Financial Times 16,995 by BOBCAT

by

My second Bobcat and he's lost none of his feline cunning.

Tough and very entertaining, with a little theatrical twist. Thanks again, Bobcat.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1 CUBEBS
Youngster half-heartedly declines berries (6)

CUB ('youngster') + EBbS ('declines') without one of its central Bs. New word for me. Once used to treat cystitis, it seems.
4 TEA SET
Poke fun at Steffi’s second service (3,3)

TEASE + 2nd of 'sTeffi'.
8 CONSUME
Swallow, rook and other birds heading west (7)

CON (to 'rook') + reversal of EMUS.
9 GESTAPO
Police lacking power to stop page being edited (7)

Anagram ('being edited') of STOp PAGE, minus P[ower].
11
See 12
12, 11 HELP ONE ANOTHER
Following realignment, no real hope then for Mutual Assistance Directive (4,3,7)

Anagram ('following realignment') of NO REAL HOPE THEN.
13 FRIZZ
Possible bad hair day? Sleep on it (5)

FRIday + ZZ (cartoon convention for 'sleep)'.
14 MUCILAGE
Gum Alice mixed is sticky stuff (8)

Anagram '(mixed') of GUM ALICE.
16 MISSPEAK
Teacher’s pet heard to use words wrongly (8)

Homophone of MISS ('teacher') + PEKE ('pekingese', pet dog).
18 BLEAT
Cry from blackface leaving fold? (5)

B[lack] + pLEAT ('fold'), 1st letter ('face') omitted, and whole clue definition by example, 'blackface' being a kind of sheep.
20 IFFY
Lose head in no time? Not sure (4)

I.e. in a 'jIFFY' without 1st.

21 SEDAN CHAIR
Adrian Chiles gutted about conveyance held up by Poles (5,5)

Anagram ('about') of ADRIAN + CH{il}ES, the central IL removed.
23 CODICIL
Amendment by one willing to bring retired detectives into loop (7)

Reversal of CID in COIL.
24 CORDOBA
Artist concealing personal information joins company in Spanish city (7)

CO[mpany] + R.A ('artist') concealing D[ate] O[f] B[irth].
25 SLEIGH
Proclaim order to destroy vehicle (6)

Homophone of 'slay'.
26 ISLAND
75% of liar’s admission is key (6)

6/8 letters of 'I SLANDEer', a possible 'liar's admission'.
DOWN
1 CROWN
Top brass (5)

Thought this was a bit cheapskate at first, but it's a double def: 'crown' (top of a hill, or to top it all e.g.) + old coin (money, 'brass').
2 BASMATI
ABBA’s ignoring Björk’s tip to boogie with Tim Rice (7)

Anagram (to 'boogie') of ABbAS without B (1st of 'Bjork') + TIM.
3 BAMBOOZLE
Fool and Fairy Queen upset drink over Will’s Bottom (9)

MAB ('fairy queen') reversed, then BOOZE around last of 'wilL' and nothing to do with Shakespeare.
5 EMEER
Measurement unit always abbreviated in ruler (5)

EM (printer's 'measure') + E'ER (poetic abbreviation of EVER, 'always').
6 SATCHEL
Carrier pigeons at Chelsea billets (7)

Hidden in 'pigeonS AT CHELsea'.
7 TOP-FLIGHT
Spinner’s trajectory is outstanding (3-6)

TOP ('spinner') + FLIGHT ('trajectory').
10 THE MIKADO
Japanese leader’s lurking in the wings here (3,6)

The G&S 'comic opera': See the 'wings' of today's grid.
13 FLIP-FLOPS
Changes policy following spin failures (4-5)

FLIP ('spin', as in flip/spin a coin) followed by FLOPS ('failures')
15 CABIN BOYS
Junior sailors about to reject marks for navigating in sound (5,4)

C[irc]A ('about') + BIN (to 'reject') + homophone of 'buoys'.
17 SKYLINE
High level view of broadcaster’s policy (7)

SKY (t.v. 'broadcaster') + LINE ('policy').
19 EPHEDRA
Doctor suffocated by record high temperature losing footing in arid bush (7)

DR surrounded by EP ('record') and HEAt, 'high temperature' without last. Desert plant (which I didn't know) used to make ephedrine (which I did). Last in. (It had to be 'echidna', surely?)
21 STING
Trap to catch poisoner? (5)

Double def.
22 IMBED
Fix papers to procure decoration (5)

ID (identity 'papers') surround MBE ('decoration')

10 comments on “Financial Times 16,995 by BOBCAT”

  1. Very tricky. New words for me include: CUBEBS, MUCILAGE, EPHEDRA & MAB (in 3d). Failed to think of EBBS for “declines” in 1a, so used a word fit. Would never have gotten STING or SLEIGH so a DNF for me. Do stings poison or inject venom (or is it both?)?

  2. A couple of (j)iffy clues for my liking (BLEAT CUBEBS etc) but there was a bit of spark for a Tuesday and I missed the nina
    I’ll be eagerly awaiting his next puzzle

  5. Tricky but fun – thanks Bobcat and Grant. The homophone in 15d might not work for some US solvers in parts where ‘buoys’ is pronounced ‘boo-eezs’.

  6. Despite slamming into a brick wall in the SW corner I found a lot to like in this crossword including TEA SET, FRIZZ, CORDOBA, and BASMATI. Thanks to both.

  7. I fully appreciate this puzzle after reading the blog. I am just not in the same league but will keep learning. Thanks to both for a challenge that pushed me hors de combat.

  8. Missed Cubebs and Island, and mistakenly had Sledge not Sleigh.

    But some excellent clues and much invention. Loved Frizz, sedan Chair and Sting, among others.

    Thanks

  9. Being a G&S fan, I thought 10d THE MIKADO was a weak clue, barely cryptic, until Grant pointed out the wings of the grid, and that made it my clue of the day – brilliant. I also liked 3d, for the clever construction and Shakespearean misdirection, but also because BAMBOOZLE is such a great word.
    Thanks Bobcat and Grant, I look forward to your next one.

  10. Thanks Bobcat and Grant
    Actually finished this one late on Tuesday night but only finished the parsing check and luckily was able to change an unparsed SLEDGE to SLEIGH before checking in here. It was one of the first times that have been able to suss out a nina early enough to help get answers – 20a and 23a in this puzzle.
    A good variety of devices used throughout – took ages to get the 75% of the ‘liar’s admission’ to justify ISLAND because kept forgetting to include the I bit in the maths. EPHEDRA and MUCILAGE were the only new terms, and needed internet help to get both of them. Have known MAB from many years ago doing puzzles with my grandmother – it used to occur frequently in the big weekly straight puzzle that we used to do.
    Finished in that SW corner with FLIP FLOPS (nice clue), STING (lucky that the G from SLEDGE still held up for me) and then the remedial work to get SLEIGH as the last one in.

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