Financial Times 16,910 by NEO

by

Neo's todays FT compiler.

In a recent blog, I mentioned that I don't time myself while completing a puzzle that I am blogging, as I am writing the explanations as I go along, but I reckon today's puzzle would be the quickest I have ever completed a Neo puzzle. The whole thing just seemed to go past in a flash, so that when I slotted in HERETO, having taken a few seconds to work out the parsing, I was actually surprised that it was all over.

That doesn't mean it was a bad puzzle; far from it, I enjoyed the experience. The long anagrams around the perimeter probably helped as they gave lots of hints to the other answers.

I did have one minor quibble, and as always, am happy to be corrected if it's my parsing that's at fault, but I can't see an alternative parsing to YOBBISH (24ac), which means that the setter is using SIB = son, which I think is a bit of a stretch.

Thanks, Neo.

ACROSS
1 ABBREVIATION
RAF for instance scrambled above Britain (12)

*(above britain) [anag:scrambled]
8 GEORDIE
Dialect good with English whatever it takes? (7)

G (good) with E (English) + OR DIE ("whatever to takes", as in "do or die")
9 STRATUS
Standing across river in cloud (7)

STATUS ("standing") across R (river)
11 RATIONS
Commons speeches to omit nothing at first (7)

(o)RATIONS ("speeches") omit O (nothing) at first
12 THERETO
Excessive about accepting present in addition (7)

<=(OTT (over the top, so "excessive", about) accepting HERE ("present")
13 STEAM
Second eleven to provide driving force (5)

S (second) + TEAM ("eleven", in cricket or football)
14 NO PROBLEM
Fine houses for spymaster of course (2,7)

NOBLE ("fine") houses PRO ("for") + M ("spymaster" in the James Bond universe)
16 INSOLVENT
Very rude about bust? (9)

V (very) with INSOLENT ("rude") about
19 CHAMP
Politician after tea sees winner (5)

MP (Member of Parliament, so "politician") after CHA ("tea")
21 ECONOMY
Firm into money-changing offers cheapest travel (7)

Co. (company, so "firm") into *(money) [anag:changing]
23 GUNBOAT
Vessel shooting across the waves? (7)

Cryptic definition
24 YOBBISH
Bad-mannered son twice sent back to hospital (7)

<=(SIB BOY) ("son", twice sent back) to H (hospital)

Not convinced by "sib" = son, as the status of being a sib relies on having a brother or a sister, rather than a parent.
25 NOISOME
No-one taking part – that’s offensive (7)

NO + I (one) taking SOME ("part")
26 BRONTOSAURUS
Having a turn, our boss reset obsolete browser (12)

*(a turn our boss) [anag:having reset]
DOWN
1 APOSTLE
Send beer outside for missionary (7)

POST ("send") with ALE ("beer") outside
2 BAD FORM
Wicked pupils showing unacceptable behaviour (3,4)

BAD ("wicked") + FORM ("pupils")
3 EVER SINCE
From that day forth, on any occasion, wrong at church (4,5)

EVER ("on any occasion") + SIN ("wrong") at CE ("Church" of England)
4 INSET
Day for teachers producing smaller diagram (5)

Double definition, the first relating to a training day for teachers in the UK.
5 TORPEDO
Such a fish as sinks beneath the waves? (7)

TORPEDO fish are related to skates and rays, an of course a torpedo is an underwater missile.
6 OATMEAL
Pale brown marks in opal here and there with blue (7)

M (marks) in O(p)A(l) [here and there] with TEAL ("blue"), so O-A-T(M)EAL
7 AGGRESSIVELY
Vigorously mixing liver and eggs say (12)

*(liver eggs say) [anag:mixing]
10 STORMY PETREL
Morsel pretty poor for an oceanic bird (6,6)

*(morsel pretty) [anag:poor]
15 PATAGONIA
Old man travelling again to arid tableland (9)

PA ("old man") + *(again to) [ang:travelling]
17 SLOBBER
Slaver statue initially seen has one throwing up? (7)

S(tatue) [initially seen] has LOBBER ("one throwing up" i.e. lobbing)
18 LAOTIAN
Thai neighbour taken north to a loch by Scotsman (7)

<=(TO A L (loch), taken north) by IAN ("Scotsman")
19 CANNIER
More skilful narrative’s opening in Racine novel (7)

N(arrative) ['s opening] in *(racine) [anag:novel]
20 AMOROUS
Feeling love in a room excited American (7)

*(a room) [anag:excited] + US ("American")
22 YAHOO
Philistine always knocked over? Goliath finally ducks (5)

<=AY ("always", knocked over) + (goliat)H [finally] + OO ("ducks" or zeroes in cricket)

21 comments on “Financial Times 16,910 by NEO”

  1. A pleasing and steady puzzle relying solely on brainpower for once! The long anagrams were particularly rewarding to unravel and, naturally, accelerated the solve thereafter. I’m more accustomed to seeing STORM than STORMY for 10d but both are given.
    Favourites included 1a, 15d, 17d (for its misdirection), and the intersecting 22d/24a. Though 23a seemed scarcely cryptic, I really liked this overall.
    Can’t help with YOBBISH. I got boy + s + h but couldn’t work out ‘thr other ‘b’ or ‘i’.
    Thanks to Neo and Loonapick

  2. Treated to some superb anagrams today. 1a is one of the best I have ever seen.

    Personally, I put down 24a to be a mistake. I felt it should have read son set back twice with BIS meaning “twice”.

