The scheduled blogger hasn’t been able to be with us today, for one reason or another, so here is an analysis of the clues, with no further commentary from me.
Across
1 A faceless nobleman’s getting staff to find tall-stemmed plant (6,3)
AARON’S ROD – A [b]ARON’S (faceless nobleman’s) ROD (staff)
6 One entertains English setter around deserted copse (5)
EMCEE – E (English) ME (setter) around C[ops]E (deserted copse)
9 Poetic device that’s heard in ABBA? (5)
RHYME – def. & cryptic indicator
10 Way of cooking fresh tuna by English river in metal container (2,7)
AU NATUREL – an anagram (fresh) of TUNA URE (English river) in AL (metal)
11 Vehicle right by the police building (10)
HELICOPTER – an anagram (building) of THE POLICE followed by R (right)
12 Pasta Toni leaves somewhere on the Baltic coast (4)
RIGA – RIGA[toni] (pasta Toni leaves)
14 Where to launch Elvis’s sneering feature within rock and roll setting? (7)
SLIPWAY – LIP (Elvis’s sneering feature) in SWAY (rock and roll)
15 One ruminates, picking up bank publication (7)
ROEBUCK – sounds like (picking up) ‘row’ (bank) ‘book’ (publication)
17 Article initially outlining sleep phase principle (7)
THEOREM – THE (article) O[utlining] (initially outlining) REM (sleep phase)
19 Poles occupying characteristic conveyance (7)
TRANSIT – NS (Poles) in TRAIT (characteristic)
20 Arrows seen here reverberating, tips being swapped (4)
OCHE – ECHO (reverberating) with first and last letters exchanged (tips being swapped)
22 Boss’s tie wildly grabbed by two paid workers meeting resistance (10)
PROPRIETOR – an anagram (wildly) of TIE in PRO PRO (two paid workers) R (resistance)
25 Music player hurt playing Chicago’s heartland (9)
HARMONICA – HARM (hurt) ON (playing) [ch]ICA[go] (Chicargo’s heartland)
26 Flipping duke in food shop wasted time (5)
IDLED – D (duke) in DELI (food shop) reversed (flippling)
27 Bedroom philanderer displaying sex appeal (5)
OOMPH – contained in (displaying) ‘bedrOOM Philanderer’
28 Tree lily Diane relocated (9)
LEYLANDII – an anagram (relocated) of LILY DIANE
Down
1 Seeing a Northern Irish town, mother let out expression of dismay (5)
AARGH – A AR[ma]GH (Northern Irish town, mother let out)
2 Two chaps running event in Scottish landmark (5,4)
ROYAL MILE – ROY AL (two chaps) MILE (running event)
3 Christmas on Jersey, say, difficult for Cockney playwright (4,6)
NOEL COWARD – NOEL (Christmas) COW (Jersey, say) [h]ARD (difficult for Cockney)
4 Again seek job, harvest work (7)
REAPPLY – REAR (harvest) PLY (work)
5 Martial arts experts regularly require agile fellow (7)
DANSEUR – DANS (martial arts experts) [r]E[q]U[i]R[e] (regularly require)
6 Board chair having succeeded finally (4)
EATS – SEAT (chair) with S (succeeded) moved to the end
7 Fancy that soldier, a member of queen’s household? (5)
CORGI – COR (fancy that) GI (soldier)
8 English pair pound steak, smashing old container for fish (3-6)
EEL BASKET – EE (English pair) LB (pound) plus an anagram (smashing) of STEAK
13 Clued-up bird with savings account files a complaint (9,1)
HEPATITIS A – HEP (clued up) TIT (bird) ISA (savings account) around (files) A
14 Ancient burial site, shut off, contains one hundred rings (6,3)
SUTTON HOO – an anagram (off) of SHUT around (contains) TON (one hundred) OO (rings)
16 Bill might be so / restless (9)
UNSETTLED – double def.
18 Shopping centre one found extremely artificial and combative (7)
MARTIAL – MART (shopping centre) I (one) A[rtificia]L (extremely artificial)
19 From patio, furtively track bird appearing out of hedge perhaps (7)
TOPIARY – an anagram (furtively) of PATIO followed by RY (track)
21 Mark resides below career women living together (5)
HAREM – HARE (career) M (Mark)
23 More than one spoke with a detective in US state (5)
RADII – A DI (a detective) in RI (US state)
24 Money belt up under fleece (4)
DOSH – DO (fleece) SH (belt up)
Thanks for standing in once again Gaufrid.
I found this an enjoyable solve on the whole, with some witty clues and pleasing story-telling surfaces, favourites being HELICOPTER, TRANSIT, PROPRIETOR, IDLED, AARGH and NOEL COWARD.
I didn’t like ROEBUCK at all: buck rhymes with luck and book rhymes with look.
Thanks to Aardvark for the puzzle and Gaufrid for the blog.
An enjoyable puzzle today, I did like the trick in the bottom right corner with two answers ending in ‘ii’.
Thanks to all.
Thoroughly enjoyed this. Several times, I felt I would need to give in and cheat but managed to slowly but surely complete. Just how I like it. No problems for me with ROEBUCK. Unlike Eileen, luck and look sound the same to me and rhyme as do buck and book of course.
Remember meeting SUTTON HOO in a previous cryptic (oddly enough). A check of the archives gives the clue “Ancient burial site moved to Houston” by Tees in the Independent back in June 2019. Aardvark also used yet another clue for this back in 2011 before I started solving the FT.
Thanks to Aardvark and Gaufrid for stepping in.
it was ok… disappointed as Eileen@1 with book n buck rhyming slang… guessed it anyway… plenty of other clues to enjoy
thanks Gaufrid n Aardvark
Thank you especially Gaufrid as ever. I enjoyed this. Double/triple vowels in each corner. Can’t find ‘I’… but in any case Aardvark’s usual fine clueing.
Can’t find ‘I’…..clumsy fingered…
No, it’s not me…honest…..!! I’ll try once more – U
Thanks to those who spotted the double vowels around each of the 4 corners. Adds to an already great crossword.
A mixed bag for me — SUTTON HOO, DOSH, and LEYLANDII were unknowns and the cluing for ROEBUCK and PROPRIETOR was impenetrable for my brain but I enjoyed AU NATUREL, RIGA, ROYAL MILE, and EEL BASKET quite a lot. I loved the surface for OOMPH and I admire the corner vowels. Thanks to both.
I had the same doubts about the BUCK / ‘book’ rhyming as a few others but there seemed no other option. No excuses for missing the corner double vowels which were very clever.
Excellent puzzle all around, with OOMPH being my pick of the day.
Thanks to Aardvark, and to Gaufrid for once again stepping in to the breach
I’m with Hovis on Look, Luck, Book, and Buck – identical from my Wirralian lips. Would be different over the water where Book and Look can be pronounced as in Boo or Loo.
I forgot to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this one, with no qualms.
Thanks Aardvark and Gaufrid
Have slipped behind on the FT puzzles again this week. Found this a pretty complex crossword with a lot of substance in many of the clues – and more enjoyable for that.
I couldn’t equate the homophone for the entirety of ROEBUCK and parsed it as a homophone of “row” + BUCK (a British men’s magazine that was published between 2008 and 2011 – not sure how well it was known).
Was pleased to remember the LEYLANDII plant and the OCHE in darts. Wasn’t aware though of the ROYAL MILE or SUTTON HOO. Liked the construction of NOEL COWARD and HEPATITIS A. DOSH was the one that brought a grin.
Finished in the SE corner with that pesky ‘ruminant’ and HEPATITIS A.