Financial Times 16,097 by PETO

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Today’s FT puzzle was set by Peto.

It’s been almost a year since I last blogged a Peto, so I am not entirely au fait with his work, but this was one of those puzzles where I put in the answers for a lot of clues without being sure of their parsing, and then had to revisit them for the purposes of the blog.

For the most part, this was an excellent and challenging puzzle, where I learned alternative meanings of BERTHA and CHASE, but I feel it was let down by some vague definitions, most obviously at 1dn, and by the terrible homophone at 8dn.

Thanks, Peto.

Across
1 MOBILE Rapidly changing US port (6)
Double definition, the second referring to the port city in Alabama.
4 ECSTATIC Overjoyed by quote about taking in abandoned cats (8)
<=CITE (“quote” about) taking in *(cats)
9 ONSET About to prepare for an attack (5)
ON (“about”) + SET (“to prepare for”)
10 GERMINATE Develop a way to check the origin of merchandise entering Ireland (9)
GATE (“way”) to check [the origin of] M(erchandise) entering ERIN (poetic name for “Ireland”)
11 STATION Calling for volunteers at end of event in Swiss town (7)
TA (Territorial Army, so “volunteers” at [end of (even)T) in SION (“Swiss town”)
12 ENGRAVE Extremely vulnerable after English soldiers make chase (7)
[extremely] V(ulnerabl)E after Eng. (English) RA (Royal Artillery, so “soldiers”)
13 OBOE Former pupil starts to object even as it’s played (4)
OB (old boy, so “former pupil”) + [starts to] O(bject) E(ven)
14 PROPERTY Characteristic of possessions collectively (8)
Double definition
17 AUCKLAND Seabird circling cold region somewhere in New Zealand (8)
AUK (“seabird”) circling C(cold) + LAND (“region”)
19 FREE Unattached and available (4)
Double definition
22 HANDOUT Chinese scepticism reported by charity (7)
HAN (“Chinese”) + homophone of DOUBT (“scepticism” reported)
24 EVENS UP Settles for just less eventually in court (5,2)
EVEN (“just”) + (les)S [eventually] + UP (“in court”)
25 MAKESHIFT Result in dress being thrown together (9)
MAKE (“result in”) +SHIFT (“dress”)
26 TRIER Writer distraught after wife leaves for judge (5)
*(riter) i.e. W(riter) after W(wife) leaves
27 SIDESTEP Avoid in part backing favourites (8)
SIDE (“part”) [backing] <=PETS (“favourites”)
28 LACKEY Footman’s deficiency Pepys regularly ignored (6)
LACK (“deficiency”) + (p)E(p)Y(s) [regularly ignored]
Down
1 MOON SHOT Get high on it for a short time before regularly taking crack (4,4)
MO (“short time”) before ON (“regularly taking”, as in “on drugs”) + SHOT (“crack”)

The definition here is a bit vague.
2 BOSSA NOVA Dance star following manager to Australia (5,4)
NOVA (“star”) following BOSS (“manager”) to A (Australia)
3 LET RIP Act without restraint in rental property near Split (3,3)
LET (“rental property” ) near RIP (“split”)
5 CORRESPONDENT Agreeing with second report revised to include Norway (13)
*(second report) to include N (Norway)
6 TRIGGER Set off with 26 Germans on board (7)
TRIER (see 26ac) with GG (Germans) on board
7 TIARA Right about excellent mounting on American’s jewelled headband (5)
(<=Rt. (right) about A1 (“excellent) mounting) on A (America)
8 CLEVER Cunning Brexiteer speaking in support of Chequers at first (6)
Homophone of LEAVER (“Brexiteer” speaking) in support of C(hequers) [at first]

