Financial Times 17,122 by NEO

by

Neo is today's FT setter.

I found this a bit chewy, having only five or six answers in after my first pass. Once the two long across solutions were in place, the rest of the puzzle slowly filled itself, but I admit it was a bit of a struggle, especially as I had never heard of a suzerain. I got there in the end, though.

Thanks, Neo.

ACROSS
1 PREFAB
Home not yet marvellous? (6)

If something is PRE-FAB(ulous) it is "not yet marvellous"
5 CARAPACE
Heat-resistant layer quickly brought to vehicle (8)

APACE ("quickly") brought to CAR ("vehicle")
9 STURGEON
Doctor having to admit tense Scottish politician (8)

SURGEON ("doctor") having to admit T (tense)

Refers to Nicola Sturgeon, the current First Minister of Scotland
10 DOUBLE
Fix and mix blue drink (6)

DO ("fix") + *(blue) [anag:mix]
11 MORSEL
Fragment Oxford copper left (6)

(Inspector) MORSE (fictional "Oxford copper") + L (left)
12 EXEMPLAR
Former barrister has no time for model (8)

EX ("former") + (t)EMPLAR ("barrister" with no T (time))
14 APOSTROPHISE
First-class mail? Guy’s written in another guy’s address (12)

A ("first-class") + POST ("mail") + HIS ("guy's") written in ROPE ("another guy")
18 FULLY-FLEDGED
Down finished and set to go up? (5-7)

Cryptic definition
22 CENOTAPH
Returning quietly, do penance in church monument (8)

[returning] <=(P (piano, so "quietly") + ATONE ("do penance")) in Ch. (church)
25 NUANCE
Subtlety is thrown out from trial (6)

IS thrown out from NU(is)ANCE ("trial")
26 GALENA
Mineral compound strong ale naturally contains (6)

Hidden in [contains] "stronG ALE NAturally"

Galena is the most common ore of lead.
27 DISAGREE
Drop into grave, radioactive ultimately: that’s fall out (8)

SAG ("drop") into DIRE ("grave") + (radioactiv)E [ultimately]
28 UNDERSEA
Beneath ocean, endless anti-rust treatment needed (8)

[endless] UNDERSEA(l) ("anti-rust treatment")
29 RIALTO
In which scene one would see Merchant of Venice? (6)

(barely) cryptic definition
DOWN
2 RATION
Budget speech missing start? (6)

(o)RATION ("speech", missing start)
3 FORESTALL
Prevent everyone supporting Nottingham team? (9)

ALL ("everyone") supporting (Nottingham) FOREST (football "team")
4 BEETLE OFF
Scarper when dice game finished (6,3)

BEETLE ("dice game") + OFF ("finished")
5 CONSENT
Agree Tories lure, sending out diamonds (7)

CONS ("Tories") + ENT(ice) ("lure", sending out ICE ("diamonds"))
6 RIDGE
Bird losing wing and crest (5)

(part)RIDGE ("bird") losing PART ("wing")
7 PLUMP
Round left in quiz (5)

L (left) in PUMP ("quiz")
8 COLLAPSE
Slip beneath mountain pass and fall down (8)

LAPSE ("slip") beneath COL ("mountain pass")
13 MOP
Cleaner Frenchman put to work (3)

M (monsieur, so "Frenchman") put to Op. (opus, so "work")
15 ORGANISER
Runner, old, unexpectedly regains lead in race (9)

O (old) + *(regains) [anag:unexpectedly] + [lead in] R(ace)
16 HYDRANGEA
Bush ranger skinned and eaten by Lernaean monster? (9)

(r)ANGE(r) [skinned] eaten by HYDRA ("Lernaean monster")
17 SUZERAIN
Nazis rue having redeployed for Overlord (8)

*(nazis rue) [anag:having redeployed]
19 YET
Still one must escape Himalayan monster (3)

I (one) must escape from YET(i) ("Himalayan monster")
20 ECHIDNA
European died in grip of Asian land mammal (7)

E (European) + D (died) in grip of CHINA ("Asian land")
21 ACCENT
Contrasting detail in brogue (6)

Double definition
23 OBESE
Alumnus represented at centre with large corporation? (5)

OB (old boy, so "alumnus") + (repr)ESE(nted) [at centre]
24 AMASS
Gather tea’s brought up in the morning (5)

ASSAM "tea" with AM ("in the morning") brought up could become AM-ASS

12 comments on “Financial Times 17,122 by NEO”

  1. Very satisfying. I’d never heard of the dice game in 4d … is it peculiarly British? 17d was a bit obscure. I had to come here to parse 24d. But plenty of smiles all round.

