Financial Times 17,126 by GUMM

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A fair Tuesday test from Gumm.

I set off like a train but finished more slowly in the SW corner for no reason (as often happens) that I could tell you in retrospect.

Good fun. Thanks, Gumm.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1 AMOEBA
Tiny organism harms one’s boat regularly (6)

Alternate letters of ‘hArM OnEs BoAT’.
4 PUTOFF
Advertisement that’s about to discourage (3,3)

PU.FF (old-fashioned ‘advertisement’) around ‘TO’.
8 SHINGLE
Rocky English pebbles (7)

Anagram (‘rocky’) of ‘ENGLISH’.
9 SPEEDOS
They show rate of shallowness to begin with, turning very profound (7)

1st of ‘S{hallowness}’ then reversal of SO DEEP.
11 UNFINISHED
Wanting something like Schubert’s 8th? (10)

Schubert’s last symphony remained unfinished at his death.
12 ACHE
A revolutionary desire (4)

A + CHE (Guevara).
13 PAGES
Leaves rind of Parmesans to mature inside (5)

Outside letters of ‘P{armesan}S’ include AGE (to ‘mature’).
14 EPHEMERA
Fancy hamper and last bits of chocolate cake – they don’t last long (8)

Anagram (‘fancy’) of ‘HAMPER’ + lasts of ‘chocolatE’ & ‘cakE’.
16 TRESPASS
Intrude on resorts within borders of Texas (8)

1st & last of ‘TexaS’ include RE (‘on’) + SPAS (‘resorts’).
18 TALLY
Everything in extremely tatty record (5)

ALL in 1st & last of ‘TattY’.
20 ALOO
Asian vegetable that’s almost cool (4)

ALOOf (‘cool’, without last). Potato in in Indian cookery.
21 ADMINISTER
Govern India, terms to be arranged (10)

Anagram (‘to be arranged’) of INDIA TERMS.
23 ASININE
Idiotic, like 19? (7)

I.e., AS 1 NINE, and nothing at all to do with Lesotho. Fine misdirection. Last in.
24 FRITTER
Waste deep-fried food (7)

Double def.
25 SUPPLE
Endless source of elastic, initially flexible (6)

SUPPLy (‘source’ without last) + 1st of ‘E{lastic}.
26 SNOOTY
Superior magician finally clothed in black (6)

Last of ‘magiciaN’ in S.OOTY (‘black’).
DOWN
1 ASHEN
The heart of Vienna remains at first pale (5)

Middle of ‘viENna’ after ASH (‘remains’).
2 OINKING
Love applying a tattoo, but what a beastly noise! (7)

0 (nil, ‘love’) + INKING (perhaps ‘applying a tattoo’) for what pigs do.
3 BALTIC SEA
Basic tale about northern waters (6,3)

Anagram (‘about’) of BASIC TALE.
5 UPPED
First of unabridged pages newspaperman raised (5)

1st of ‘U{nabridged}‘ + PP (‘pages’) + ED[itor].
6 OVERARM
One way to make deliveries is to provide too many weapons (7)

Double definition, first from cricket.
7 FOOLHARDY
It’s inadvisable to play tricks on author of classics (9)

FOOL (‘to play tricks on’) + (Thomas) HARDY.
10 THREESOME
Article in which second prophet lies about ménage-a-trois (9)

TH.E (‘article’) contains reversal of MO (‘second’) + SEER (‘prophet’).
13 PARALYSIS
April says moving means not moving! (9)

Anagram (‘moving’) off APRIL SAYS.
15 HIT-AND-RUN
What a batsman may do is a serious crime (3-3-3)

Double def. The first we used to call ‘tip-and-run’ for a playground version of the game.
17 SHOWN UP
Be quiet and admit being humiliated (5,2)

SH (‘be quiet!) + OWN UP (‘admit’).
19 LESOTHO
Starts to lash out around those working in country (7)

Firsts of ‘L{ash} & ‘O{ut}’ around anagram (‘working’) of THOSE.
21 ANNUL
Set aside medical tube after wrapping is removed (5)

cANNULa (‘medical tube’) without 1st & last letters.
22 ENEMY
Adversary held back by infantrymen emerging (5)

Hidden, reversed’ in ‘infantrY MEN Emerging’.

