Financial Times 17,104 by GAFF

by

Gaff is the FT’s compiler this grey morning (at least where I am).

A themed offering from Gaff to celebrate the publication 125 years ago today of Bram Stoker’s gothic classic Dracula. Theme words are scattered across the grid. I’ve highlighted the ones I think may be associated with the theme (there may be others).

 

As to the puzzle itself, there were some very good clues, but I felt there was over-reliance on subtraction anagrams – I counted at least four (NOISIEST, SATURDAY, IDIOTS and RONSE CYCLE). The setter also used “organised” and “organising” as anagram indicators, which the editor perhaps could have spotted. I’m not convinced that a coffin and a bier are the same thing, and Old Man of Coniston seems a bit specialised to my mind, but it may be better known than I think.

 

Thanks Gaff.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1 CASTLE
Move on board but keep location (6)
CASTLE is both a chess move (“move on board”) and where you might find a keep (“keep location”)
4 IGNITING
Content to design it in green kindling (8)
Hidden in [content to] “desIGN IT IN Green”
9 GOTHIC
Turn largely intimate in dark (6)
GO (“turn”) + [largely] THIC(k) (“intimate”)
10 BLOODIER
John dead in coffin is comparatively gory (8)
LOO (“john”) + D (dead) in BIER (“coffin”)

A bier and a coffin are two different things, though…
12
See 27 down
13
See 16 down
14 ETUI
Hear a quaint case (4)
Homophone of A TWEE (“a quaint”)
17 TRANSYLVANIA
Naval in-trays organised by region (12)
*(naval in-trays) [anag:organised]
20 COUNT DRACULA
Number with credit maybe returning mid-July with a villain (5,7)
COUNT (“number”) with <=CARD (“credit maybe”, returning) + [mid] (j)UL(y) with A
23 LAUD
Praise God in speech (4)
Homophone [in speech] of LORD (“God”)

Only for those who don’t pronounce their Rs…
24 HEART
Core problem for the R & A (5)
*(the ra) [anag:problem for]
25 SKIP
Don’t bother with small sleep (4)
S (small) + KIP (“sleep”)
28 MOONWALK
Dance move with small steps for man (8)
Cryptic definition, referring to Neil Armstrong’s words when he stepped on to the moon’s surface.
29 STOKER
Fireman sent first to king and queen (6)
S(ent) [first] + TO + K (King) + ER (Elizabeth Regina, so “queen”)
30 NOISIEST
Most loud and upset signatories lose rag (8)
*(sintoies) [anag:upset] where SINTOIES is SI(g)N(a)TO(r)IES losing (the letters of) RAG
31 DRINKS
Medic signs for a round (6)
Dr. (doctor, so “medic”) + INKS (“signs”)
DOWN
1 COGITATE
Think vital part of system maybe wore away (8)
COG (“vital part”) + IT (information technology “system maybe”) + ATE (“wore away”)
2 SATURDAY
Seen leaving Easter Sunday assembly the day before (8)
*(astruday) [anag:assembly] where ASTRUDAY is (e)AST(e)R (s)U(n)DAY without the letters of SEEN [seen leaving]
3 LOIN
Othello incensed part is cut (4)
Hidden in [part] “othelLO INcensed”
5 GOLD STANDARD
Abandoned economic control of benchmark (4,8)
Double definition, the first referring to an erstwhile monetary system based on the value of a fixed quantity of gold, and the second referring to a goal to be achieved if one wants to be among the best at something.
6 IRON
Press club’s tough element (4)
Triple definition
7 IDIOTS
No use organising seditious fools (6)
*(sditio) [anag:organising] where SDITIO is S(e)DITIO(us) without the letters of USE [no use]
8 GARLIC
Finally Daniel Craig arranged protection from 19 (6)
*(l craig) [anag:arranged] where L is [finally] (danie)L

The 19 in the clue refers to VAMPIRES (the solution to 19dn)
11 VIOLONCELLOS
Producers of sound novels I’ll coo about (12)
*(novels ill coo) [anag:about]
15 ASCOT
Alphabet soup chosen over tasty first course (5)
A(lphabet) S(oup) C(hosen) O(ver) T(asty) [first]

Ascot is a racecourse in Berkshire, famous for its Royal Ascot meeting in June.
16, 13 FINAL RINSE
Completion of cycle without first gear damaged fingernails (5,5)
*(finernails) [anag:damaged] where FINERNAILS is FIN(g)ERNAILS without [first] G(ear)
18 BUCKSKIN
Material relative is after dollars (8)
KIN (“relative”) is after BUCKS (“dollars”)
19 VAMPIRES
Measure of current powers held by extortionists (8)
AMP (ampere, so “measure of current”) held by VIRES (“powers”)

VIRES is the plural of VIS (“law”) and indicates the extent to which a court or judge may be allowed to do something.
21 OLD MAN
Fell over Coniston pensioner (3,3)
Double definition, the first referring to The OLD MAN of Coniston, the highest point in Lancashire.
22 LUGOSI
Actor of 20 luckily got silent parts (6)
[parts] of LU(ckily) GO(t) SI(lent)

