Financial Times 17,500 by PEDROCK

by

PEDROCK begins the week…

A fun challenge this morning, and a pangram to boot!

 

Thanks PEDROCK.!

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1. Ordinary speed train substituted (10)
PEDESTRIAN

(SPEED TRAIN)* (*substituted)

6. Nothing inside freezer overnight (4)
ZERO

[free]ZER O[vernight]

9. Shock about soldiers’ clothing (7)
APPAREL

APPAL (shock) about RE (soldiers)

10. Very, very badly (7)
AWFULLY

Double definition

12. Coming out of foster care, one tells of what is to come (10)
FORECASTER

(FOSTER CARE)* (*coming out of)

13. Very good oriental dish (3)
PIE

PI (very good, pious) + E (oriental)

15. Girl to call out from small opening (6)
CRANNY

ANN (girl), CRY (to call) out

16. It comes with intelligence the quantity obtained by division (8)
QUOTIENT

Double definition

The first part referring to IQ

18. Number five remains, only one of them, for the month (8)
NOVEMBER

NO (number) + V (five) + EMBER[s] (remains, only one of them)

20. Gun law, say (6)
CANNON

“canon” (law, “say”)

23. Face stick-up (3)
MUG

Double definition

24. As a precaution, the only place to pack (4,2,4)
JUST IN CASE

Double (cryptic) definition

26. After tea, smile with feeling of vexation (7)
CHAGRIN

CHA (tea) + GRIN (smile)

27. Dear Bella scrambled egg before Victor inside (7)
LOVABLE

(BELLA)* (*scrambled), (O (egg) before V (Victor)) inside

28. One instrument or another did not start (4)
LUTE

[f]LUTE (another instrument, did not start)

29. Unusually wary in predicament, one dramatises the situation (10)
PLAYWRIGHT

(WARY)* (*unusually) in PLIGHT (predicament)

DOWN
1. Said dog found on top (4)
PEAK

“peke” (dog, “said”)

2. Document ambassador shortened (7)
DIPLOMA

DIPLOMA[t] (ambassador, shortened)

3. Officer’s material, a number of books of greater importance (8-5)
SERGEANT-MAJOR

SERGE (material) + A + NT (number of books, New Testament) + MAJOR (of greater importance)

4. Put in charge again (6)
RELOAD

Double definition

5. A container like this for plant (8)
ACANTHUS

A + CAN (container) + THUS (like this)

7. Outshine despite loss of brilliancy (7)
ECLIPSE

Double definition

8. But this gassy enclosure is not expected to be found on campsite (6,4)
OXYGEN TENT

Cryptic definition

11. Fig leaf of interest to collectors? (5-3,5)
FIRST-DAY COVER

Double (cryptic) definition

14. Avoiding waste, capable of yielding a profit with the French turnover (10)
ECONOMICAL

ECONOMIC (capable of yielding a profit) with (LA)< (the in French, <turnover)

17. One’s own being with one going on lake (8)
PERSONAL

PERSON (being) with A (one) going on L (lake)

19. Tramp having state handout (7)
VAGRANT

VA (state, Virginia) + GRANT (handout)

21. One’s removing catch from food container (7)
NOSEBAG

(ONES)* (*removing) + BAG (catch)

22. Lose one’s apprentice during the month (6)
MISLAY

(IS (one’s) + L (apprentice)) during MAY (the month)

25. Bible passage once included by nondrinker (4)
TEXT

EX (once) included by TT (nondrinker)

27 comments on “Financial Times 17,500 by PEDROCK”

  1. Thanks, Pedrock and Teacow!

    MUG
    I thought
    stick=GUM
    up for reversal

    JUST IN CASE
    My take
    the only=JUST
    place to pack=IN CASE (in a/the case).

