Financial Times 17,321 by GOZO

by

Gozo sets an interesting challenge.

The special instruction tells us that each solution contains the sequence R plus one of the letters of the alphabet. A loaded pangram. This does aid solving somewhat.

Overall a good solving experience. I’m afraid I’ve not got 12a – all ideas welcome. And 28a lacks a definition – overzealous editor perhaps? Otherwise fairly straightforward. Many thanks to Gozo!

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1. Observation on gospel (6)
REMARK

RE (on) + MARK (gospel)

4. Shows affection, spilling Mac’s beer (8)
EMBRACES

(MAC’S BEER)* (*spilling)

9. Country not at all embracing Republican (6)
NORWAY

NO WAY (not at all) embracing R (Republican)

10. Keep last of sheep on the Serengeti, say (8)
PRESERVE

[shee]P (last of) on RESERVE (the Serengeti, say)

12. It gets in and on your nerves (8)
NEURITIS

Not sure about this one I’m afraid. Neuritis is a condition of nerve inflammation. Possibly ‘in’ but not ‘on’. NEURIS isn’t a word.

13. Analyse grammar with English Zoroastrian (6)
PARSEE

PARSE (analyse grammar) with E (English)

15. Leftovers in short supply (4)
ORTS

[sh]ORT S[upply]

16. Domestic flights (10)
STAIRCASES

Cryptic definition

19. Rarity! Bees producing hybrid fruits (10)
TAYBERRIES

(RARITY BEES)* (*producing)

Tayberries are a cross between raspberries and blackberries

20. Henry’s last catch from the salmon river (4)
PARR

Double definition (I’d say “catch” being shared by both definitions)

Henry VIII’s last wife was Catherine Parr; a parr is a young salmon

23. Capers around on rampart (6)
ESCARP

(CAPERS)* (*around)

25. Without us rogue pigs are out to take a run (8)
ARPEGGIO

(ROG[u]E PIG[s])* (*out, without US) to take A

27. Herb and Josephine hiding in the grass (8)
MARJORAM

JO (Josephine) hiding in MARRAM (grass)

28. One small amount cheat sent back (6)
BORZOI

(I (one) OZ (small amount) + ROB (cheat))< (<sent back)

A good clue, but lacking a straight definition! A Borzoi is a type of dog.

29. Most rigid cryptic setters accept name (8)
STERNEST

(SETTERS)* (*cryptic) accept N (name)

30. Romans’ new demand (6)
RANSOM

(ROMANS’)* (*new)

DOWN
1. Meet — by accident? (3,4)
RUN INTO

Double / cryptic definition

2. Attempt supporting brandname for decorative work (9)
MARQUETRY

TRY (attempt) supporting MARQUE (brandname)

3. Band member on ecstasy after radio broadcast (6)
ROADIE

E (ecstasy) after (RADIO)* (*broadcast)

5. Spoil vote for Communist theorist (4)
MARX

MAR (spoil) + X (vote)

6. “Request” boffin’s job (8)
RESEARCH

RE + SEARCH (quest)

7. Temple features body-building exercises (5)
CURLS

Double definition

8. Spits in the food (7)
SKEWERS

Cryptic definition

11. Upset about Burt’s ID (7)
DISTURB

(BURT’S ID)* (*about)

14. Friendly gnome having double sets of levers (3,4)
BIG EARS

BI GEARS (double sets of levers)

I grew up reading Noddy books – Big Ears was a favourite character!

17. Acts as nightwatchman? (9)
STARGAZES

Cryptic definition

18. Don feathers and weaken gradually (4,4)
WEAR DOWN

Double definition

19. Bottle for hot drinks — mother’s ruin (7)
THERMOS

(MOTHER’S)* (*ruin)

21. Coal scuttle — one coated in strange metal (7)
RHODIUM

HOD (coal scuttle) + I (one) covered in RUM (strange)

22. Elder dropped one leading African lady (6)
SENORA

SEN[i]OR (elder, dropped I (one)) + A[frican] (leading)

24. Following into centre of Purbeck castle (5)
CORFE

F (following) into CORE (centre)

26. Lift said beams (4)
RAYS

“RAISE” (lift, “said”)

24 comments on “Financial Times 17,321 by GOZO”

  1. Delighted to see Gozo at the helm today with an interesting device I’m not sure I’d have noticed without the signpost.
    The ploy was used creatively, especially in answers like 2d and 10a. It also helped with my LOI, where the ‘RZ’ was all that remained but left me stumped. Yes, where was that definition?!
    Good thing 15a was a hidden answer!
    I loved ‘mother’s ruin’ (19d), ‘temple features’ (7d) and ‘Henry’s last’ (20a).
    Clever and entertaining clues throughout.
    Thanks to Gozo and Oriel.

  3. I think NEURITIS is meant to be a cryptic definition. It gets in your nerves and [having it] gets on your nerves.

  4. I couldn’t be bothered keeping track of RA, RB, RC etc, but noticed them randomly happening. Plenty of things I’d never heard of: TAYBERRIES, ESCARP, MARRAM, CORFE/PURBECK. I wasn’t sure how the anagram for ARPEGGIO worked, and having played squillions of these in my youth, I would never have thought of them as “runs”. I was a little surprised by the lack of a definition for BORZOI — surely a slip-up?

