Financial Times 17,522 by GUY

by

Guy wakes up our grey matter this morning.

My first pass didn't provide me with much encouragement, but once I got onto Guy's wavelength, the answers just fell into place. The clueing was superb and the surfaces excellent, so this became a joy to solve. I don't think there was a weak clue among them, even those for the short words. I loved SPELL DISASTER and AGA SAGA.

Thanks Guy.

ACROSS
1 SCAMP
Badly behaved child beginning to spoil party (5)

[beginning to] S(poil) + CAMP ("party")
4 BACK STAGE
Where players warm up on the return leg (9)

BACK ("on the return") + STAGE ("leg")
9 AGA SAGA
Rabbit Angstrom, in a good American novel (3,4)

GAS ("rabbit") and A (angstrom) in A + G (good) + A (American)

An Aga saga is a novel in a semi-rural setting, coined by Terence Blacker to describe the works of Joanna Trollope.
10 PLAY-OFF
Match with which Prometheus starts fire? (4-3)

P ('with which Prometheus starts) + LAY-OFF ("fire")
11 SPELL DISASTER
Time travelling Tardises threaten trouble (5,8)

SPELL ("time") + *(tardises) [anag:travelling]
14 OCHE
Some ricochets, throwing here (4)

Hidden in [some] "ricOCHEts"

The oche (pronounced like "hockey" without the H) is the line behind which a darts player must stand when throwing.
15 APRIL FOOL
I fall out with poor victim of fraud (5,4)

*(i fall poor) [anag:out]
18 INTRINSIC
Hosting stars regularly, two homes thus essential (9)

"two" INs ("homes") hosting (s)T(a)R(s) [regularly] + SIC ("thus"), so IN-TR-IN-SIC
19 IBIS
Bird book for Elba’s doctor? (4)

B (book) for (i.e. instead of) Dr. in IDRIS (Elda) becomes I(dr>B)IS
21 EXCESS POSTAGE
Late payment of old tax after years (6,7)

EX ("old") + CESS (a local "tax") + POST ("after") + AGE ("years")
24 EDAMAME
Beans mum covered with cheese, source of energy (7)

MA ("mum") covered in EDAM ("cheese") + [source of] E(nergy)
26 LAMPOON
Punch available full of old satire (7)

LAMP ("punch") + ON ("available") full of O (old)
27 REPRESSED
Red coats English journalists buttoned up (9)

RED coats E (English) + PRESS ("journalists")
28 CLEAN
English family in Scotland keeps off drink and drugs (5)

CLAN ("family in Scotland") keeps E (English)
DOWN
1 SLAP
Rebuke upset friends (4)

[upset] PALS ("friends")
2 ANAESTHETIC
A beautiful jab that could knock you out (11)

AN ("a') + AESTHETIC ("beautiful")
3 PRAYER
Fish eaten by each Muslim five times a day? (6)

RAY ("fish") eaten by PER ("each")
4 BOATLOADS
Immigration measures failing a lot, so bad (9)

*(a lot so bad) [anag:failing]
5 CAPRI
Cadillac’s behind a non-American Prius fastback (5)

(cadilla)C ['s behind] + A + [non-US] PRI(us)

I assume Guy is referring to the Ford Capri, a car produced between 1968 and 1986 whose roof sloped towards the rear (i.e. a fastback)
6 SEAMANLY
Like sailors, stitching whichever nets start to loosen (8)

SEAM ("stitching") + ANY ("whichever") nets [start to] L(oosen)
7 AGO
If you’re willing, have this back (3)

"if you're willing, have" A GO
8 EFFORTLESS
Iron picked up more cheaply, collecting tons easy (10)

<=Fe (chemical symbol for "iron", picked up) + FOR LESS ("more cheaply"), collecting T (tons)
12 TROUBLESOME
In my opinion banking Russian’s cash is problematic (11)

TO ME ("in my opinion") banking ROUBLES ("Russian's cash")
13 COMICE PEAR
Amusing vegetable eaten by queen is a fruit (6,4)

