Financial Times 16,937 by SLORMGORM

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SLORMGORM kicks things off this Monday morning…

The usual selection of great clues and surfaces from this setter – 9d being particularly neat. 7a was my last one to parse as it took me yonks to see what was going on! Doh!

Thanks SLORMGORM!

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
7. Dry white? Just lovely to look at! (4)
FAIR

Quadruple definition!

8. Foreign city son alleges corrupt (3,7)
LOS ANGELES

(SON ALLEGES)* (*corrupt)

10. Take on a small European without problem (6)
ASSUME

(A + S (small) + E (European)) without SUM (problem)

11. Press conservative boy that’s inflexible (8)
IRONCLAD

IRON (press) + C (conservative) + LAD (boy)

12. A rare break with drugs for one in custody? (8)
ARRESTEE

A + R (rare) + REST (break) + EE (drugs)

I’m not entirely sure about R = RARE, but can’t see how else it works

13. Runs away from first of lancehead vipers (6)
ADDERS

[l]ADDERS (runs, away from L[ancehead] (first of))

15. Annoyed? So issue direct rude remarks! (13)
DISCOURTESIES

(SO ISSUE DIRECT)* (*annoyed)

18. Complaint about light infantry’s doctrine? (6)
BELIEF

BEEF (complaint) about LI (light infantry)

20. Service a church holds finally for butcher (8)
MASSACRE

MASS (service) + A + (CE (church) holds [fo]R (finally))

22. Order given to old Royal Marine (8)
COMMANDO

COMMAND (order) given to O (old)

24. American jerks pinching knight for larks (6)
ANTICS

(A (American) + TICS (jerks)) pinching N (knight, in chess)

25. One selling lots of our nice tea at sea (10)
AUCTIONEER

(OUR NICE TEA)* (*at sea)

26. Struggle with expectation (4)
VIEW

VIE (struggle) + W (with)

DOWN
1. Game of cards a Celt played (4,6)
CATS CRADLE

(CARDS A CELT)* (*played)

2. Nicks and Jeans? (8)
TROUSERS

Double definition

3. A large gamble taking on queen and her mate? (6)
ALBERT

A + L (large) + BET (gamble) taking on R (queen)

4. Hot working up around Kent? Never! (2,2,4)
IN NO CASE

IN (hot) + (ON)< (working, <up) + CA (around) + SE (Kent, South East)

5. Swimmer embarrassed daughter around company (3,3)
RED COD

(RED (embarrassed) + D (daughter)) around CO (company)

6. Get on with male revolutionary – super! (4)
MEGA

(AGE (get on) with M (male))< (<revolutionary)

9. Miles not bored around music producer (5,8)
SLIDE TROMBONE

(MILES NOT BORED)* (*around)

14. Secret dirt could be made thus (10)
RESTRICTED

(SECRET DIRT)* (*could be)

16. Occasionally switch positions (3,3,2)
OFF AND ON

Double definition

OFF AND ON being the positions of a switch

17. Popular record I have still? (8)
INACTIVE

IN (popular) + ACT (record) + IVE (I have)

19. Prisoner beaten at chess? (6)
INMATE

Double definition

IN MATE = beaten at chess?

21. Celebrities welcoming one in Steps (6)
STAIRS

STARS (celebrities) welcoming I (one)

23. Work over drink? That’ll need reviewing! (4)
OPUS

O (over) + (SUP)< (drink, <that’ll need reviewing)

12 comments on “Financial Times 16,937 by SLORMGORM”

  1. One for anagram-lovers with 9d being particularly smooth, as Teacow says. Other goodies included 7a and 11a. Done and dusted pretty quickly and plenty to raise a smile.
    Thanks very much to Slormgorm
    and Teacow.

  2. The SLIDE TROMBONE and DISCOURTESIES anagrams were my last two in but FAIR was my last one parsed properly – my pick for today. For 12a, we have had R for ‘rare’ before, even if “it’s not in Chambers”.

    Pleasant way to recover after a couple of tough ones elsewhere today.

    Thanks to Slormgorm and Teacow

  3. I agree with Diane@1. Not sure how ACT means record in 17d.
    A good start to the week and thanks to setter and blogger.

  5. Thanks for the blog, I always enjoy this setter. I was puzzled by ACT but Chambers gives – a written instrument in verification- instrument being a formal record in this sense.
    RARE = R is not in Chambers but is widely used in restaurants along with W = well done and M= medium, mainly for steaks.
    IN MATE is definitely beaten in chess, more usually in checkmate but this use is fine.

  6. A pleasant Monday exercise – thanks to Slormgorm and to Teacow for the blog.

    SM @3: I was just dubious enough about “act” = “record” to check it out and the OED does indeed give one meaning of “act” as “a record of transactions or decrees” – so even I can’t object…

  7. Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow. Pleasant puzzle with several clever clues; I guessed FAIR but didn’t see the 4x definition!

  8. Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow
    A reasonably gentle introduction to the week with a few definitions that required a post dictionary check, including ACT (record), R (rare, it is listed in Collins on line), RED COD (apparently a fish of Australian waters that is a greyish pink colour until taken out of the water where it turns red) and the four definitions of FAIR.
    Started off by immediately seeing LOS ANGELES fall out of the ‘son alleges’ and finished with that quadruplly-defined FAIR to the left of it.

  9. Thanks Slormgorm. I got to this late but I’m glad I didn’t brush it aside today because it was worthwhile. Liked FAIR, the simple VIEW, and OFF AND ON as well as the long anagrams. Thanks Teacow for parsing — I only saw a triple def. for FAIR so a 4th def. made it even better.

  10. Many thanks to Teacow for the usual lovely blog and to all who solved and commented.

    Hope to see you all next time around, but until then its cheers and chin chin from me. 🙂

  12. For the first time in quite a while, I was able to solve this puzzle without any assistance from a word finder or even a dictionary. My LOI was IN NO CASE; even though I was sure it was the right answer I couldn’t fully parse it. I guess I’d better work on my British geography.
    My favorite was the lovely quadruple definition at 7a. But I liked nearly every clue. Many thanks to Slormgorm and Teacow.

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