18 comments on “Financial Times 17,126 by GUMM”

  1. Enjoyable, and nothing too taxing. No obscure English counties or rivers or initialisms! In fact, apart from ALOO, nothing to scratch my head over. All done in about half an hour.

  2. A pleasant puzzle from a new setter as far as I’m aware. I didn’t find it to difficult but there were some good clues including the misleading ‘like 19?’ wordplay for ASININE as pointed out and the tricky parsing of THREESOME. I was happy to have remembered ALOO.

    Favourite was the apt surface for EPHEMERA.

    Thanks and welcome to Gumm and to Grant

  3. Lots to like about this with some write ins and others quite tricky especially the SW corner as for the blogger. Having had curried potatoes last night ALOO was easy.
    Thanks Gumm and GB.

  4. I agree with the comments above ? a fleeting pleasure – and add OINKING to ALOO and EPHEMERA as favourites.
    I felt I had seen Gumm once before though not sure. In any case, I enjoyed the puzzle so thanks to Gumm and Grant.

  5. I can’t find any record of Gumm in the archive, so presume s/he is a newcomer, in which case, a warm welcome! 🙂

    I shall keep this puzzle to use with the next person I might be trying to convert to cryptic crosswords. I think it’s an excellent introduction to differing clue types, all very fairly clued, with some wit thrown in for good measure, as in 23ac, as mentioned. I also liked FOOLHARDY – a favourite word (and author) of mine – and UNFINISHED, for referring to a favourite symphony and not, for once, the 8th letter of Schubert – although that would be worth mentioning, to file away.

    Many thanks to Gumm for an enjoyable puzzle and to loonapick for the blog.

  7. Re 9A, here in Australia, “speedos” show more than “rate”; they show a man’s masculinity! I’m surprised that Geoff didn’t pick up on this…

  8. Thanks Grant and agree with Eileen’s assessment and Wordplodder’s highlights. I needed both crossers to work out what was meant by the “Asian” vegetable, took a long time over ANNUL as I always thought Cannula had a single ‘n’, and wondered if there was such a word as “Enbony” for 26a, but all came good in the end. Thanks Gumm, look forward to more!

  9. Gazzh @8 – I’ve always had a problem with CANNULA, too, but managed to remember this time. And, having ?N?O?Y, I, too, set off down the ENBONY road, until the penny dropped.

  10. Our office crossword team got UNHOLY for 26a, parsing it as: U (Superior) N (magician finally) HOLY (clothed, as in “man of the cloth”) in black (== unholy)

    … bringing an end to a streak of 370 consecutive successful FT crossword solves 🙁

    Regardless, this was fun and I look forward to more from Gumm. We gave stars to 23a, 7d and 15d.

    Thanks Grumm & GB

  13. Thanks Gumm and Grant
    A small point concerning Grant’s comment on 11ac. It is standard – in the English speaking world at least – to give the number 8 and the nickname “Unfinished” to Schubert’s incomplete symphony in B minor. Thus the clue is perfectly sound. However, it was not the last symphony Schubert attempted. It was followed by the “Great C major” (no 9 to English speakers) and another unfinished symphony (no 10). I could give a lot more detail here, but think it best to stop at that point.

  14. Eileen I am always happy to be aligned with the missteps of others, especially an expert like you. Je4d commiserations as that is a remarkable effort, plausible and far more cryptic than the actual solution. Pelham Barton I am also always happy to pick up some extra background detail so thanks.

  15. Thanks so much to Grant and all who commented

    As a Yorkshireman, I chose the pseudonym GUMM so that in the FT, above the puzzle, it would say “…by GUMM”

    Enjoy the sun while it lasts!

  17. Love the pseudonym Gumm and I look forward to many more of your challenges.
    I, too, thought of ENBONY for 26A and, disappointingly, didn’t complete ALOO. However a very enjoyable puzzle.
    Respect to je4d – amazing run!

  18. Welcome to Gumm from the other side of the world and thanks for the fun. I enjoyed it.
    Thanks for the blog Grant.

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