Financial Times 17,484 by IO

by

IO puts me through my paces this morning.

I thoroughly enjoy IO’s creative and unpredictable approach – makes for a great challenge.

Any alternative thinking is most welcome in the comments.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
4. Engaging maidens are turning heads in field study (8)
CERAMICS

Engaging (M (maidens) + ARE< (<turning)): CICs (heads in field, Commanders in Chief)

8. What art master will include on a short list? (4,4)
MONA LISA

MA (master) will include ON A LIS[t] (short) semi &lit

9. One tenor dressed for ballet, another voiced disapproval (3-3)
TUT-TUT

T (one tenor) dressed for ballet: in a TUTU + T (another)

10. On Earth, God has [I quote] “no say” (5,5)
MUSIC DRAMA

(MUD (earth) + RAMA (god)) has SIC (I quote)
Is it the lack of speech in a music drama that IO refers to in the definition?

11. Hard to deal with Turkey revolting (6)
TRICKY

TR (Turkey) + ICKY (revolting)

12/14. Laid on a kleptomaniac’s plate? (5,3,3,6)
THERE FOR THE TAKING

Cryptic definition
A kleptomaniac being an avid ‘taker’ / compulsive thief

18/21. Don’t take the risk — scribble the Boy Wonder an IOU (2,4,3,4,2,2)
ON YOUR OWN HEAD BE IT

(THE BOY WONDER AN IOU)* (*scribble)

25. Pros, now they’re out? (2-4)
EX-CONS

Cryptic definition

A play on words using the opposite terms PROs and CONs, and that an EX-CON[vict] may now be a PRO

26. Heartlessly dispute these things (10)
CROSSWORDS

CROSS [s]WORDS (dispute, heartlessly)

27. Lady Baroness welcomes back (6)
SENORA

[b]ARONES[s]< (welcomes, <back)

28. Railroad receives silver stars with large hooter (5-3)
EAGLE-OWL

EW (railroad, East West) receives AG (silver) + LEO (stars) with L (large)

29. Mad rush of e.g. bargain hunters stopped in the London area (8)
STAMPEDE

TAMPED (stopped) in SE (the London area, South East)

DOWN
1/16. So much great high-class tea; then bring round wine! (2,4,2,6)
TO SUCH AN EXTENT

OS (great, oversize) + U (high-class) + CHA (tea) + NEXT (then); bring round TENT (wine)

2. Way vehicle is transporting something of delicate taste (6)
CAVIAR

VIA (way), CAR (vehicle) is transporting

3. Find OK trading limits, as it were (4,2)
KIND OF

FIND OK trading limits (i.e. switching the edge letters) = KIND OF

4. Discharge shady character, out of the frame for crime (7)
CATARRH

([c]HARACT[e]R)* (*shady, out of C[rim]E (the frame for))

5. Sound of rapping singer so long repressed (3-1-3)
RAT-A-TAT

RAT (singer), TA-TA (so long) repressed

6. The way I see it, stimulant leaves a permanent mark (8)
METHINKS

METH (stimulant) + INKS (leaves a permanent mark)

7/24. Effecting express delivery of cats and dogs? (8,2,4)
CHUCKING IT DOWN

Cryptic definition

The phrase in the solution describes heavy rainfall, i.e. cats and dogs

13. Oil going too far round (4)
OTTO

OTT (going too far, over the top) + O (round)

15. Take home talking bird (4)
ERNE

“EARN” (take home, “talking”)

17. Antiseptic yours truly takes to clean spymaster’s house (8)
IODOFORM

IO (yours truly) takes DO FOR (to clean) + M (spymaster, from James Bond stories)’s house

19. Plan to downsize uranium to aluminium during recovery (7)
RESCALE

RESC[u]E (recovery, U (uranium) to AL (aluminium))

20. I’m so happy to hear the Waj’s weady! (7)
WHOOPEE

“RUPEE” = the Raj’s ready (i.e. India’s money) (“to hear”)

22. It’s a revolutionary gun, from which uni’s removed front of handle? (2,4)
AT SIGN

(ITS A)* (*revolutionary) + G[u]N (from which U (uni)’s removed)

Referring to “@” which precedes an online name/handle

23. Runner pausing communication system? (6)
BLOWER

BLOW (run) + ER (pause, sign of hesitation)

A BLOWER is British slang for a telephone

47 comments on “Financial Times 17,484 by IO”

  1. Io was in my “don’t attempt” list but in recent months I tried and succeeded with one or two. But today’s was gruelling. I only half finished, and many of the clues that I did solve I couldn’t parse. Oh well …

  2. Thanks, Io and Oriel!
    A wonderful puzzle and a great detailed blog (a difficult one to blog for sure).

    EAGLE OWL
    Alternative parsing
    AG+LEO+W(with) in EL (elevated rail).
    Def: large hooter.

    CHUCKING IT DOWN
    Chucking is throwing very fast. If considered in a sport like cricket (though illegal) it will be ‘effecting (an) express delivery’ (in baseball, I think fastballs are chucked. I have sketchy knowledge).

