Financial Times 16,808 by ALBERICH

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A typical Alberich puzzle this morning…

…but with the added bonus of a pangram.

Alberich is one of my favourite compilers. His surfaces make sense, and he uses just enough general knowledge and/or obscure words to represent a challenge. Today's GK came in the form of Palestrina (not the best known of Italian composers) and FESCUE (not an obscure grass, per se, but not a word in everyone's vocabulary).

I wonder if there is a misprint in the clue for SQUADS, which should have "groups" in the clue, rather "group".

Thanks, Alberich.

ACROSS
1 POLONIUM
Cut back on depleted uranium, importing one radioactive metal (8)

<=LOP ("cut", back) + ON + [depleted] U(raniu)M, importing I (one)
6 SQUADS
Small children with the same pop group? (6)

S (small) + QUADS ((four) "children with the same pop" (father))

Think the definition should be "groups" rather than "group".
9 FESCUE
Fellow heading off to deliver grass (6)

F (fellow) + [heading off] (r)ESCUE ("deliver")
10 DUNGHILL
Hung out in Herb’s squalid place (8)

*(hung) [anag:out] in DILL ("herb")
11 WAKE
Come to trail (4)

Double definition
12 PALESTRINA
Lightest rain troubled Italian composer (10)

PALEST ("lightest") + *(rain) [anag:troubled]

Refers to the 16th century Italian composer, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.
14 LISTERIA
Incline, with age, to catch one disease (8)

LIST ("decline") with ERA ("age") to catch I (one)
16 SCAB
Son needs taxi? He won’t come out (4)

S (son) + CAB ("taxi")
18 RAJA
Drink is knocked back by a prince (4)

<=JAR ("drink", knocked back) by A
19 EXAMINES
Investigates a Ximenes cryptic (8)

*(a ximenes) [anag:cryptic]
21 VIDEOTAPES
Recordings of a TV episode broadcast (10)

*(a TV episode) [anag:broadcast]
22 ANNE
She features in American newspaper (4)

Hidden [features] in "AmericAN NEwspaper"
24 PARASITE
Standard place to keep a sponge (8)

PAR ("standard") + SITE ("place") to keep A
26 CHINTZ
Material, a small amount found in Czech Republic (6)

HINT ("a small amount") featured in CZ (Chech Republic)
27 HEARSE
Picks up European car for final journey (6)

HEARS ("picks up") + E (European)
28 DIMINISH
Make less food, eating little (8)

DISH ("food") eating MINI ("little")
DOWN
2 OMEGA
The last time doctor turned up (5)

<=(AGE ("time") + MO (medical officer, so "doctor")) [turned up]
3 ORCHESTRATE
Arrange the score Mozart half abandoned? (11)

*(the score art) [abandoned] where ART is [half] of (moz)ART
4 INEXPERT
One following boxing representative around is amateur (8)

I (one) + NEXT ("following") boxing <=REP (representative, around)
5 MIDDLE-AGE SPREAD
After distance driven carrying theologian, padre’s changing spare tyre (6-3,6)

MILEAGE ("distance driven") carrying DD (doctor of divinity, so "theologian") + *(padres) [anag:changing]
6 SANEST
Most sensible, wanting home in Jo’burg? (6)

A "home in Jo'burg" could be described as a NEST in South Africa, so a S.A. NEST
7 UGH
Embrace top to bottom? That’s disgusting! (3)

HUG ("embrace") with its top (letter) moved to the bottom becomes UG(H)
8 DELINEATE
Describe English river rising in time (9)

E (English) + <=NILE ("river", rising) in DATE ("time")
13 RESPIRATION
Breathing fresh air in port’s exhilarating initially (11)

*(air in ports e) [anag:fresh] where E is E(xhilerating} [initially]
15 INANIMATE
Not living at home, Australian turned up in China (9)

IN ("at home") + A (Australian) + [turned] <=IN + MATE ("china")
17 CAPSICUM
Tops second of pizzas with pepper (8)

CAPS ("tops") + [second of] (p)I(zzas) + CUM (Latin for "with", as in magna cum laude)
20 ATTIRE
A short time to wear out clothes (6)

A + T ("short" for "time") + TIRE ("to wear out")

23 NOTES
Attack when upset, making remarks (5)

<=SET ON ("attack", upset)
25 AYR
Lawyer regularly visited northern town (3)

(l)A(w)Y(e)R [regularly visited]

12 comments on “Financial Times 16,808 by ALBERICH”

  1. Managed to get on Alberich’s wavelength and rattled this off, with the same query about 6a. PALESTRINA & FESCUE were the two unknowns but both clued in a manner that allowed me to solve them.