Refers to Bela Lugosi, the Hungarian-born actor who first played Count Dracula (answer to 20ac) in 1931.
26 KWAI
Asian flower scattered throughout Kuwait (4)
The letters of KWAI are [scattered throughout] K(u)WAI(t)

The Kwai is a river in Thailand, made famous by the book and film, The Bridge on the River Kwai.
27, 12 STAR TURN
Headline act could begin to jar (4,4)
START (“begin”) + URN (“jar”)

18 comments on “Financial Times 17,104 by GAFF”

  2. Quite enjoyable, nice theme. I agree with Loonapick that a bier is not a coffin. From half a world away it took me quite a bit of googling to research the old man of Coniston. 5d & 19d weren’t understood till I came here. (Should “measure” be underlined in red above?) I’ve welcomed ETUI to my lexicon.

  5. I had completed about half of the puzzle but couldn’t find the theme so I decided to cheat and use a search engine (not Google) to find the anniversary link. I found out that actor Peter Cushing was born on this day, along with John Wayne, Robert Morley, Peggy Lee, Al Jolson and Stevie Nicks. I then looked at the next day and discovered that Vincent Price and Christopher Lee were born the next day. As three of these names were famous for portraying various “monsters”, I was able to complete 20A and 22D and the rest just fell into place.

    Spooky, huh?

  6. Late to this party but it was a blast. Although I agree with Loonapick that there was a surprising number of subtraction clues, I thought SATURDAY, in particular, was very cute.
    On the whole, I thought this was beautifully put together with a great, unannounced theme which I was alerted to by 007.
    I’d agree also with KVa that 6d is a quadruple def, intersecting nicely with BLOODIER. IRON, being tough on its own (like IRONMAN or IRONWOMAN).
    There was much to like, theme aside, including the lovely surface for MOONWALK.
    Thanks for the fun, GAFF, and Loonapick for a thorough blog.

  7. Ah, I see I contrived somehow not to see the bold tip-off at the top of the grid, so not an unannounced theme at all. All the more enjoyable to discover it then in spite of my blunder.

  8. Thanks Gaff and Loonapick

    6dn: I agree with KVa and Diane that this clue has four definitions.
    19dn: While I am in, “vires” may be best known from the Latin tag “ultra vires” meaning “beyond the powers (of a person or organisation)”.

  9. “Hovis” is quite correct. (I had to look up the spelling myself !).

    “the editor should perhaps have spotted”; this presumes that the editor a) can do cryptic puzzles orb) that he/she has any interest in them in the first place. Who knows ?

  10. I loved the book. Moves all over the place-Whitby, Hampstead, not to mention Romania-I was in Bucharest while the real villain was in power-I dont think Transylvania is far from there-should have got a cab.
    Saw the Oldman version-wasnt it all done on sets?
    Must see the Lugosi version sometime.
    Good spot.Thanks all

  11. Like Diane, I particularly admired SATURDAY. I’m a fan of subtractive anagrams but, like loonapick, I was surprised to see four of them – all very clever.

    Other favourites were GARLIC, for the clever use of the name, the allusive LUGOSI and OLD MAN, for happy memories of Coniston) which is actually in Cumbria, in the historic county of Lancashire – see the second paragraph here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancashire

    I agree that IRON is a quadruple definition (as in an iron will) and that a bier isn’t a coffin – it’s the stand that the coffin rests on.

    Thanks for your comment, Peter @5. Today is my late husband’s birthday and I’m sure he had no idea he was in such distinguished company.

    Many thanks to Gaff for an interesting puzzle and to loonapick for a fine blog.

  12. I was so sure “violincellos” for 11d was correct that I didn’t bother to read the anagram fodder properly; not the first time. Like GDU @2, I couldn’t work out how to parse GOLD STANDARD or VAMPIRES which I only solved thanks to the def for GARLIC.

    Thanks to Gaff for an enjoyable puzzle and interesting theme and to loonapick

  13. Eileen, my commiserations to you. Your husband shared his birthday with many other famous people but I’m sure that the most important and distinguished to you was your loving husband.

  15. Thanks Gaff, that was fun. I enjoyed the theme but my favourite was the quadruple definition for IRON; quads are rare enough and I think’s it’s remarkable to use only four words in a sensible way to construct such a clue. I couldn’t parse ETUI and OLD MAN so thanks loonapick for the blog.

  16. Peter@5 and Eileen. Reminds me of the Birthday Paradox: for any random group of 23 or more people the odds on two of them having the same birthday (day and month) are better than even.

  17. Thanks Gaff and loonapick
    Did this one over the course of a busy day where I could snatch a few minutes here and there. Very enjoyable and also wondered about the unusual number of subtraction anagrams (one of my favourite clue types too). Lots of other interesting clues, but my favourite would have to be SATURDAY.
    Took to about mid-solve to get the theme when VAMPIRES emerged and after writing in LUGOSI (who I didn’t recognise) a bit earlier) and like Peter@5 almost succumbed to googling it – thankfully it didn’t get to that !
    Finished in the SE corner with SKIP (which needed to be modified from an erroneous SNAP) and BUCKSKIN (with the unusual 2 K’s in the exposed lights).

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