  2. I agree with KVa @1 re MUG. Think JUST IN CASE could be either.

    Good puzzle

    Loved: CHAGRIN, PLAYWRIGHT, ACANTHUS, OXYGEN TENT, FIRST-DAY COVER

    Thanks Pedrock and Teacow

  3. 4d – RELOAD – “Put in charge again”
    I parsed this as a cryptic def
    ‘(firearms) To load a gun again; or recharge a used cartridge.’

  4. …with misdirection about say, an ex-PM being “put in charge” of the country “again” – Heaven forfend.

  5. FrankieG@3
    I had the same parsing.
    Just wasn’t sure if the DD classification worked or not.
    Now I feel the clue works better as a CD.

  6. Fiona@2
    JUST IN CASE
    I think the second part of the clue works as a CD as well (considering the full phrase in the solution as one block).
    I agree with you on ‘could be either’.

  7. Agree with others on RELOAD but agree with Teacow on MUG. Indeed, I had put a query against it thinking GUM< would only work as a down clue. Seeing the blog with ‘mug’ = ‘stick-up’ makes better sense to me.

  8. MUG
    Hovis@7
    That’s convincing. ‘GUM up’ doesn’t work in an across clue.
    stick-up=MUGging (maybe MUG too. I am not sure).
    (to) stick up=MUG
    Of course, the hyphen can be forgotten.

  10. KVa @8. I admit that I thought stick-up, with the hyphen, could be a verb but Chambers doesn’t support this. Maybe Pedrock will clarify.

  11. I was going to mention that the clue for MUG should have applied only to a down clue, but I see others have dealt with this matter. I guess we’ll just assume it’s a double definition.

    Unsuccessfully tried for a while to parse 8d, and when I came here I thought “Is that it?”

    An enjoyable experience, thanks Pedrock & Teacow.

  13. I spent 50+ years solving crosswords blissfully unaware – until recently – of the rules on up/down in across clues.
    The fact that mug is the reverse of gum led me to parse it that way.
    A stick-up is usually at gunpoint. a mugging may not involve a weapon. They’re not really equivalent.

  14. Remembering two lines of an old advertisement – “In case of what?’ | “JUST IN CASE” – Google led me here:
    UK television adverts 1955–1990
    https://www.headington.org.uk/adverts/cleaners_washingpowders.htm
    Lux Flakes (3): Late 1960s‘
    Girl in miniskirt skipping down several floors on a communal staircase
    Female voice: Last week he said she looked pretty in pink. She laughed at him, but she washed her pink sweater in Lux in case …
    Male voice: In case of what?
    Female voice: Just in case…’

  18. I think this MUG/GUM discussion is much ado about nothing. A mugging may be with a gun, so the clue is fine as a DD. Tx P and T.

  19. John @18. This still leaves the issue that a stick-up could be a ‘mugging’ (as you say) rather than ‘mug’. This is what I was getting at @10.

  20. Thanks Pedrock for a pleasant crossword with ACANTHUS, ECLIPSE, and FIRST-DAY COVER being my top picks. I initially thought MUG was a reversal of gum but that doesn’t work in an across clue as many have observed; I now think it’s a DD; to “stick-up” someone on the street means to “mug” that person. Thanks Teacow for the blog.

  21. Thanks for the blog, MUG/GUM yet again and not a cake in sight. I agree to some extent with Tony@19 and others , that MUG= Stick up , but as Hovis noted , this is the verb WITHOUT a hyphen and the clue has one. Not to worry , I thought this was very good overall , agrre with Frankie@3 that reload is a single definition with clever use of charge to deceive.

  22. Roz @21: Merriam-Webster has “stick up” without a hyphen; Collins has “stick-up” with a hyphen. It seems both are acceptable.

  24. Roz @23: While Chambers seems to be the sacred text, is there a governing body of setters that made Chambers the “official” dictionary? I refuse to pay for access to Chambers when there are plently of free alternatives.

  25. Tony@24: Of course there is no such body. Certain specific series of crosswords, such as Azed, Enigmatic Variations, and Inquisitor, are designed to be solved with the aid of a dictionary. These tend to recommend the latest edition of Chambers.

Comments are closed.