COMIC ("amusing") + PEA ("vegetable") eaten by ER (Elizabeth Regina, so "queen")
16 ROCK-SOLID
Rolls honking hard (4-5)

ROCKS ("rolls") + OLID ("honking")
17 AIRSPACE
Tempo of song gives room to breathe (8)

AIR'S PACE ("tempo of song")
20 TARMAC
River rodent comes up to surface (6)

<=(CAM ("river") + RAT ("rodent"), comes up)
22 PEEPS
Everyone casually sneaks a look (5)

Double definition, the first a form of "people"
23 ANON
Article worn without maker’s label (4)

AN ("article") + ON ("worn")
25 ASP
Dracula spoke about being equipped with fangs (3)

Hidden in [about] "draculA SPoke"

15 comments on “Financial Times 17,522 by GUY”

  2. I rather liked this.COMICE PEAR was not picked up by word searches but I checked PEAR in Crossword dictionary
    and it pares perfectlyThanks for blog loonapick and thanks Guy

  4. Most enjoyable puzzle. I learnt a new word: OCHE. I must be one of the few people in the U.K. who had never heard of Idris Elba. He is a credit to the Prince’s Trust who helped launch his career.

    Thanks to setter and blogger.

  5. Two puzzles on successive days that were extremely hard – and Friday’s to come tomorrow!

    Please, FT, mix up these super-toughies with puzzles for mere mortals!

  6. I agree with Kevin – very difficult for me too. Too many obscure words and references. It did not help that I wrote in PALS, rather than SLAP in 1d

    I am glad to report that I had a couple of ticks on my page today (PRAYER, CAPRI and TROUBLES)

    Thanks Guy and Loonapick

  7. Thanks Guy for the stimulation to begin my day. I agree with loonapick’s assessment: “the clueing was superb and the surfaces excellent”. I needed a nudge to get the unknown-to-me AGA SAGA as well as BACKSTAGE and I couldn’t begin to parse IBIS but I managed the rest of this gem with ANAESTHETIC, PLAY-OFF, INTRINSIC, TROUBLESOME, COMICE PEAR, AIRSPACE, and TARMAC all being favourites. Thanks loonapick for the blog.

  8. Thanks for the blog, very enjoyable puzzle full of neat and misleading clues. AGA SAGA is brilliant with the deceptive link to Updike, the Angstrom symbol is not precisely A but close enough and I suspect that Chambers will get this wrong.

  10. After yesterday’s impossible and (in opinion of this humble solver) unfair, puzzle, I managed to finish this one, although it took three visits.

    Comice Pear was the clue which caused the final pieces in the south-west corner, to fall in place.

    I had Peers in 22D, having considered peaks and peeps. I couldn’t see which was the correct answer, and I still don’t understand why it is Peeps.

    I have never heard of people referred to casually as peeps.

    Thanks for the explanations.

  11. Ps. I agree with Kevin@5 above that there are now too many too hard puzzles in the FT. And they seem to come in runs.

    I’m not after them being easy, but some of the brain-breakers of the last few days are depressing. Has the new editor raised the bar? If so, it needs to be lowered again.

  12. I’ll come CLEAN. I was EXCESSively pleased with myself for parsing 19a IBIS, but then felt FOOLish for failing to parse 26a LAMPOON. (I didn’t know lamp for punch, so I had LAM=punch plus OON, and couldn’t see where the P came from.

    1d SLAP is one of those clues that I like, while many don’t. It could be either SLAP or PALS, so you have to pencil in s/p and a/l for the crossers until you get 1a or 9a. Perfectly fair and not unduly cryptic.

    My experience was like loonapick’s – not many answers to start with then gradually coming together, which makes for a very satisfying puzzle. Thanks Guy and loonapick for the fun and much-needed blog.

  14. Moly @10. I have certainly heard of “peeps”. I suspect for many it will remind them of Harry Enfield’s character Stavros from Friday Night Live (“the voice of the peeps”).

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