Financial Times 17,438 by MUDD

June 9, 2023 at 8:00 am by Turbolegs

A fun challenge from MUDD this Friday.

FF: 8 DD: 8

I am working off my phone on this one so not sure if formatting is all there or not.

ACROSS
1	CHICKPEA	Starter of potato covered with cut meat served with a salad ingredient (8)
		[ P ( Potato, initial letter ) in CHICKEn ( meat, cut ) ] A
6	DYNAMO	Fireball and my bombs ending in inferno (6)
		[ AND MY ]* O ( infernO, last letter )
9	ANTLER	Branched structure later adapted to accommodate organisation, finally (6)
		[ LATER ]* containing N ( organizatioN, finally )
10	INSOLENT	Fresh in sea off southern England (8)
		IN SOLENT ( sea off southern england; this is a strait, no? )
11	CYAN	Welcomed by democracy, any colour (4)
		hidden in "..democraCY ANy.."
12	ICE BREAKER	Pick, for example, ship (3-7)
		double def
14	STRAIGHT	Neat skill recalled in faculty (8)
		reverse of ART ( skill) in SIGHT ( faculty )
16	PLOD	Copper left in shell (4)
		L ( left ) in POD ( shell )
18	MINI	Skirt pinned by mum, initially (4)
		hidden in "..muM INItially"
19	RATIONAL	Reasonable criminal on trial, arsonist initially defended (8)
		[ ON TRIAL ]* containing A ( Arsonist, initially )
21	COSTA RICAN	Distribution of narcotics inspires a native of Central America (5,5)
		[ NARCOTICS ]* containing A
22	ROAN	Coloured horse galloped around ring (4)
		RAN ( galloped ) around O ( ring )
24	SOMALIAN	Lad touring African country, a person from Africa (8)
		SON ( lad ) around [ MALI ( african country ) A ]
26	ORANGE	Shade found by ape back in tree (6)
		ORANG ( ape ) E ( treE, back )
27	PRETTY	Fairly trivial housing regulations, originally (6)
		PETTY ( trivial ) containing R ( Regulations, first letter )
28	LATHERED	Note the colour, being washed with soap (8)
		LA ( note ) THE RED ( colour )
DOWN
2	HANDY	Close by, borders of Hungary? (5)
		cryptic def; read as H AND Y ( borders of HungarY )
3	COLONIALIST	Mark, one on a register, settler (11)
		COLON ( mark ) I ( one ) A LIST ( register )
4	PORRIDGE	Stir dish on Scottish table? (8)
		double def
5	ALIMENTARY CANAL	All ending in pot, any American liquid in food processor (10,5)
		[ ALL T ( poT, ending ) ANY AMERICAN ]*
6	DESERT	Leave wasteland (6)
		double def
7	NIL	Nothing in short column written up (3)
		reverse of LINe ( column, short )
8	MINNESOTA	It’s one man travelling somewhere in north–central US (9)
		[ ITS ONE MAN ]*
13	APPROPRIATE	Suitable lift (11)
		double def
15	TRICOLOUR	Standard woollen fabric briefly put on loom (9)
		TRICOt ( woolen fabric, briefly ) LOUR ( loom )
17	STANDOUT	Especially good thing, big hugs also (8)
		STOUT ( big ) containing AND ( also )
20	BRAINY	Sharp article found in sea (6)
		A ( article ) in BRINY ( sea ) ; the latter was a new meaning I learnt today
23	ANGLE	Germanic invader’s viewpoint (5)
		double def
25	AFT	A newspaper towards the back (3)
		A FT ( newspaper )

19 comments on “Financial Times 17,438 by MUDD”

Oldham

#1 - Fri 9th Jun 23, 08:12

Why is ice breaker pick?
Thanks
FrankieG

#2 - Fri 9th Jun 23, 08:14

You could use an ice pick to break the ice for your cocktail
FrankieG

#3 - Fri 9th Jun 23, 08:21

The clue reminded me of No More Heroes by The Stranglers:
‘Whatever happened to Leon Trotsky?
He got an ice pick
That made his ears burn’
Pelham Barton

#4 - Fri 9th Jun 23, 10:13

Thanks Mudd and Turbolegs

12ac: Further to the first three comments, I see it more naturally as applied to breaking up ice on roads and pavements, after fallen snow has frozen. Of course it works at the smaller scale too.
Pelham Barton

