Financial Times 16,173 by GAFF

by

I enjoyed this.  Thank you Gaff.

I found some of the clues impenetrable; once I saw what was needed they suddenly seemed obvious.  Lots of penny-drop moments for me in here.

completed grid

Across
7 EYEPIECE Used to see-through lid, for example (8)
double/cryptic definition – an eyelid for example
8 APLOMB A doctor admits freedom fighters in confidence (6)
A MB (doctor) contains (admits) PLO (freedom fighters)
11 TWEET FT’s inoffensive message (5)
WE (the FT) in (in…) TET (…offensive, Vietnam war)
12 IDIOMATIC MoD cat has three eyes with an ear – freakish characteristic (9)
anagram (freakish) of MOD CAT with I sounds like (with an ear) three times
13 TWOSOME A couple suffers most woe (7)
anagram (suffers) of MOST WOE
14 CONFESS Own and steer iron ship (7)
CON (steer) FE (iron) and SS (ship)
15 HIGH ON THE AGENDA What an excitable committee member gets is a priority (4,2,3,6)
double/cryptic definition
18 AERATOR It makes sparkling muse follow a ringleader (7)
ERATO (a muse) follows A then Ring (leader, first) letter of
20 GOOGLED Searched for light, following turns in both directions (7)
LED (light) following GO and OG (turn in both directions)
22 TIN OPENER Can batsman be Cook’s assistant? (3,6)
TIN (can) OPENER (batsman)
23 SCI-FI Novel form mirrored in specific shape (3-2)
found reversed (mirrored) in specIFIC Shape
24 REMISS Forgetful miser’s destitute (6)
anagram (destitute) of MISER’S
25 REPRIEVE Let off bible studies in theatre last night (8)
RI (Religious Instruction, Bible Studies) in REP (theatre) EVE (last night)
Down
1 LEFT AT THE ALTAR Abandoned directions to the pulpit, maybe (4,2,3,5)
double/cryptic definition
2 HERETO Refers to this three-nil thrashing (6)
anagram (thrashing) of THREE with O (nil)
3 VIRTUOSO Very good turn-out, old musician (8)
VIRTUOuS missing *out) U (a turn) then O (old)
4 ACCIDENT PRONE Clumsy way of speaking about oneself by lying (8-5)
ACCENT (way of speaking) contains (about) ID (oneself, Freud) then (by) PRONE (lying)
5 APE-MAN Primitive celebrity secretary rejected (3-3)
PA (secretary) and NAME (celebrity) each being reversed (rejected)
6 NORTHERN Lights up Mancunian way (8)
“lights up” is descriptive of a crossword entry whose lights (cells in the grid) go up (are northern, heading north) – the definition is “in a northern way” or “as the people of Manchester do”

I’m overcomplicating this: more likely just “Northern Lights”
9 BACK-SEAT DRIVER Unwelcome adviser to support car club (4-4,6)
BACK (support) SEAT (a car, brand) then DRIVER (golf club)
10 KITCHEN GARDEN Produce plot for mess? (7,6)
cryptic definition – a place for growing kitchen produce for the mess
16 GERONIMO He may have had reservations calling for jumper (8)
double/cryptic definition – an American Indian and a cry of “here we go!”
17 GLOSSARY Guy’s scholars have no such problem with list of terms (8)
anagram (problem) of GuYs SchOLARS missing (have no…) SUCH
19 TYPIST In reality, pi’s the key operator (6)
found inside realiTY PI’S The
21 LOITER Even Eliot, in theory, is idle (6)
the even numbered letters of eLiOt In ThEoRy

definitions are underlined

I write these posts to help people get started with cryptic crosswords.  If there is something here you do not understand ask a question; there are probably others wondering the same thing.

14 comments on “Financial Times 16,173 by GAFF”

  1. Enjoyed the tussle. Lots of head-scratching but got there in the end.

    Minor typo in 22a, cab -> can. In 6d, I took this to be a reference to the Northern Lights.

    Your parsing for 4d misses the D. I took ID to refer to oneself possibly through “identity” but could feasibly refer to one’s unconscious mind (as in Forbidden Planet).

