Financial Times 17,369 by MOO

by

This week starts with a resounding MOO…

Today's puzzle resulted in several chuckles and a raised eyebrow. All jolly good fun!

Thanks MOO!

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1. Where to find ‘barrister’ in dictionary (8)
CHAMBERS

Double definition

5. Beer for the mischievous Spike? (6)
IMPALE

IMP ALE (beer for the mischievous)

10. Annoys son, insensible on couch (4,3)
PUTS OUT

(S (son) + OUT (insensible)) on PUT (couch)

11. Polish monitor right to pull back (7)
PERFECT

PREFECT (monitor, R (right) to pull back)

12. Ban inexperienced person who might get you shot (9)
BARTENDER

BAR (ban) + TENDER (inexperienced)

13. Pitiful bishop covered in sauce (5)
SORRY

RR (bishop, Right Reverend) covered in SOY (sauce)

15. A big blow, going wrong way round South American city (5)
OSAKA

(A + KO (big blow))< (<going wrong way) around (S (South) + A (American))

16. Accommodation Tom uses as bordello (8)
CATHOUSE

CAT HOUSE (accommodation tom uses)

19. Just one rum? (8)
SINGULAR

Double definition

20. Heartless judge rejecting 50 men in Alpine region (5)
TYROL

T[r]Y (judge, heartless) + (L (50) + OR (men))< (<rejecting)

21. Soothsayer fearfully holding goddess back (5)
FREYA

([sooths]AYER F[earfully])< (holding, <back)

23. Tossed and turned, no longer wanted (9)
REDUNDANT

(AND TURNED)* (*tossed)

25. Building from which yours truly might emerge? (7)
COWSHED

Cryptic definition

"Yours truly" being "Moo"

27. Pope of old like a wild beast? (7)
LEONINE

LEO NINE (pope of old, Pope Leo IX)

28. Doctor eating Moroccan dish (6)
TAGINE

(EATING)* (*doctor)

29. Proceed strangely unnoticed for the most part (8)
CONTINUE

(UNNOTICE[d] (for the most part))* (*strangely)

DOWN
1. Perfect example of what plagiarist might do? (8)
COPYBOOK

Double definition

2. Another local faced with change (11)
ALTERNATIVE

NATIVE (local) faced with ALTER (change)

3. No embargo set? It might backfire! (9)
BOOMERANG

(NO EMBARGO)* (*set)

4. Did judge set gunmen on fifties rebel? (5)
RATED

RA (gunmen) on TED (fifties rebel)

6. Customs announcing another ecstasy haul? (5)
MORES

"more es" (another ecstasy haul, "announcing")

7. Had an aversion for Cockneys (3)
ATE

[h]ATE (an aversion, for Cockneys)

8. English attempt to hold northern approach (5)
ENTRY

(E (English) + TRY (attempt)) to hold N (northern)

9. Trader caught out in corporate manipulation (8)
OPERATOR

([c]ORPORATE (C (caught) out))* (*manipulation)

14. Engagement in doubt (11)
RESERVATION

Double definition

16. State school board occasionally running into trouble (8)
COLORADO

[s]C[h]O[o]L [b]O[a]R[d] (occasionally) running into ADO (trouble)

17. Dismissed twice in total (3-3-3)
OUT-AND-OUT

OUT (dismissed) AND OUT (and dismissed, twice)

18. No one here, it seems, is completely sane (3,5)
ALL THERE

Double definition

21. Newspaper carrying terrific feature (5)
FACET

FT (newspaper) carrying ACE (terrific)

22. A broody female devouring second pasty (5)
ASHEN

(A + HEN (broody female)) devouring S (second)

24. Sex toy of a hobbit initially disturbing for bishops (5)
DILDO

BILBO (hobbit, D[isturbing] (initially) for Bs (bishops))

26. What might give the Dalai Lama a shock? (3)
WIG

Cryptic definition

22 comments on “Financial Times 17,369 by MOO”

  1. Lovely start to the week. 24d definitely chuckleworthy, as also the joking self-reference at 25a. All tickety-boo, thanks Moo and Teacow 😀

  3. Why is pot couch? Why is Ted fifties rebel? Still don’t get 26d. And was unaware of American slang “cathouse”.

  8. Is that all? I thought there may have been a deeper meaning in 26d. And I should have remembered why Ted is a rebel. Someone explained it to me here months ago, but it’s one aspect of British history that I’d forgotten. Thank you, KVa. Must try harder.

  9. GDU @3, I’ve rarely heard CATHOUSE either. I see it is in our Macquarie Dictionary without any qualification as to its origins, though other sources have it as N. American slang as you say.

    Enjoyable Monday puzzle. Even if it wasn’t the Macquarie, good to see a ‘dictionary’ not being the OED for once. I liked LEO NINE and particularly the association of a ‘Sex toy’ with a ‘hobbit’ at 24d.

    Thanks to Moo and Teacow

  10. I do not follow why put means couch. Perhaps GDU could help me?
    Thanks to Moo and Teacow for a pleasant start to the week.

  11. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cathouse
    gives ‘Recent Examples on the Web
    …Springsteen busted out a truly outrageous new one last year that involved a Nevada cathouse, a lot of flatulence, and other bodily fluids.
    —Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 7 Sep. 2022
    First Known Use 1882′
    For etymology:
    https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=CAT
    gives
    ‘…As a term of contempt for a woman, from early 13c. Slang sense of “prostitute” is from at least c. 1400. Slang sense of “fellow, guy,” is from 1920, originally in African-American vernacular; narrower sense of “jazz enthusiast” is recorded from 1931.’
    O Tempora, o MORES! (Cicero 70BC)

  13. SM@10
    My understanding of ‘put=couch’:
    Let me couch this gently (in the sense of ‘express in an appropriate way’).
    In this context, ‘put’ can replace ‘couch’.

    Someone will correct me if I am wrong and I will learn.

    Mores: Doesn’t it sound like ‘more A-s’ rather than ‘more E-s’?

  18. Thanks for the blog , very entertaining set of clues , most of them very concise and precise. “Canary in a CATHOUSE ” is a collection of Kurt Vonnegut short stories .

  19. Thanks Moo and Teacow

    6dn: Chambers 2014 (C) gives two pronunciations for the final syllable of mores. The first one is the one needed to make this clue work, and the one I would expect to hear from an English speaking lawyer. The second is the “Classical” pronunciation, which I would expect to hear from someone reciting the works of Cicero. C gives this with an unvoiced final S, sounding like “MORE ACE”.

  20. Hovis@2:
    There’s also Dildo Daggins & Dodo (French & Saunders)
    @http://annehodgson.de/2008/12/27/french-and-saunders-the-lord-of-the-rings/
    And sorry I misspelt rOD LIDdle’s name @16.

  21. Thanks Moo for the amusement. I did use the check button to finish the NW corner but generally this was a steady solve. I liked many clues including OSAKA (it took me forever to realize that just “city” was the definition), CONTINUE (nice smooth reading incorporating the anagram), COLORADO, ALL THERE (great double definition), and ASHEN. I couldn’t parse DILDO but should have seen it. Thanks Teacow for the blog.

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