Good start to the week from Armonie!
Nothing out of the ordinary for a Monday morning. An enjoyable puzzle. GAINSAID was a new one for us. APOSTLE had us stumped briefly, although it shouldn’t have. Thanks to Armonie!
Across
1 Enormous deficit in fossil fuel (8)
COLOSSAL
LOSS (deficit) in COAL (fossil fuel)
5 Capital hospital for church community (6)
PARISH
PARIS (capital) + H (hospital)
9 People accept English girl’s denial (8)
NEGATION
NATION (people) accept E (English) + G (girl)
10 Reprimanded son getting fresh with date (6)
SLATED
s (SON) + LATE (fresh) + D (date)
12 Artisan is last month’s speaker (9)
DECORATOR
DEC (last month) + ORATOR (speaker)
13 Comic on a truck (5)
WAGON
WAG (comic) + ON
14 Snub Estonian leader? Charming! (4)
CUTE
CUT (snub) + E[stonian] (leader)
16 Slag fastens underwear (7)
PANTIES
PAN (slag) + TIES (fastens)
19 Food for worker includes fruit (7)
ALIMENT
ANT (worker) includes LIME (fruit)
21 Fast food (4)
DIET
Double definition
24 Some cannot change the score (5)
NOTCH
[can]NOT CH[ange] (some)
25 Cherry embraces dark and gloomy worker becoming jobless (9)
REDUNDANT
RED (cherry) embraces DUN (dark and gloomy) + ANT (worker)
27 For each one carry a flan (6)
APIECE
ACE (one) carry a PIE (flan)
28 Teenager brewed beverage (5,3)
GREEN TEA
(TEENAGER)* (*brewed)
29 Lives in Durham initially and another English city (6)
DWELLS
D[urham] (intially) + WELLS (another English city)
30 Was there when a race finished (8)
ATTENDED
A TT (a race) + ENDED (finished)
Down
1 Jail a lawyer in North America (6)
CANADA
CAN (jail) A DA (a lawyer)
2 Liberal, cagey about inheritance (6)
LEGACY
L (liberal) + (CAGEY)* (*about)
3 Adulterer posed a long time (5)
SATYR
SAT (posed) + YR (a long time, year)
4 Evangelist is bitter about the situation (7)
APOSTLE
ALE (bitter) about the POST (situation)
6 Financial support for a new local development (9)
ALLOWANCE
(A NEW LOCAL)* (*development)
7 Oil giant ordered artwork (8)
INTAGLIO
(OIL GIANT)* (*ordered)
8 Fellow in robbery is a pleasure-seeker (8)
HEDONIST
DON (fellow) in HEIST (robbery)
11 Pickpocket takes sovereign for weakling (4)
DRIP
DIP (pickpocket) takes R (sovereign)
15 University chat-line “dreadfully immoral” (9)
UNETHICAL
U (university) + (CHAT-LINE)* (*dreadfully)
17 Increases subsidy? That’s denied! (8)
GAINSAID
GAINS (increases) + AID (subsidy)
18 Invective a detective heaped on a race (8)
DIATRIBE
DI (detective) heaped on A TRIBE (a race)
20 Spell name (4)
TERM
Double definition
21 Philosopher managed the last of apple crumble (7)
DIDEROT
DID (managed) + [appl]E (last of) + ROT (crumble)
22 Hung around and served (6)
WAITED
Double definition
23 Violin fitted with new string (6)
STRAND
STRAD (violin) fitted with N (new)
26 Earl introduced to attractive relative (5)
NIECE
E (earl) introduced to NICE (attractive)
As you say, a good start to the week. I found the various four letter words (so to speak) particularly difficult. I was pleased to get “intaglio” buried deep in the recesses of my memory.
Thanks to Armonie and Teacow.
Thanks Armonie and Teacow
It was a very breezy start to the week, with only minor holdups getting GAINSAID (always a hard one to remember, as it seems so unlikely a word to mean denied – well to me anyway!) and TERM (which took a little time to twig to ‘spell’ meaning a length of time). These were my last couple in.
Thanks to Armonie and Teacow. Enjoyable. I knew GAINSAID and started with “turn” before settling on TERM. In the clue for DIATRIBE the second “a” is needed but is the first one irrelevant or REDUNDANT?
Thanks all, enjoyable and not too tricky.
A few obscurities which I needed a hand with, but my first foray into the world of the FT cryptic
Stellar surfaces.
Many thanks, Armonie and Teacow.
Yes Matt, stellar surfaces.
And, for some reason, Armonie managed once again to create a grid with words that suited his love for charades, insertions and anagrams.
No mean feat.
But what about 27ac: ACE ‘carry’ PIE? Carry?
Armonie is a very experienced setter but this is just a beginner’s mistake. Not a typo, a mistake.
Enjoyable for a Monday but.
Many thanks to Teacow & Armonie.