    IODOFORM
    clean spymaster’s house=DO FOR M (you have said the same thing. I am just reading it together).

    BLOWER
    It’s not clear to me.
    Runner pausing could be a referee (whistle-blower)? Not sure.

  3. EX-CONS
    Maybe I am repeating what you said (I could not get the full meaning of what is mentioned in the blog)
    What were the CONS in an argument, if they are now EX-CONS, they are the PROS (whimsically).
    EX-CONS: they’re out.
    As you say, it is better to consider it a CD.

  4. This was 11a but I expect no less from Io. I did enjoy it very much, though, as I was in the mood for a challenge. I particularly liked the cryptic clues as they provided significant inroads into this grid and the wordplay for CATARRH (the only word I could think of ending in ‘rh’, anyway).
    Thanks to Io for the stern workout and to Oriel for valiantly – and effectively – supplying the explanations!

  5. BLOWER
    Oriel!
    Did you mean runner=BLOW (rather than run). If BLOW means runner in any sense of the word like a river, a drug runner, a smuggler, an athlete etc., then your parsing works well.

  6. THERE FOR THE TAKING
    Laid on (…plate)
    If you lay on something such as food, entertainment, or a service, you provide or supply it, especially in a generous or grand way.
    I think this phrase too contributes to the cryptic reading.

    MUSIC DRAMA
    I parsed as you did. We can wait and see what others say (Maybe there is a music drama titled ‘No Say’!!!)

  8. Diane@4
    This was 11 a indeed (and that’s what we expect from Io).

    Found something on Urban Dictionary (not considered authentic, I think):
    BLOWER is a dealer of hash, Irish. Descended from “blow,” whish means hash in Ireland. There’s a song called “The Blower’s Daughter” by an Irish singer named Damien Rice.

    BLOW is slang for cocaine (I think this is authentic).

  10. EX-CONS I agree with the first bit, The second I think means they WERE prisoners but now are out.
    BLOWER perhaps a runner who has stopped to catch their breath. We are said to be blowing when out of breath after exercise.

  12. CHUCKING IT DOWN, I think refers to cricket, some bowlers illegally throw when bowling at express pace. I asked for examples and someone told me Charlie Griffith ?? ex West Indies, my own knowledge is very weak here.

  13. Parsed EAGLE OWL as KVa. Perhaps Roz is correct about BLOWER but it seems quite weak. ‘No’ as a Japanese drama is common but ‘music drama’ I’m not sure about.

    Ran out of time on this, as I often do, so didn’t complete. May have finished given time but never heard of IODOFORM.

  16. Thanks for a great blog, never an easy task for IO , thanks for AT SIGN, I was nowhere with the definition.
    I really enjoyed this, IODOFOR M is very neat with a reference to Mrs Mopp .
    RAT-A-TAT and CATARRH both brilliant. ON YOUR OWN HEAD BE IT such a clever anagram. Many more.

  17. Diane@11 I have only seen it in crosswords and yes occasionally NOH.
    KV@14 yes I agree with you but I thought for IO almost cetainly a cricket reference and someone gave me an example.

  18. One of those days when I go and do something else . . . when I’m supposed to get EW from ‘railroad’ I know I’m out of my league.

  19. The railroad is surely that old friend of the crossword setter the EL

    AG LEO W (with) inserted into EL

  20. Having started today’s crossword solving with a bit of a grump, Io will be pleased to learn that he’s cheered me up no end

    Not as tricky as some of his puzzles and lots to enjoy especially 25a and 20d

    Thanks very much to Io and Oriel

  21. Thanks Io and Oriel

    10ac: I think Roz@7 nailed it.

    28ac: I agree with KVa@2 (and crypticsue@19). Note that the EL was a railway in New York, hence the definition with the American term “railroad”.

    7/24dn: I do not consider “chucking it down” to be a cricketing term: one would just say “chucking” or possibly “chucking it”. Chuckers in cricket are not necessarily fast bowlers either. Quite a few finger spinners (a category of slow bowlers) have been called chuckers. I thought of it in terms of throwing something out of a window several floors above the ground.

  22. thanks Io, Oriel
    Had to cheat for IODOFORM and MUSIC DRAMA, didn’t understand a few but blog has cleared those up. I took BLOWER as a puffing/collapsing athlete. Blown in Chambers is out of breath, tired.
    Having *****/D*A*A for 10a I really wanted it to be DIRTY DIANA (dirt = earth, Diana = god, Y, I dunno, homophone of I?).
    I liked MONA LISA, for which I took the def as What art!

  23. Correction to 21 re 7/24dn: I should really have said “any upstairs windows”.. Can you not imagine yourself standing on the ground while a friend is holding a non-fragile parcel at an upstairs window and telling your friend to chuck it down to you?

  25. Pelham Barton @ 21, I agree that chucking wouldn’t be followed by down when talking about a bowler’s action, but down is used for bowling generally. A batter asking for some practice might suggest a bowler chuck a few down.