    I noticed the pangram, post solve as usual. Whether intentional or not, I also noticed that you can find a pangram amongst the non-crossers.

    Favourites include the clever anagram for VIDEOTAPES and the sneaky HEARSE.

  2. Me, too for SQUADS. And wasn’t helped by at first having CLUTCH (a brood of young, a group [Chambers @2]), its U ‘confirmed by UGH. I seem to have a genius for barking up te wrong tree.
    But good fun otherwise, OMEGA a favourite for its suave little surface.
    Thanks to both.

  3. Beside the clever anagram at 21, I also liked the fact that ORCHESTRATE, arranged differently, yields the rather fitting SACHER TORTE, as well as the surface for OMEGA, suggestive of horology. WAKE, SCAB and DUNGHILL were also tick-worthy.
    The singular ‘group’ delayed my response for 6 for a while. PALESTRINA was unknown but fairly clued but I failed on FESCUE (one for the memory bank).
    I’m also a fan of Alberich so thanks for a satisfying puzzle and pangram. Cheers too to Loonapick.

  4. I liked this, even if I was thrown by the plural SQUADS as well. PALESTRINA and FESCUE were suitably unfamiliar, though not too obscure and my last in, LISTERIA wasn’t the first ‘disease’ to come to mind. The pangram added that little bit extra.

    Thanks to Alberich and loonapick

  5. Thanks Alberich and PeeDee
    This transpired over about an hour and a half with a lot of interruptions during that time. A lot of charade type construction to work through and a couple of lovely long anagrams to unscramble.
    Had to revise PALESTRANI to PALESTINA after checking him. LISTERIA had come up in another puzzle that I had recently done, so was able to see that readily enough.
    Finished up the top with ORCHESTRATE, the tricky to parse INEXPERT and that problematic SQUADS (where I was initially looking for a ‘pop group’ with S (small) + ?U? (children) + DO (same) for way too long)

  7. Me too, for 6a, not helped by the fact that any reference to a pop group tends to make my brain freeze. The presumed typo didn’t help either, so failed on that one- thanks to Loonapick for sorting it out.

    Otherwise a lovely puzzle – I have grown to appreciate Alberich more and more.

  8. I’m another fan of Alberich’s puzzles and this one certainly didn’t disappoint.

    I didn’t even get as far as solving SQUADS, let alone parsing it [children with the same pop, indeed!) I also failed on the unknown FESCUE, which I probably won’t remember again.

    I had ticks for PALESTRINA – whom I did know and I like singing his music – and the super anagrams EXAMINES, VIDEOTAPES and ORCHESTRATE. The surface of MIDDLE-AGE SPREAD made me smile.

    Many thanks to Alberich for another lovely puzzle and to loonapick for a great blog.

  9. I’m also an Alberich fan and my usual lack of concern over the odd bit of imprecise clueing meant I put SQUADS in with a query but not too much hesitation. I didn’t get FESCUE despite knowing it as a grass and also failed on RAJA having only got as far as the clearly incorrect CAVA. MrsW dredged up PALESTRINA from somewhere. I think my favourite clue was the delightful UGH! Thanks to Alberich and loonapick.

  10. Delightfully attainable. Seeing I used to mix children and chemicals for many years, POLONIUM made me smile. My concern was also SQUADS but it didn’t stop me completing the grid and that is the object after all.
    Thanks for the entertainment Alberich and the unraveling Loonapick.

  11. Excellent puzzle and excellent blog: thank you.
    It is interesting how solving depends on your background: PALESTRINA was my first in.
    My only quibble is about LISTERIA. Although I did get it in, I cannot agree it is a disease: Listeria monocytogenes is a micro-organisms that can cause a disease (listeriosis).

  12. Under the heading for Listeria, Chambers gives the disease caused by such bacteria (also called listerosis). Several medical websites use both terms too.

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