    Thanks to Gaff and PeeDee.

  2. Thanks for a great blog, PeeDee – I agree entirely with your preamble.

    A number of ingenious clues – my favourites were TWEET, IDIOMATIC, VIRTUOSO and GLOSSARY [great surface].

    I think the ‘oneself’ in 4dn must be ID.

    Many thanks to Gaff for a most enjoyable puzzle.

  4. Thanks PeeDee. I needed your help for the parsing of TWEET (the Tet offensive has come up enough times in the past that I really should have seen it).

    Like Hovis @ 1 I took 6d to be a Northern Lights reference.

    Thanks to Gaff.

  6. I liked TWEET in that I’m becoming used to occasionally having to split a word (‘in.offensive’) to get at the fruit inside.
    Wasn’t sure about ‘up Mancunian way’ for ‘northern’. ‘Up Manchester way’ kinda works as well and seems less, you know, London-centric. Living in Derbys and having frequently to travel for work to the north of Scotland I’m often struck by the fact that Manc is scarcely a third of the way up this island. Just saying.
    Thanks to both for a pleasant solve.

  7. The second difficult FT in a row, with plenty that needed lots of thought and / or inspiration. The NW corner was again my nemesis, with VIRTUOSO my last in. Is TWEET one of those ‘lift and separate clues’? I’ve never really known what they are. Anyway, it was a good clue, even with the old TET chestnut.

    I had to guess GERONIMO which I only sort of get even now. I also liked 1d, EYEPIECE and the BACK SEAT DRIVER.

    Thanks to Gaff and to PeeDee

  8. Thanks to PeeDee and Gaff

    My wife thinks we’ve all got 6d wrong. She thinks it’s SOUTHERN.

  9. Having lived in Highland Scotland for the last 10 years Manchester does now feel a long way south and SOUTHERN would work for me.  I was born there so I will stick with Northern for old times’ sake (and the lights go up the grid, perhaps that is relevant after all?).

  10. Thanks to Gaff and PeeDee. I enjoyed GERONIMO when I finally got it, but needed help parsing VIRTUOSO and NORTHERN, and KITCHEN GARDEN was new to me.

  11. I’ve probably missed the boat to comment on this, but here goes anyway.

    I’m sorry, in what way is an eyelid “used to see through”? (7A)

    I fail to see how “destitute” is a reasonable anagram signifier. (24A)

    And I didn’t know that Geronimo was a property tycoon, owning several reservations. (16D)

     

  12. Hi shotclog

    I took 7ac as a double definition: “something used to see through” and “a piece of an eye, a lid for example”

    You have my sympathy on tenuous anagram indicators, I don’t like them either.  However, they are a feature of cryptics and I suppose one just has to put up with them.  My assumption is that they are there because there are not many direct anagram indicators and they have all been used to death years ago.  Figurative indicators the only ones that have not been used 1,000,000 times already.

  13. Many thanks PeeDee. I still struggle to see how an eyelid can be part of the double definition here, but there it is.

    And agreed on tenuous anagram indicators. Once a word like “destitute” (which has no conceivable connection to rearranging letters) is deemed acceptable it is seems that just about any word whatsoever can be used. I understand the need not to use old chestnuts, but I do think there should be limits too. Still, it’s easy to carp on the sidelines…

  14. Thanks Gaff and PeeDee
    Slipping right behind on the FT puzzles whilst having a go at the Times ones for a change. Time-wise the grid of this one was filled quite quickly but took nearly as long to go back and parse some of them! A bit disappointed in not picking up the lift and separate to see TET.
    Gaff usually has a theme and can’t help but think that there was something going on with IDIOMS that was perhaps called out at 12a. Think 22a may almost qualify as a semi &lit with Alistair Cook’s partner (assistant) being a fellow opener. Agree with the NORTHERN lights (Aurora Borealis) thinking at 6d.
    Finished in the NE corner with ACCUDENT-PRONE, IDIOMATIC and EYEPIECE (where I had an imparted EYESIGHT initially).

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