Financial Times 17013 Hamilton

Thank you to Hamilton. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

These fictional detectives/investigators appear in the solutions: Carter, Vera, Miss Marple, Luther, Pendragon, Endeavour Morse, and Lewis, all of whom have appeared in TV series.

In addition, “Jeff Regan, Investigator” was a radio series. Plus various references to crime.

Across

1. Former trucker taking biro from craftsman (6)

CARTER : “pen”(an example of which is the Biro ballpoint) deleted from(taking … from) “carpenter”(a craftsman working with wood).

Defn: One who transports goods by cart, an old version of the modern day trucker.

4. Speed up the Parisian excursion (3,3)

LET RIP : LE(“the” in the Parisian language) + TRIP(an excursion/outing).

9. Prospect of 5-1, win and place (4)

VIEW : V(Roman numeral for 5) + I(Roman numeral for 1) + EW(abbrev. for “each-way”/win and place, a bet in a horse or dog race for a specific runner to come in first, second or third).

10. Men chatted about task force (10)

DETACHMENT : Anagram of(… about) MEN CHATTED.

Defn: … in the military.

11. 18 is one, say, in downward movement (10)

RELEGATION : RELATION(of which, a sister/answer to 18 down is one/an example) containing(…, in) EG(abbrev. for “exempli gratia”/for example/say).

Defn: … from an upper rank/position to a lower one.

12. She‘s a bit of a raver actually (4)

VERA : Hidden in(a bit of a) “raver actually“.

13. Book government department to accept oil order (5)

FOLIO : FO(abbrev. for the Foreign Office, a government department) containing(to accept) anagram of(… order) OIL.

14. Leasing equipment initially to make animal fodder (8)

ENSILAGE : Anagram of(… to make) [LEASING + 1st letter of(… initially) “equipment“].

Defn: Another term for “silage”/….

16. Fliers follow almost all the ground lights (8)

LANTERNS : TERNS(sea birds/flyers) placed after(follow) 1st 3 letters of(almost all) “land”(the ground, used for agriculture maybe).

 

19. King’s daughter returns to harass the royal (5)

REGAN : Reversal of(returns) [ NAG(to harass/to keep on at someone) + ER(abbrev. for “Elizabeth Regina”, Queen Elizabeth, head of the British royals) ].

Defn: One of the daughters of Shakespeare’s King Lear.

21. She’s a kind spirit and she’s prospering to a degree (4)

PERI : Hidden in(… to a degree) “prospering“.

22. Woman pining for town in Greater Manchester? (4,6)

MISS MARPLE : MISS(to pine for/to feel sad about the absence of) + MARPLE(a town in Greater Manchester, England).

Defn: Agatha Christie’s amateur consulting woman detective.

24. Discrimination towards brunettes? (10)

UNFAIRNESS : Cryptic defn: Refering to the “unfair”/not fair/not light colour of the hair of brunettes, in contrast to blondes.

25. The colour of sycophancy (4)

FAWN : Cryptic defn: Reference to the behaviour of one who fawns/acts servilely to gain favour.

26. In Tuvalu the real reformer is discovered (6)

LUTHER : Hidden in(In … is discovered) “Tuvalu the real“.

Defn: The initiator of the Protestant Reformation.

27. Second small squad held by guards (6)

SCREWS : [ S(abbrev. for “second”, in time notation) + S(abbrev. for “small”) ] containing(… held) CREW(a squad/a group of people working a particular task).

Defn: Slang for … in a prison.

Down

1. The sound of that fellow in church (5)

CHIME : HIM(that fellow/third person masculine pronoun) contained in(in) CE(abbrev. for the Church of England).

2. Greenwood given harsh treatment (3,4)

RAW DEAL : RAW(green/inexperienced) + DEAL(fir or pine wood as building material).

3. An overdue reappraisal of venture (9)

ENDEAVOUR : Anagram of(… reappraisal) AN OVERDUE.

Defn: …/undertaking.

5. He’s going straight to study outside first (5)

EX-CON : CON(to study attentively) placed below(… first, in a down clue) EX(outside/excluding, as in “ex dividend”).

6. Sleep at cricket ground leads to dismissal (7)

REMOVAL : REM(abbrev. for “rapid eye movement”, a phase during a sleep period) plus(at) OVAL(The …, an international cricket ground in London).

7. Topless 26, legendary king (9)

PENDRAGON :

Defn: 1st letter deleted from(Topless) “Luther”(answer to 26 across), legendary king.

Answer: Surname of aforementioned king, father of King Arthur.

8. Hit by small kid’s bicycle (6)

STRIKE : S(abbrev. for “small”) + TRIKE(a tricycle, the kiddies’ version of a bicycle).

13. Monastic fellow learnt a different way to be brotherly (9)

FRATERNAL : FR(abbrev. for “friar”, a member of a religious order/monastic fellow) + anagram of(… different way) LEARNT A.

15. Browse in Spotify for specific pop genre (4,5)

SURF MUSIC : SURF(to browse in/to find and look at things on the Internet) + MUSIC(what is provided by Spotify, the media services provider on the Internet).

Defn: … associated with surfboarding, originating in the early 1960s.

17. Bet on a strict interpretation (7)

TRICAST : Anagram of(… interpretation) A STRICT.

Defn: … on which 3 horses come first, second and third, respectively, in a horse race.

18. Someone close threatening to quit home (6)

SISTER : “sinister”(threatening/foreboding evil or harm) minus(to quit) “in”(home/not out).

20. Faux pas involving Irish animal (7)

GIRAFFE : GAFFE(faux pas/a blunder) containing(involving) IR(abbrev. for “Irish”).

22. Signal pioneer sullen before no. 2 love departs (5)

MORSE : “morose”(sullen/glum) minus(before … departs) its second(no. 2) “o”(representing 0/love in tennis scores).

Defn: … who co-developed the Morse code.

23. Jeans changed in the middle of Scottish island (5)

LEWIS : “Levis”(jeans/tight-fitting trousers made by Levis Strauss & Co.) with its middle letter(… in the middle) replaced(changed).