Financial Times 17,315 by CHALMIE

by

Chalmie is our setter this morning.

There was a mini-theme here, with "artist" appearing in five clues and one artist appearing as a solution (Kandinsky). Overall, I found the south-east corner a little trickier than the rest, but there were enough crossing letters around for me to get there in the end. There were eight straight anagrams in the puzzle (three in a row from 8dn to 13dn) which is at the upper limit of the number of anagrams one would expect to see, but these make a blogger's job a little easier, so I won't complain.

Thanks, Chalmie.

ACROSS
1 DELTA
Foreign character was first to return thanks (5)

<=LED ("was first", to return) + TA ("thanks")
4 KING’S ROAD
Go and risk getting beaten up in once-trendy street (5,4)

*(go and risk) [anag:getting beaten up)
9 DICTION
Speech forecast 30% cut (7)

[30 % cut] from (pre)DICTION ("forecast")
10 ELASTIC
The middle of Angela’s ticket is flexible (7)

[the middle of] "angELA'S TICket"
11 SUICIDE BOMBER
Bimbo I rescued could be a terrorist (7,6)

*(bimbo I rescued) [anag:could be]
14 TWIG
Get time with international head of government (4)

T (time) + W (with) + I (International) + [head of] G(overnment)
15 SPACESUIT
Protective gear which horses get put through in clubs? (9)

PACES ("which horses get put through") in SUIT ("clubs?")
18 RATEPAYER
Local government funder once a rare type, surprisingly (9)

*(a rare type) [anag:surprisingly]
19 WHEN
Tungsten layer, at which point…. (4)

W (chemical symbol for "tungsten") + HEN ("layer" of eggs)
21 BREAKING POINT
…. things fall apart, dancing bear and Elvis in top form (8,5)

*(bear) [anag:dancing] + KING ("Elvis") +*(in top) [anag:form]

This clue requires the "at which point" from the previous across clue to complete the definition, hence the ellipsis.
24 TIPPLER
Tequila in planter’s punch initally left old queen drunk (7)

T(equila) I(n) P(lanter's) P(unch) [initially] + L (left) + ER (Elizabeth Regina, so "old queen")
26 IMAGOES
Artist’s productions penetrated by old insects (7)

IMAGES ("artist's productions") penetrated by O (old)
27 STATELESS
As a non-citizen, don’t say as much (9)

STATE LESS ("don't say as much")
28 SHELF
A transitory form of life rotting flesh (5)

*(flesh) [anag:rotting]

Items with a shelf life are to some extent transitory.
DOWN
1 DADA
Father beginning to appreciate artists’ movement (4)

DAD ("father") + [beginning to] A(ppreciate)
2 LICKSPITTLE
Crawler not much impressed by bad picks (11)

LITTLE ("not much") impressed by *(picks) [anag:bad]
3 ACIDIC
Sour policemen stop spies turning up (6)

CID (Criminal Investigation Department, so "policemen") stop <=CIA (Central Intelligence Agency, so "spies", turning up)
4 KANDINSKY
Artist preserved, it’s said, where eagles fly? (9)

Homophone [it's said] of CANNED ("preserved") + IN SKY ("where eagles fly?")
5 NIECE
Pleasant to welcome English relative (5)

NICE ("pleasant") to welcome E (English)
6 SHADOWED
Tailed fish over 24 hours (8)

SHAD ("fish") + O (over, in cricket) + Wed. (Wednesday, so "24 hours")
7 OUT
Unable to see you asleep (3)

Double definition
8 DECORATING
Dog certain to disrupt home improvement (10)

*(dog certain) [anag:to disrupt]
12 BRUSHSTROKE
Broker shuts rebellious artists’ movement (11)

*(broker shuts) [anag:rebellious]
13 ATTRIBUTES
Traits tube artist represents (10)

*(tube artist) [anag:represents]
16 ATROPHIES
American silverware deteriorates (9)

A (American) + TROPHIES ("silverware")
17 SPIKE LEE
Director’s disturbed sleep inspiring Turner? (5,3)

*(sleep) [anag:disturbed] inspiring IKE (Turner)
20 DINARS
People eating asparagus starter for eastern cash (6)

DIN(e>A)RS ("people eating" with A(sparagus) [starter] replacing [for] E (eastern))
22 NURSE
Managed to climb over someone’s extremities being tender (5)

<=RUN ("managed", to climb) over S(omeon)E ['s extremities]
23 AS OF
Oafs clumsy at a specific time (2,2)

*(oafs) [anag:clumsy]
25 PEA
Pulse exercise first-rate (3)

PE ("physical "exercise") + A ("first-rate")

21 comments on “Financial Times 17,315 by CHALMIE”

  1. Re 19A, I am wondering how many people wrote “THEN” thinking that Tungsten was “T”. This answer also fits the definition as Loonapick points out Tungsten is also know as Wolfram.