    There were some clever clues, and I think my smiles outnumbered my groans. Thank you, Gozo & Oriel. I hope someone can shine some light on 12a.

  6. PARR
    Is it not PAR(salmon) +R(river)?
    Par is given in some dictionaries as an alternative spelling of parr (a young salmon).

  7. Hovis@3
    I agree with you regarding NEURITIS.
    First I thought on these lines and then thought it could be more than this.
    Tried with NETS (gets) IN, IT UR (your-not standard, I think. ‘You are’ is UR)
    etc., but nothing worked. 🙂

  8. I couldn’t work out NEURITIS either (Hovis @3’s explanation sounds plausible) and wondered where the def for BORZOI was, being helped to solve it by the novel puzzle instructions; maybe someone from the FT may pop in to clear this up. I kidded myself I knew CORFE for ‘Purbeck Castle’ but in reality this only went in from the wordplay. I did know ORTS, even if only from crossword land. I was slow to see the “lift and separate” RESEARCH at the end.

    Favourite was the ‘Henry’s last (catch)’ part of the double def for PARR.

    Thanks to Gozo and Oriel

  9. Easy enough to complete although I was unfamiliar with the grass “marram” and I have never heard of “orts” despite being born and raised in England. Nice to know that I’m not the only one to notice the lack of a definition in 28A.

  10. Glad I’m not alone in wondering about NEURITIS like KVa I briefly toyed with IT and UR and the ITIS at the end, then like Hovis decided it must be a cryptic def. Likewise I can’t see a definition for BORZOI which was LOI for that reason.

    Some very clever clues today.

    Thanks Gozo and Oriel.

  11. Second crossword today (waiting for trains and planes) both superb (Tramp first then Gozo what a treat) Like others couldn’t parse neuritis and missed definition of borzoi.
    Tour de force from Gozo! Respect.
    Thanks both

  12. I loved this one. Very very clever to get the whole alphabet with R. And to do so, without any unusual words – there were no new ones for me.

  13. I closed the special instructions screen without reading it, too impatient to begin solving.
    It was still solvable, without that help.
    Last One In 28A: It had to be BORZOI. I googled the etymology, thinking I must be missing something. It means fast.
    I was missing something: a definition.

  16. Thanks for the blog, very impressive setting here to get evety letter after r without many obscurities or forced clues. I think Hovis@3 has a plausible idea for NEURITIS , I agree with KVa @6 for PARR. We still have the curious incident of the missing dog for28Ac .

  17. For PARR, “river” is redundant, so I assumed just another editing flub. I was unfamiliar with the character BIG EARS, but guessed it from the clue.

  18. Because the theme was specified, my guess is that BORZOI was not a mistake, editing or otherwise, and that Gozo threw in a clue with wordplay only as he often does for all thematic clues in other FT puzzles. And sometimes he tosses in a definition when the rubric says the themed entries (often all the across clues) are wordplay only. All fine with me. I thought PARR was also OK as is, with the second definition being either “[something] from the salmon river” or “catch from …. river” as Oriel surmises. KVa@6 offers another plausible parsing, but however it was intended, I particularly enjoyed that clue. I agree with Hovis@3 on cryptic def. for NEURITIS clue. Thanks to both.

  19. Thanks Gozo for another masterful feat of crossword construction. I did have some problems completing this and I finally revealed BORZOI, MARQUETRY, and BIG EARS, the latter two unknown to me. I liked many of the clues including REMARK, RANSOM, and WEAR DOWN. Thanks Oriel for the blog.

  20. [ With reference to yesterday, The Guardian has a nice article and photos from the Up-Helly-Aa festival in Lerwick. Girls and women allowed to contribute for the first time. ]

  21. A remarkable feat of grid-filling. I think I would have preferred the special instructions to hint at R plus every letter, rather than just tell us. I liked PARR and MARQUETRY. Thanks both.

  22. What a jolly fun crossword puzzle this was. BI-GEARS and “Henry’s last catch” got the biggest laughs, but it was all smiles from beginning to end. Thanks, Gozo!

    And thanks for the blog, Oriel. I wondered if I was missing something with BORZOI. In think Ub @18 might be on to something. For what it’s worth, I agree with Hovis @3 on NEURITIS and KVa @6 on PARR.

    Also agree with Petert @21 on the feat of grid filling.

    Panthes @11 – and don’t forget Eccles in the Indy too!

  23. Thanks Oriel, relieved to know I am not going mad re 28a! Had a doubt over 3d too but I suppose there is overlap between band and crew eg Lemmy. Also I think the Serengeti is a national park rather than a reserve but again close enough I suppose. I thought it was a neat device and a fun solve so thanks Gozo.

  24. I had no problem with the Parr clue, with catch doing double duty. The setter is being specific about the type of river in which a fisherman might catch a Parr (a young salmon). There are many rivers in which you won’t catch a salmon Parr. Indeed, the vast majority of rivers in the world have no salmon. For example, there are no salmon parr in the Amazon, the Nile, the Missouri, the Danube, the Yangtze or the the Ganges, to name but a few.

Comments are closed.