Financial Times 17,066 by GAFF

by

GAFF gives us an anniversary puzzle this morning…

Themed around my favourite Radio 4 program:

I’M SORRY I HAVEN’T A CLUE, the ANTIDOTE to PANEL GAMEs was first broadcast fifty years ago in April 1972.

It was hosted by Humphrey Lyttelton (LITTLE-TON) from the start until 2007, and Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme GARDEN, Barry Cryer (CRIER) and Willie RUSH-TON were regular panellists. Jack Dee is the current host. There is a degree of LEWDNESS, especially when referring to the lovely Samantha or Sven, who help keep score.

One of the most popular rounds is MORNING-TON CRESCENT (a game which surely needs no explanation), and Mrs TRELLIS of North Wales is a regular correspondent.

 

Thanks GAFF!

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1. Rebuild statue or it will be face down (8)
OUTSTARE

(STATUE OR)* (*rebuild)

5. Breathlessness due to open conflict in support group (6)
APNOEA

(OPEN)* (*conflict) in AA (support group)

9. Some backward tribes send welcoming obscenity (8)
LEWDNESS

([tribe]S SEND WEL[coming])< (some, <backward)

10. Absorb sound of joking (6)
INGEST

“in jest” (joking, “sound of”)

12. Specialist in Masonic heraldry (5)
NICHE

[maso]NIC HE[raldry] (in)

13. Crisscrossed wasteland clutching bad back (9)
TRELLISED

(DESERT (wasteland) clutching ILL (bad))< (<back)

14. Diminutive race found in outskirts of Lille (6)
LITTLE

TT (race) found in LI[l]LE (outskirts of)

16. See 21 down
19. When newspapers appear to report grief (7)
MORNING

“mourning” (grief, “to report”)

21. Cross fire damaged centre of Hull (6)
IREFUL

(FIRE)* (*damaged) + [h]UL[l] (centre of)

23. I leave rebellious grenadiers to shoot growers (9)
GARDENERS

(GRENAD[i]ERS (I leave))* (*rebellious)

25. See 21 down
26. Tune in to cant with vacant expression (6)
LISTEN

LIST (cant) with E[xpressio]N (vacant)

27. Bowed to the moon sometimes (8)
CRESCENT

Double definition

28. Most exhausted doctor agreed to opening (6)
DRYEST

DR (doctor) + YES (agreed) + T[o] (opening)

29. Understanding Gaff’s return route in classy ending (8)
SYMPATHY

((MY)< (Gaff’s, <return) + PATH (route)) in [clas]SY (ending)

DOWN
1. Technically connected with how fish may be caught (2,4)
ON LINE

Double definition

2. Announcer’s personal credit level is restricting (4,5)
TOWN CRIER

(OWN (personal) + CR (credit)) TIER (level) is restricting

3. Weight lifting men not in the majority (5)
TONNE

([m]EN NOT)< (in the majority, <lifting)

4. Old setter desperate for award (7)
ROSETTE

(O (old) + SETTER)* (*desperate)

6. Board dogged by quiz (5,4)
PANEL GAME

PANEL (board) + GAME (dogged)

7. Test constituents as extras (5)
OVERS

Double definition

Overs being constituents of a cricket test match

8. Nothing attained without a complex cure (8)
ANTIDOTE

(O (nothing) + [a]TTAINED (without A))* (*complex)

11. Still Gaff is a beast (4)
YETI

YET (still) + I (Gaff, the crossword setter)

15. Arrangement for sister to embrace No 10’s banality (9)
TRITENESS

(SISTER)* (*arrangement) to embrace TEN (No 10)

17. Blue about charge initially taken for bubbly (9)
EBULLIENT

(BLUE)* (*about) + LIEN (charge) + T[aken] (initially)

18. Ran from skinhead robbed outside library entrance (8)
SMUGGLED

S[kin] (head) + MUGGED (robbed) outside L[ibrary] (entrance)

20. Oddly, Goldeneye starts with happiness (4)
GLEE

G[o]L[d]E[n]E[ye] (oddly, starts with)

21, 16, 25 across. Apology from Gaff that it’s impossible to solve 6d (2,5,1,6,1,4)
I’M SORRY I HAVEN’T A CLUE

Double (cryptic) definition

22. Good opening for toffs (6)
GENTRY

G (good) + ENTRY (opening)

24. Full of plants reserved under code (5)
RUSHY

SHY (reserved) under RU (code, ISO Code for Russia)

25. Pose with a struggling author (5)
AESOP

(POSE with A)* (*struggling)

19 comments on “Financial Times 17,066 by GAFF”

  1. Thanks for the blog and your coloured grid is brilliant. I was unaware of the theme until 21D and then I went searching. A great effort by the setter , very tricky with all these names and we can forgive the slight misspellings .
    GARDENERS was the pick for me , LEWDNESS was very well hidden and highly appropriate, some of the descriptions of “Samantha” and her boyfriend are about the rudest thing you can get away with on Radio 4.