  27. KVa@6 – “For anyone who didn’t know No or Noh – nho, no?” – three weeks ago. How soon we forget.

  28. KVa @15. I do these days. In the past, I’ve sometimes spent so long that other things ended up not getting done. Normally, I allow up to 45 mins but may go over if I suddenly start filling things in. Usually, 30 mins is sufficient.

  29. Parsed EAGLE-OWL as KVa@2 – nho EW as a railroad only as a word for ICKY – Nobody’s nho EL, surely?

  30. James@25 re 7/24dn: I agree that a batter could ask a team mate to chuck a few down at him, but the image that conjures up to me is normally someone who is not a specialist bowler, and would be throwing the ball at a moderate pace from about half the length of the pitch. It also occurred to me that one could relate “down” to fast bowling because, at least in top level men’s cricket, fast bowlers release the ball with a slight downward component of velocity, while slow bowlers release the ball upwards.

    But why get into abstruse details of the game of cricket, when the notion of chucking an object out of an upstairs window, rather then walking down with it or waiting for a lift (elevator not car), fits the concept of “express delivery” better by at least an order of magnitude?

  31. Parsed BLOWER as Roz@10 – but agree with Hovis@13 “it seems quite weak.” – we must be missing something.

  33. FrankieG@27
    ‘No’ appeared in another puzzle just a couple of days ago. I remembered ‘No’ then.
    Today it didn’t click.

    BLOWER: While solving the puzzle, I thought of ‘runner pausing’ as ‘an athlete short of breath’ but dismissed it as weak. Now I am somehow convinced otherwise.

    Hovis@28
    I think I am quite slow by those standards.

  34. I loved this puzzle’s inventive constructions FIND OK->KIND OF, RESC[U->AL]E
    and – agreeing with crypticsue@20 -” …especially 25a” – EX-CONS -“and 20d” – WHOOPEE. 😀
    The latter made me Laugh Out Loud – and I don’t mean type three characters.
    Thanks O&I (or I&O)

  35. Pelham Barton @30 that’s all reasonable (save for the rather hyperbolic conclusion). I’d suggest it’s more of a ‘down the road’ than a ‘down the mountain’ type of down but whatevs.
    To answer your question, the clue is better if ‘chucking it down’ is a phrase that means something specific, apart from pouring with rain. Cricket (as suggested by delivery) is a context where it may have that specificity, though you disagree, possibly rightly. Perhaps it’s also an established usage in your example (I’d think of someone on the landing chucking it down the stairs rather than out of the window) but it’s a usage that’s closer to rain falling than the cricket one, which makes the cricket one preferable.

  37. FrankieG @32. Thanks for that. That was my only uncertainty about that clue. I knew it involved dancing, so music was almost certainly going to also be present, but wasn’t sure. @36 There is that, but I’m not as big a fan of this setter as most. I find too some of his clues a bit loose and it’s a little annoying that he never responds here to any unanswered queries. That said, there’s no doubting his brilliance.
    WHOOPEE reminds me of this: Wouldn’t it have been nice if Whoopi Goldberg married Peter Cushing. 🙂

  38. too some -> some. Should proofread before posting. (Actually, I do but never spot the errors until afterwards.)

  39. Thanks Oriel and IO.
    Took a long time but enjoyed it. Didn’t know BLOWER.

    AT SIGN
    MUSIC DRAMA
    TO SUCH AN EXTRNT
    METHINKS
    RESCALE
    EX-CONS make my list.

  40. Thanks Io and Oriel

    I found it tough but got there in the end.

    Re ‘chucking it down’, I saw part of ‘Effecting express delivery’ as an allusion to overworked van delivery drivers who reach the destination, open their door, chuck the parcel down (or even over the fence) the beetle off to their next drop.

  43. I quit on this after solving only three clues. When it gets this convoluted, it is just not fun for me anymore.

    I think the “blow” in BLOWER is “blow” in the sense of “to blow town,” i.e., “to depart hurriedly,” i.e., “to do a runner.”

  44. Perhaps everyone is overthinking the clue for CHUCKING IT DOWN – I read the whole thing as simply a cryptic definition. Or maybe I’m oversimplifying it…

    Anyway, great puzzle, thoroughly enjoyable challenge. WHOOPEE made me laugh out loud.

    Thanks, Io and Oriel.

  45. I ended up so bamboozled that I thought using the Italian for I to mean “yours truly” was a bit of a stretch until the penny dropped.

  46. I started this on the way home last night and didn’t finish until this morning (we did the Goliath from the day before on the way out) and wouldn’t be commenting, but…
    BLOWER – “let her blow” is a way of describing getting a steam engine running.

    I parsed EAGLE OWL using EL too.

    Thank you to Io and Oriel.

  47. Cineraria@43 – That would be ’20 – (transitive, slang) – To leave, especially suddenly or in a hurry. – “Let’s blow this joint.”‘ – I agree.
    https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blow
    [But there’s also ’30 – (Scientology, intransitive) – To leave the Church of Scientology in an unauthorized manner.’
    Do we really need a dictionary entry for this? WT Actual F! 🙂 ]

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