Hate this clue, as the LEVER part of CLEVER is not pronounces as LEAVER.
10 GENERAL STRIKE When everyone’s out of kilter knight agrees to change (7,6)
*(kilter n agrees) where N is the chess notation for “knight”
15 YARDSTICK Standard in vehicle set up with gear changing device (9)
<=DRAY (“vehicle”, set up) with STICK (“gear changing device”)
16 JEOPARDY Risk finding padre cavorting with Joy (8)
*(padre joy)
18 CROSSES Vexed by Jesse oddly missing with punches (7)
CROSS (“vexed”) by (j)E(s)S(e) [oddly missing, ie odd letters missing]
20 RHYMES Peto absorbed in Welshman’s poems (6)
ME (“peto”) absorbed in RHYS (“Welshman”)
21 BERTHA Only some remember that old lace collar (6)
Hidden in [only some] “rememBER THAt”

A bertha was a Victorian deep lace collar.
23 NAKED Defenceless king strangled by cleric from behind (5)
K (king) strangled by <=DEAN (“cleric” from behind)

*anagram

11 comments on “Financial Times 16,097 by PETO”

  1. No way I was ever going to get 1a and 1d. Also agree that the definition for 1d is poor. Didn’t get 3d either and failed to properly parse EVENS UP. Not keen on ‘eventually’ denoting final letter but think I’ve seen this before.

    I have complained before when a homonym (‘lever’ is a homonym of ‘leaver’) is used where it is not pronounced that way in the solution. I guess Peto doesn’t mind this and, as solvers, we need to be prepared for this. Still don’t like it though.

    All said and done, a pleasant enough solve. Thanks to Peto and loonapick.

  2. Off to a woeful start as I confidently entered ‘Sprout’ in 1ac (anagram signalled by ‘changing’ US port, Realised the error of my ways once I had worked out 2d!

    LOI 8d as I did not see – and as the blogger and responder have also said – do not like, this clue.

    Buit all in all an enjoyable mid-level difficulty  crossword so thanks Peto and Loonapick.

  3. Thanks, loonapick, for a great blog – and especially for supplying the answers to 1ac and 1dn. I’m kicking myself because I did know that port. Like Steven, I was looking for an anagram – and nearly seeing one in ‘presto’ [rapidly].

    I agree with your ‘excellent and challenging’ evaluation – it took me far longer than this morning’s Tramp but I really enjoyed it.

    My mother’s name was BERTHA but I didn’t know the collar – just the Big Gun. The Swiss town was new to me, too. I enjoyed the pictures conjured up by the surfaces of 26ac and 16dn and also gave a big tick to 10dn…

    … and, sorry chaps, but I also liked 8dn – one of my last in. LEVER is a perfect homophone for ‘leaver’ and I can’t see why it has to be pronounced the same way in the solution. Crossword answers are simply groups of letters composed in any way that the setter chooses and I though this was a particularly CLEVER one – apt surface, too.

    Many thanks, Peto. I’m glad I soldiered on and [nearly] finished.

     

     

  4. Held up by having LET FLY for 3d, which I still think more-or-less works if ‘fly’ and ‘split’ are synonyms, as in ‘Cheerio, must fly’, so I was a bit grumpy about that.
    Otherwise, a steady solve of some nice definitions (including ‘chase’ & ‘get high….’, both of which I liked, perversely).
    Thanks to Peto & loonapick.

  5. Eileen and I don’t quite agree today – 1a was my first one in for a start, although I will say that 1d took a lot longer for me to be able to confidently write in a solution.

    I do agree with her about the ‘great blog’ of an excellent and challenging crossword

    Thanks to loonapick and Peto

  10. Thanks Peto and loonapick

    I often have trouble with this setter and it was no different here, taking well over the hour to get the puzzle finished.  Enjoyed the challenge and was happy to see it all correct in the end.  Missed the homophone with LEVER in 18d – I’m with Eileen here in that the homophone can relate to the word component rather than the sound of it in the overall solution.  I think it works here and the surface of the clue should make up for any misgivings that others could have had with that bit of it.

    Saw MOBILE early on, but still had trouble getting MOON SHOT until I got the S after getting the tricky STATION at 11a.

    Finished in the NE corner with TRIGGER (took too long to pick up 26 as 26a), ENGRAVE (with that new to me definition ‘chase’) and CLEVER (and the homophone that I didn’t pick up).

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