  2. Teacow, your colourful grid and knowledge of the programme made you the right blogger for this puzzle, so thanks! I liked how Gaff clued the name of the show and thought the spellings (or misspellings) of the names was in the irreverent spirit of the subject. But then I saw the colours and thought maybe this was the only way to accommodate so many of them. Thanks to Gaff.

  3. Sorry, I hadn’t a clue about this anniversary! A bit before my time though I’m familiar with Willy Rushton, Barry Cryer and Graham Garden and the programme’s name does ring a bell. I did, however, complete and enjoy this grid very much.
    I do remember a fairly recent puzzle referencing MORNINGTON CRESCENT and I’m full of admiration for the way the theme was inserted, allowing those unfamiliar with it to finish albeit more slowly, perhaps.
    Thanks, Gaff, for the entertainment and Teacow for the enlightenment.

  5. Thanks Gaff and Teacow.

    Diane@3: the most recent episode was broadcast for the first time on 3 January this year. To the best of my knowledge, further series are planned, and may even have already been recorded.

    Incidentally, it is Graeme Garden (not Graham): he is the only one of the original regulars still alive.

  7. Pelham, I hesitated when writing Graham as I could see The Goodies’ credits roll in my mind’s eye and I did think it was Graeme.
    As for the radio show, it began when I was a child and I left the UK as an adolescent so it was not a habit I acquired.

  9. Thanks Gaff and Teacow

    …some of the descriptions of “Samantha” and her boyfriend are about the rudest thing you can get away with on Radio 4.

    If you’re lucky enough to attend a recording it gets a great deal bluer than what’s broadcast.

  10. I left the UK 52 years ago SO I HADN’T A CLUE about the theme! But, finished except for 5 a. Thanks Teacow and Gaff.

  11. Thanks Gaff and Teacow
    A fun puzzle and could only put the theme clue together by Googling it after realising that it started with I’M SORRY. Ignorant of the show, the ghost theme constituents were wasted on me, but can nod in appreciation of the task of putting so many in without creating a lot of obscure words.
    Got all of the run-on hidden clues quite early on and the 21d theme clue was closer to the end of the solve than the start. Don’t recall seeing one of the ‘oddly’ letter clues missing the last odd letter, as in 20d.
    Finished in the SE corner with GENTRY and SYMPATHY the last couple in.

  12. Thanks Gaff for a solid puzzle with good clues like OUTSTARE, IREFUL, and ANTIDOTE. The theme was totally out of my realm as I never heard of the show. Thanks Teacow for explaining.

  13. All good, but I don’t get dogged = game and I didn’t get ‘conflict’ as an anagram indicator.
    Thanks for the blog, Teacow.

  14. Basil @13 re 6dn: From Chambers 2014, we have
    dogged adj pertinacious
    game¹ adj plucky, courageous (inf); having the necessary spirit and willingness for some act (inf)

  15. Thanks, Gaff, for an entertaining puzzle, and Teacow for explaining the theme. I had never heard of the show but I completed the puzzle due to the excellent cluing (including 21/16/25) which stood on its own. OUTSTARE was my favorite.
    I used to like BBC PANEL GAMES My Word! and My Music, which were rebroadcast in the US on NPR years ago. Has this show ever been shared across the pond? It sounds like an over-the-top satire of such shows.

  16. Like others, the theme was wasted on me half a world away. Nor did I know that TT is a race. Why is “game” “dogged”?

    Even without the satisfaction of understanding the theme, I enjoyed this, and will be adding Gaff to my preferred compilers list!

  19. Greg@18 I tend to agree , I know very little about rugby but we have Rugby Union and Rugby League and players sometimes switch “codes” . RU turns up quite often in puzzles but RL is rare.

Comments are closed.