  3. I agree with Loonapick; this was certainly chewy but very enjoyable.
    I did know SUZERAIN (lovely word) but not the dice game, like Geoff, though it had to be BEETLE and I couldn’t parse DISAGREE.
    True, RIALTO was an easy guess but I think it refers both to the name of a theatre where you’d see the play, as well as an old venue for actual merchants of Venice. Like the Ponte Vecchio, the Venetian bridge was once lined with shops.
    There were many great clues today including HYDRANGEA, ECHIDNA, PREFAB and FULLY FLEDGED. The latter was my favourite as I watched a bulbul gives its youngster its first flying lessons from my balcony. It still had tiny bits of downy fluff attached.
    Also good to see ‘runner’ not be a river for once.
    Many thanks for an engaging tussle, Neo (are you a Trees fan perchance? Good to see them back in the top flight, anyway) and the sterling work of our blogger.

  4. Not exactly the gentle pre-lunch FT puzzle I’d been hoping for with quite a few, including UNDERSEA and BEETLE OFF unparsed and a couple of forgotten words in GALENA and SUZERAIN. I’d also never heard of the ‘address’ sense of APOSTROPHISE.

    Favourite was my last in, the ‘not yet marvellous?’ PREFAB ‘Home’.

    Thanks to Neo for a not so gentle, but satisfying to solve, puzzle and to loonapick

  5. Hello Diane, thanks for your kind comments. As to Forest, I’m afraid not, as I am a Saints fan. We very nearly swapped places with Forest on the promotion/ relegation ladder as we plummeted.

    As for RIALTO, it’s literally where you’d (have) see(n) Venetian merchants (i.e. in the business centre of medieval and renaissance Venice), phrased in such a way as to put solvers off the scent in the direction of Waggledagger.

    Thanks loona, thanks all.

  6. A chewy workout as loonapick has said, though I suppose as it’s Thursday we might expect an upturn in difficulty across the board around these parts. Some nice clues here, but I’ll go for SUZERAIN on the podium as it seems to have some relevance to what happened back in ’44.

    Thanks Neo and loonapick.

  8. Thanks Neo and loonapick
    Good puzzle with a bit of substance in it which I was able to do mostly during dinner at a lovely Italian restaurant, with all co-residents away – so ‘chewy’ aptly described it for me.
    Vaguely recalled SUZERAIN, but had not heard of BEETLE OFF, BEETLE (the dice game), APOSTROPHISE (address) or CARAPACE (as heat-resistant). Also learnt that the HYDRA came from Lerna. Was nice to see the little ECHIDNA make an appearance, last saw one scurrying across a beach road down in Inverloch earlier this year.
    Lots of really neat clues with FULLY FLEDGED just getting the nod for the best of them.
    Finished in the NW corner with PREFAB, that BEETLE OFF and MORSEL (where I had to confirm where the fictional Inspector hailed from).

  9. Thanks Tees for taxing my brain. BEETLE (and BEETLE OFF), SUZERAIN, STURGEON (only knew the fish), and APOSTROPHISE were all new to me and required a bit of outside help. Still I (YETI) enjoyed this with PREFAB, UNDERSEA, and DISAGREE topping my list. Thanks loonapick for the blog.

  12. We found this less chewy than the Indy today and quite enjoyable. We thought there was a touch of &lit-ishness about 14ac since APOSTROPHISE implies breaking off from one conversation to address someone else. Regarding 9ac, the wordplay of adding or removing T to change ‘surgeon’ to ‘Sturgeon’ or vice-versa seems to becoming a bit of a chestnut of late – we’ve encountered it in several puzzles of late. We liked PREFAB and OBESE, though, but our favourite was FULLY-FLEDGED.
    Thanks, Neo and loonapick.

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