#5 - Fri 9th Jun 23, 10:24

[Incidentally, every time I see the word “alimentary” I am reminded of the quotation “Elementary, my dear Watson” from Chapter 19 of P. G, Wodehouse’s book Psmith, Journalist. The book was originally published in instalments in a magazine, but appeared in book form in 1915. The words (actually in the form “E-, m- d- W-, elementary”) are spoken by Rupert Psmith and the context makes it clear that they are an allusion to a character created by Arthur Conan Doyle, but there is no explicit claim for the phrase to be a direct quotation from Doyle.]
FrankieG

#6 - Fri 9th Jun 23, 11:39

Here are just the punchlines to two Sherlock Holmes jokes: “A lemon tree, my dear Watson” and “No sheet, Sherlock”.
Steven

#7 - Fri 9th Jun 23, 13:07

Very straightforward today. A mini theme of colours I believe. Thanks setter and blogger.
Mark A

#8 - Fri 9th Jun 23, 13:59

Got 15d but couldn’t parse it at all
but then i’d never heard of tricot or lour so no hope for me there 🙂
SM

#9 - Fri 9th Jun 23, 14:03

Yes Steven . I agree with your assessment . There is :TRICOLOUR with ORANGE, CYAN ROAN. Very neat .

Thanks to both for a very fair puzzle.
Roz

#10 - Fri 9th Jun 23, 14:05

Thanks for the blog, the format seems fine to me, very clear. A lot of concise clues today.
Fireball=DYNAMO ? perhaps this is more modern usage, my Chambers93 has no links between the two.
Turbolegs

#11 - Fri 9th Jun 23, 14:26

Hi Roz,

Chambers has them both stand for a “lively energetic person”.

Regards,
TL
Worworcrossol

#12 - Fri 9th Jun 23, 14:57

I am in the midst of trying to solving this crossword, an icebreaker is also the first speech you do when you join a Toastmasters Club.
TIA
Tony Santucci

#13 - Fri 9th Jun 23, 16:53

Thanks Mudd, that was fun. I missed the hidden MINI (I hate when that happens) and bunged in “midi” instead but that was my only error. I liked STRAIGHT, HANDY, and BRAINY.
[Ice picks were common when I was a kid; before family picnics my dad would go the local icehouse and buy a large block of ice. He would then put it in a galvanised tub, surround it with beer and soft drinks and break off chunks of ice throughout the day to keep the drinks cold.]
Thanks Turbolegs for the blog.
Gazzh

#14 - Fri 9th Jun 23, 18:59

Thanks Turbolegs, didn’t know LOUR (my online dictionary only has it as a form of “Lower”) so I guessed at the French spelling for a while until PRETTY became clear. Apparently Orange Roan is a colour associated with Cocker Spaniels, as is blue roan, but can’t find anything for cyan roan. And isn’t ab ice pick famously key to the classic thriller Basic Instinct? Agree with Roz’s observation on the efficient clueing, I particularly liked 20d, but for some reason I don’t think of a CHICKPEA as a salad item so that took me a while. Thanks Mudd.
SM

#15 - Fri 9th Jun 23, 20:35

Sorry Gaza. Left out comma. Should be ORANGE, CYAN, ROAN giving a tricolour of a kind.
SM

#16 - Fri 9th Jun 23, 20:35

Gazzh!
Moly

#17 - Fri 9th Jun 23, 20:39

Got there but I found this harder than others of you. Maybe hayfever and antihistamine slows me? Thank you for parsing Tricolour.
Gazzh

#18 - Fri 9th Jun 23, 21:05

Thanks SM. I did have a quick look to see if those colours formed an actual flag representing something but couldn’t see an obvious candidate.
Cellomaniac

#19 - Fri 9th Jun 23, 21:05

Don’t you hate it when you fail on one of the easier clues? Today it was 20d BRAINY. Sometimes the BRAIN puts up roadblocks in the strangest places. Y is that so?

On solving 3d I immediately wondered if there are differences (nuanced?) among COLONIALIST, colonist and colonizer. I looked them up but reached no conclusion.

Thanks Mudd for the fun, and Turbolegs for the nice blog.

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