    Liked the clever, relevant surface for SLOBBER with its play on “slaver”.

    Didn’t know that meaning of “commons” in 11a but checked it in Chambers.

  3. Like Hovis @2, I wondered if the ‘twice’ in 24a = BIS, but that doesn’t work either as the wordplay indicates that it too should be reversed. As Hovis says, ? a mistake.

    I didn’t find this as easy as our blogger. I had no idea of the ‘Day for teachers’ part of the def for INSET and only vaguely remembered a TORPEDO as a sort of fish; the ‘sinks beneath the waves?’ wordplay only sort of helped. PATAGONIA as an ‘arid tableland’? Mm…, I suppose so.

    Took a while at the end to work OATMEAL so I felt as though I’d earned this when the grid was filled.

    Thanks to Neo and loonapick

  4. Hello. Well, YOBBISH wasn’t supposed to be a mistake. Original clue sent in:

    Bad-mannered son sent back twice to hospital

    Damn!

  5. The mistake today with YOBBISH and mixup with the grid etc.on Saturday indicate the need for tighter cruciverbal editing at the FT? However , I do not understand how such errors could occur with modern IT systems.

  6. Thanks Neo and loonapick

    SM@5: It looks to me as though the problem here was not lack of editing, but unnecessary editing by someone who does not understand crosswords.

  7. Another crossword leaving me with a big smile. Splendid anagrams and a good all-round solving experience

    Bug thanks to Neo and Loonapick

  10. Thanks to Neo and loonapick. Lots of fun. I did not know INSET as a teacher’s day and did not parse OATMEAL but much enjoyed the long clues especially ABBREVIATION.

  11. Thanks Neo for a pleasant crossword to solve over breakfast. I agree with others about the great anagram in 1a; other favourites included INSOLVENT, ECONOMY, and YAHOO, the latter for its nod to one of my favourite setters. Thanks loonapick for the blog — I failed at the unfamiliar GEORDIE and I could neither parse OATMEAL nor NO PROBLEM.

  12. Even if our setter is in the mellowest of mellow moods
    [for this solver it was a near-write-in, but I don’t want to use this as ‘bragging’ – Boris is a lot better than me when it comes to that!],
    he will still come up with some real gems.
    As others said, there’s 1ac but I also think that 14ac (NO PROBLEM) was just magnificent.
    Thanks to Loonapick & Neo.

  13. Great fun – thanks Neo. And for dropping in to explain 24a.
    I liked BRONTOSAURUS as it has depths – it is obsolete as it is extinct but there is also the question of whether it actually existed and has been misclassified all these years. One might suggest it is bis-obsolete.
    Thanks for the blog Loonapick.

  14. Thank you Neo – very enjoyable. Seemed to take forever, but finally got there. Numerous enjoyable answers.
    Really needed the blog to clear my head so thanks also to Loonapick.

  15. We had our doubts about YOBBISH and came to the conclusion that the word order in the clue was wrong and parsed it as it turns out was intended. Otherwise everything was straightforward. Favourite was ABBREVIATION for its surface.
    A pleasant solve over coffee.
    Thanks, Neo and loonapick.

  17. Late comment, but I’m surprised no one mentioned NEO’s shout out (at 22d) to his distinguished fellow setter, (G, alias P in the Guardian). That was my favourite of many delightful clues.

    Thanks NEO and loonapick for the excellent fun and blog.

  19. My apologies, Tony@11 – I somehow missed that part of your comment. And thanks, PB, for drawing that to my attention – mea culpa.

  20. Thanks Neo and loonapick
    Didn’t find this too easy or too hard and only got to it in fits and starts during the day on Thursday. Wasn’t able to parse the clever NO PROBLEM and although BIS passed across my mind, I got flummoxed by the clue wording of 24a.
    Agree with others about the tremendous anagram and overall clue of ABBREVIATION. Had to dig into some memory for the INSET day part of 4d and had to look up the TORPEDO fish.
    Finished in the NE corner with THERETO, that TORPEDO and OATMEAL (which was not my first pick as a ‘pale brown’ colour).

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