Financial Times 16,623 by MOO

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Great start to the week from Moo.

A very enjoyable solve. A few write ins, but mostly a neatly and cleverly clued puzzle. Required a bit of general knowledge to complete, but all fair enough in my opinion. I especially enjoyed the cryptic and double definitions, of which there were a few! Thank you Moo!

image of grid

ACROSS
1. Attack American behind trouble (6)
ASSAIL

ASS (American behind) + AIL (trouble)

4. Proud Agra, torn apart (8)
ARROGANT

(AGRA TORN)* (*apart)

10. Hotel has old approach? Not at all (2,2,3)
IN NO WAY

INN (hotel) has O (old) + WAY (approach)

11. Fighter finding diplomat adorable, if a little withdrawn (7)
MATADOR

[diplo]MAT ADOR[able] (if a little withdrawn)

12. Something biting you, you say? Run for it! (4)
FLEE

“FLEA” (something biting you) “you say”

13. Curiously, opiate isn’t something you find in pot (10)
POINSETTIA

(OPIATE ISN’T)* (*curiously)

16. Posh chap from Home Counties making you explode (3,3)
SET OFF

TOFF (posh chap) from SE (home counties, South East)

17. Kind of tights in which Molly might be found (7)
FISHNET

Cryptic definition
“Molly” being a type of fish

20. Index of flirtatious activity? (7)
FOOTSIE

Double definition

21. Idiot ambassador’s dress (6)
CLOTHE

CLOT (idiot) + HE (ambassador)

24. Bugged editor seduced by crackpot Leninist (8,2)
LISTENED IN

ED (editor) seduced by (LENINIST)* (*crackpot)

25. Harry’s bride, heartless and cruel (4)
MEAN

ME[gh]AN (Harry’s bride, heartless)

27. Paying great attention, much like Prince Charles? (3,4)
ALL EARS

Cryptic definition

29. Model with walk like a duck? Rubbish! (7)
TWADDLE

T (model) with WADDLE (walk like a duck)

30. Ought Her Majesty to make a joint? (8)
SHOULDER

SHOULD (ought) + ER (Her Majesty)

31. Barman in bed, embracing wife (6)
LAWYER

LAYER (bed) embracing W (wife)

DOWN
1. Someone important, such as Sturgeon? (1,3,4)
A BIG FISH

Cryptic definition
Sturgeon referring of course to both Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, and the fish

2. Moralising nun sees to it fussily (11)
SENTENTIOUS

(NUN SEES TO IT)* (*fussily)

3. Island briefly a part of US (4)
IOWA

IOW (Island briefly, Isle of Wight) + A

5. Sentimental tosh about bloke in charge (8)
ROMANTIC

ROT (tosh) about MAN + IC (in charge)

6. Position in which Emma might be, never having married? (2,3,5)
ON THE SHELF

Double definition
“Emma” referring to the Austen novel

7. Applause from Cockney joiner (3)
AND

‘AND (applause from Cockney, i.e. with a silent “H”)

8. Two renegades heading north, one from central Asia (6)
TARTAR

RAT (renegade, x2 <heading north)

9. Womaniser exposed in crybaby Ronaldo’s letters (5)
BYRON

[cryba]BY RON[aldo] (exposed in letters)

14. Recently having sex with Doris? (3,5,3)
THE OTHER DAY

THE OTHER (sex) + DAY (Doris?)

15. How Humpty Dumpty ended up mad? (3,3,4)
OFF THE WALL

Double definition

18. Break silence about enemy leader? She might get you shot! (8)
LICENSEE

(SILENCE)* (*break) about E[nemy] (leader)
“Shot” in the alcoholic sense

19. Check on the Speaker’s favourite, a horny creature (8)
REINDEER

REIN (check) on “DEAR” (favourite, “the speaker’s”)

22. Exonerates tragic figure employed in civil service (6)
CLEARS

LEAR (tragic figure) employed in CS (civil service)

23. Right in the middle of decorating? You’ll get covered in muck (5)
DIRTY

R (right) in the middle of D IT Y (decorating, do it yourself)

26. Details somewhat revolutionary? (4)
DATA

A TAD (somewhat, <revolutionary)

28. Can seem to be bottomless (3)
LOO

LOO[k] (seem, bottomless)

12 comments on “Financial Times 16,623 by MOO”

  1. 23D must be RT in DIY. Used a word fit cheat to get FOOTSIE but the rest was straightforward. Never keen on setters who put homophone indicators in between definition and wordplay. Although the punctuation in 12a suggests FLEE not FLEA as the answer, punctuation is often ignored in cryptic reading. Not important here since the last letter is not a crosser.

  2. Like Moo’s previous, there was a lot to enjoy and nothing to cavil at: perfect for a Monday. I enjoyed the elegance of 13ac.

  3. Agree with Teacow’s summary, this was a playful and clever grid. My favourite among many fun clues was 27a.
    As Hovis says, 12a gave pause for thought but as it didn’t affect the outcome, I didn’t mind.
    Not really sure how ‘ambassador’ gives ‘he’ these days (21a) but the answer was plain enough.
    Thanks to Moo and Teacow.

  5. I realise that Diane probably means that in the present times ambassadors are not (or should not be) addressed as HE. But that is a different matter altogether.

  7. I had the same reservations about FLEE/FLEA as Hovis, but overall this was very enjoyable with the surfaces for SHOULDER, THE OTHER DAY and especially the clever POINSETTIA being my favourites. Learnt a new fish as a bonus.

    Thanks to Moo and Teacow

  8. Enjoyable! I don’t mind clues requiring GK in cryptics if the wordplay doesn’t. And that way I learnt FTSE is the index used in UK, and also that Molly is a fish (thanks, Teacow)

    What can be exasperating is if both parts require GK. (A recent clue of Paul@GaurdianPrize where one needed to know brands of biscuits and violin makers come to mind). But then you learn two new things the next day ??

    My favorites today were the surfaces of POINSETTIA and SHOULDER.

    Thanks, Moo.

  9. Thanks Moo. I liked ASSAIL, the funny ALL EARS, and the simplicity of DATA among others. Thanks Teacow for the explanations.

  12. Thanks Moo and Teacow

    Found this a stiff opener for the week which took two shortish sittings and a focused longer one to finish it off.  Also had to use a word finder to winkle out FOOTSIE, although the stock exchange index was floating around in my head without ever coming out.

    Unlike others, I don’t like when an answer has the ‘either/or’ light blocked off – in this case, I think that the punctuation of the clue is enough to give clarification of which alternative to use.

    Plenty of clues to like and ticked off 17a (when was able to look up the fish version of ‘Molly’), 20a (in hindsight), 27a, 1d and 14d.

    Finished with three of the ones with hidden first letters – that FOOTSIE, FISHNET and DIRTY.

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