliation (8)
REPRISAL : Anagram of(… in play) RARE SLIP.
13 Satisfied FBI agent (3)
FED : Double defn: 2nd: From “Federal Bureau of Investigation”.
14 Made a home for a good man in want (6)
NESTED : ST(abbrev. for “saint”;a good man) contained in(in) NEED(a want;a lack of).
17 Conductor’s support for bringing back alternative string sound (7)
ROSTRUM : Reversal of(bringing back) OR(a conjunction used to join alternatives) + STRUM(sound made by sweeping the strings in a musical instrument such as the guitar).
21 Manage to assemble a party (4,2)
MAKE DO : MAKE(to assemble;to create by joining parts, say, of a kit) + DO(a party;a social function).
Defn: … with whatever is available, say.
25 Park on double lines – a curious thing to do (3)
PRY : P(abbrev. for “park”) plus(on) RY(abbrev. for “railway”, a track composed of a pair of parallel metal rails).
Defn: …, or a thing to do if you’re curious.
26 He rooted for reform, being a Roosevelt (8)
THEODORE : Anagram of(… for reform) HE ROOTED.
Defn: …, one of two former US Presidents.
27 Head branch (6)
ANTLER : Cryptic defn: A branched growth on, say, a male deer’s head.
28 Instrument certainly shorter when broken (8)
CLARINET : Anagram of(… when broken) [ “certainly ” minus its last letter(shorter) ].
29 Annoyed a number if having eaten (6)
MIFFED : M(Roman numeral for 1000) + IF + FED(having eaten).
30 Slow-moving, like a bullet, oddly enough (8)
SLUGGISH : SLUG(slang for a bullet) + -(G)ISH(from the suffix denoting likeness to).
Defn: Not what a bullet is like, at odds;oddly enough, with the wordplay.
31 Repast that is eaten in S. Africa (6)
MEALIE : MEAL(a repast) + IE(abbrev. for “id est”;that is).
Defn: A flour made from maize, a staple food in S. Africa and other sub-Saharan African regions.
Down
1 As it grows up it grows down (8)
DUCKLING : Cryptic defn: Refering to the first plumage;down grown by a hatchling duck.
2 Tin with drink is found in channel (8)
CANALISE : CAN(a tin, usually made from, well, tin) plus(with) ALE(an alcoholic drink) containing(… found in) “is “.
Defn: To direct the flow of, as in “to channel your energy towards …”.
3 Prom pier production is offensive (8)
IMPROPER : Anagram of(… production) PROM PIER.
5 How one danced when not quite sober? (6)
REELED : Cryptic defn: Reference to how, when drunk, one moved, or danced a form of Scottish dance.
6 Advise caution (6)
EXHORT : Double defn. Or a single definition even, as the two are synonymous, or at least similar.
7 Hemingway and Sterne novel (6)
ERNEST : Anagram of(… novel) STERNE.
Defn: Hemingway, the American author.
8 Preserve from predicament (6)
PICKLE : Double defn: 1st: … food in vinegar or brine, etc.
12 Refresh with a breather and a mineral (7)
RESTORE : REST(a breather) plus(and) ORE(a mineral from which metals are refined).
15 An academic stream (3)
DON : Double defn: 2nd: …, or river, any of 3 with the same name in Scotland, England or Russia.
16 Dad’s silent partner (3)
MUM : Double defn: 1st: Dad’s partner.
18 Principal occupation of a railway company? (8)
MAINLINE : MAIN(principal;most important) + LINE(an occupation;a trade, as in “a line of wor”).
Defn: Adjective describing that pertaining to a railway company, as in “a mainline station”.
19 Appetite satisfied? One’s more than enough! (8)
BELLYFUL : A simple definition: one of this is more than enough to satisfy your appetite. Or something more cryptic? Perhaps: “belly full”(appetite satisfied) minus
its last letter(One’s more than enough).
20 Food in cans (8)
PORRIDGE : Cryptic defn: Reference to the food served in jails(slang for which is “cans”), from which is derived the slang for time served in jail.
22 Footholds in the financial world (6)
STOCKS : Cryptic defn: That which are traded in the financial world, are also past instruments of punishment.
23 Feeling you’ve seen this clue before? (4,2)
DEJA VU : A simple definition.
24 Having nothing particular to go, I’d fish (6)
IDLING : I’D + LING(a fish of the cod family). I think there is a typo: “do” and not “go”.
25 Puts down in the correct order (6)
PREENS : Cryptic defn: Reference to the down feathers that a bird regularly maintains through cleaning and arranging them with its beak.
(Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.)
Thanks Dante and scchua.
The Guardian crossword today, Crucible, was beyond me, so thought I would come here.
Most enjoyable, but a feeling of DEJA VU at 27a!
Thanks Sccuha. Frustrated with myself for not filling any of the cryptic definitions. For that reason I choose 1D & 25D as my favourites. I’m relatively new to the Financial Times’ crossword but I find Tuesday’s relatively easier. Are they?
Hi Philomath, in answer to your question. The FT Monday puzzle is a prize one, so the FT puzzle week starts on Tuesday. Generally, but not always, the puzzles then get harder later into the week.
Thanks Dante and scchua
For some reason I found this a bit tougher than normal from RS – that’s two in a row (and pushed along the week by a day as well). Dante is a setter where one needs to be on his wavelength or else you’ll struggle – I clearly wasn’t as much as usual.
Was caught up down in the SE corner where I finished with PORRIDGE, MIFFED (initially had gone with BITTEN that didn’t help), MEALIE (which should have been straightfirward, but wasn’t) and BELLYFUL (which I had parsed the second definition as someone who is repeatedly annoying).
Interesting to see ‘down’ appear twice in down clues.
Thanks scchua.
Bless you Dante for you infuriating use of barely cryptic and double definitions.
For a while, I thought that this might be a cut above his usual offering. MECHANIC was simple but an elegant surface. PICKLE was a top notch DD and PRY was a neat clue.
But then: FREEZE UP – why ‘riding’?; EXHORT (really?); MAINLINE; DEJA VU; etc
And the the typos in 1ac (0,6) and 24dn GO for DO.
So started well but ended on a whimperish “is that it?”