  2. Yes, I was surprised by the number of anagrams – liked 8d best. Also noticed the generous use of artistic reference – of these, 13d was my favourite as the presence of anagram pair artist/traits made me hold my fore for a second or two.
    Besides these, I liked the reference to a director whose early work I really enjoyed (17d) and the definition of 28a.
    Thanks to Chalmie. It was fun. And thanks Loonapick.

  4. Guilty as charged, Peter. I had THEN for 19a.

    I live a sheltered life, and haven’t heard of Ike Turner or Spike Lee. Well maybe they’re in the deep recesses of my memory, but they weren’t close enough to the surface.

    I learnt that a shad is a fish. Doesn’t Britain have ratepayers any more (“local government funder once”)? Please explain.

    An enjoyable and not too difficult pursuit today, with not as many groans as with Fed’s in the Guardian. Thanks Chalmie & loonapick.

  5. Thanks, Chalmie & Loonapick. I mostly breezed through this – perhaps the number of anagrams helped. A couple of tricky ones to hold me up though – I liked the misdirection of “artists’ movement” in 12d, which combined with 1d to have me barking up the wrong tree for a while.

    Thing is, Peter, I know perfectly well that tungsten is W but I still thoughtlessly wrote in THEN. It was only when I finished the puzzle and the app told me I had errors that I realised my idiocy.

  7. GDU @4

    Domestic rates were replaced by the short-lived Community Charge or Poll Tax, then by Council Tax by the Tories in the early 90s.

  8. We crossed, Widdersbel – as a Scot, the poll tax was very unpopular as we were used as guinea pigs up here. I was one of many Scots who simply refused to pay it – it was seen as an attack on the poor. I could afford to pay it, but held it in a separate account until I was forced to pay it. I don’t think council tax is much better, especially as our wonderful SNP government refused to increase it fir 8 years in order to garner votes, but decimating public services in the process. Rant over!

  9. Originally known asThe Bonzo Dog Dada Band-most people got it wrong and thought it was doodah
    “Can Blue men sing the whites, or are they hippocrites?”

  10. Loonapick – I was still just about too young to be liable for the poll tax at the time but I remember the riots!

    As I recall, it was one of the factors that finally put an end to Thatcher, so at least it had one positive outcome.

  12. Hi copmus, here is my understanding of your comment at 8.08″

    “Starting off as the Bonzo Dog Dada Band, then becoming the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, and then finally just the Bonzo Dog Band, the group was started by British art college students in the mid-’60s.”

    If you’re referring to 1D, I think that the answer refers to a type of art (painting) known as Dada.

  13. An educational experience for me. I have to confess my ignorance on all matters related to KANDINSKY and though I’d heard of DADA I know very little about the art movement.

    I wasn’t too keen on ‘point’ both as part of the def and the answer at 21a, maybe excused by those ellipses – not my favourite crossword device.

    As discussed yesterday in the Bradman FT blog in relation to the positional indicator “on”, there’s room for differing interpretations, but I still thought ‘impressed’ in 2d indicated that LITTLE (‘not much’) was contained in (‘impressed by’) anagram (‘bad’) of PICKS, rather than the reverse.

    Thanks to Chalmie and loonapick

  14. Thanks all.

    The blog is wrong in saying that the ellipsis at 19/21 means that you take part of the previous clue across. The ellipsis indicates the answer to 19a is the first part of the clue for 21. That should answer WordPlodder’s quible.

  16. Loonapick @ 15
    I’m particularly put out, in a mummy-stole-my-lollipop sort of way, because it’s not very often that I get the chance to use the classic ellipsis construction and I was rather pleased with myself for having been able to do it.

  17. I found this trickier than average and it took a couple of visits to get to the end.

    I dashed to this marvellous blog to check my answers, only Then I discovered When previously I had made a mistake….

    Thanks

  18. Thanks for the explanation of the ellipses across two clues. Never been able to figure it out and too stupid to ask.

  19. Sorry about that Chalmie @14 & 16. I don’t usually like ellipses but occasionally they work well and now you’ve explained it, this is clearly one of those times.

    Now that justice has been done, hope you enjoy your lollipop.

  20. Thanks for the blog , running late this week , yes nice to see the ellipses used properly, often used for the vaguest connection beteween two clues. I also liked SHELF.
    The main poll-tax riot in London was in 1990 , I was there visiting a student friend. Not much of a riot really , perhaps a very early example of kettling. We and most others managed to get away over the river, some who were trapped would eventually fight back against the police.
    The Rates were essentially fair and based on house values, the poll-tax based on people. Council tax essentially a con , the most valuable house can at most pay three times as much as the cheapest in any council area, even when worth hundreds of times more.

Comments are closed.