Financial Times 17,533 by JULIUS

by

Thanks to Julius for the challenge and fun this morning.

A witty puzzle including some wonderful long anagrams. Plenty to like!

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1. High water streak formed by its fin? (5,5,5)
GREAT WHITE SHARK

(HIGH WATER STREAK)* (*formed) semi &lit

9. A section of the church service reportedly criticised the Ashes trophy (7)
NOCTURN

“KNOCKED URN” (criticised the Ashes trophy, “reportedly”)

10. Time left stuck in boring job? That’s a laugh! (7)
CHORTLE

T (time) + L (left) stuck in CHORE (boring job)

11. Communicate with Republican individually… (5)
REACH

R (Republican) + EACH (individually)

12. …albeit regularly shifty, fidgety, suspicious (1,3,5)
A BIT FISHY

A[l]B[e]I[t] (regularly) + (SHIFTY)* (*fidgety)

13. Big turtle on the loose — he leaves an ugly mess (9)
LITTERBUG

(BIG TURTLE)* (*on the loose)

15. Brahmin husband elected Democrat Unionist (5)
HINDU

H (husband) + IN (elected) + DU (Democratic Unionist)
The DUP is a major political party in Northern Ireland

16. City is winning, according to the radio (5)
LEEDS

“LEADS” (is winning, “according to the radio”)

18. Working Tunisian receiving electronic payments on a regular basis (9)
ANNUITIES

(TUNISIAN)* (*working) receiving E (electronic)

20. Cold fish skin wrap? (9)
CLINGFILM

C (cold) + LING (fish) + FILM (skin)

23. Job, Elijah packing daggers (5)
OBELI

[j]OB ELI[jah] (packing)

24. Serial criminal, international citizen from the Middle East (7)
ISRAELI

(SERIAL)* (*criminal) + I (international)

25. Well, Ms Lane…debut of talented individual musician (7)
SOLOIST

SO (well) + LOIS (Ms Lane) + T[alented] (debut of)
Lois Lane is Superman’s main love interest

26. Wonky hip concerns King, not a young man any more (2,6,7)
NO SPRING CHICKEN

(HIP CONCERNS KING)* (*wonky)

DOWN
1. An occasion when everyone gets cross? (7,8)
GENERAL ELECTION

Cryptic definition
“Cross” referring to the mark one makes to vote

2. Without leads, Dench can’t beguile (7)
ENCHANT

[d]ENCH [c]AN’T (without leads)

3. Tenacity of Untouchables leader, strong up front (9)
TOUGHNESS

NESS (Untouchables leader, Eliot Ness), TOUGH (strong) up front

4. Dye chicken (North American) (5)
HENNA

HEN (chicken) + NA (North American)

5. Top Trade Union bloke at home, eating heartily (7,2)
TUCKING IN

TUC KING (top trade union bloke) + IN (home)
The TUC (Trade Union Congress) is a federation that represents the majority of trade unions in England and Wales

6. Oops! Upset following parody (5)
SPOOF

OOPS< (<upset) + F (following)

7. Sinatra…amazing craftsman (7)
ARTISAN

(SINATRA)* (*amazing)

8. Stay cool and don’t get one’s back sunburnt (4,4,5,2)
KEEP YOUR SHIRT ON

Cryptic definition

14. Private waxwork of Neymar? (9)
BRAZILIAN

Double definition

15. The masses vote in dodgy Ohio Independent (3,6)
HOI POLLOI

POLL (vote) in (OHIO + I (independent))* (*dodgy)

17. People leaving corrupt regimes? (7)
EMIGRES

(REGIMES)* (*corrupt)

19. Somewhat nicer in Kyiv, but it’s cold! (3,4)
ICE RINK

[n]ICER IN K[yiv] (somewhat)

21. Radical feminist starts to go round every English region (5)
GREER

G[o] R[ound] E[very] E[nglish] R[egion] (starts to)

22. Set up 101 total, which is pleasing to hear (5)
MUSIC

(CI (101, Roman numerals) + SUM (total))< (<set up)

21 comments on “Financial Times 17,533 by JULIUS”

  2. I think this is the first time I have managed to complete an FT puzzle in strict numerical order in one pass so feeling rather chuffed. Not because it was a doddle but because the cluing was so very clear. Thanks Julius for an accessible start to the day. 1a is a delight.

    Thanks both

  3. Romped through this in record time. Great fun and blog to match . For the anagram of SHIFTY in 12ac there seems to a superfluous T?
    Thanks to Julius and Oriel

  4. SM @3. Don’t think so. Did you accidentally include a T from ‘albeit’?

    Personally, I don’t think the I for Independent should be part of the anagram fodder in 15d.

  5. SM @3: don’t think so. As Oriel says, it’s A BI being the alternate letters of A(l)B(e)I(t) and then the anagram of SHIFTY, giving T FISHY.

  6. Hovis, we are of one mind – and, it seems, one expression! I also took the Independent’s I to be standalone but I guess either way works.

  8. I agree word for word with PostMark @2.

    I’ll just add my favourites: in addition to all the long anagrams,10ac CHORTLE (I love the word), 13ac LITTERBUG (an amusing picture), 18ac ANNUITIES (great surface), 25ac SOLOIST (ingenious), 6dn (made me smile), 7dn ARTISAN (not new but a neat rendering) and 17dn EMIGRES (again, I’ve seen it before but not for a while and it may be the first time for newer solvers and it’s another great surface – not that there were any dud ones).

    Many thanks to Julius and Oriel.

  9. Most went in in record speed, but a few stickies.

    Couldn’t account for the C In TUCKING IN. Never heard of the congress. The Untouchables leader unknown. Neymar unknown.

  10. I agree with the above comments that it was pretty easy. 9A was new to me but was filled in by the cross letters and a trip to the dictionary. I am familiar with “Nocturne” but not with the missing E.

    GDU: the leader of The Untouchables is Elliot Ness: great TV series with Robert Stack as Ness and a great movie with Kevin Costner as the same character.

    Thanks Oriel.

  11. I agree with the I being separate for HOI POLLOI , it removes any hint of indirectness. BRAZILIAN had a neat definition and even I have heard of Neymar.
    Every answer had its first letter crossing and it is always the most useful leading to a quicker finish for most people.

  15. As above – Eileen @8 and GDU@9 sum it up for me.

    Lovely surfaces, very clear cluing and fabulous anagrams. Thanks Julius for a great puzzle and thanks Oriel for the blog

  16. Thanks Julius. Like others have said this was a quick romp but it was an enjoyable romp nonetheless. My top picks were LITTERBUG, SOLOIST, TOUGHNESS, and ARTISAN, the latter for its succinct surface. Thanks Oriel for the blog.

  17. As Roz has said, the very friendly grid made this puzzle easier than it otherwise might have been, but that didn’t detract from the sheer delight in Julius’s superb clueing. Thanks Julius for the fun and Oriel for the clear and enjoyable blog.

    My only (non-)quibble is with the definition of 22d MUSIC. Not all music is (nor is it always intended to be) pleasing to the ear. 😉

    [ The speed with which I completed this puzzle gives me extra time to dip into the archive of Brendan crosswords, which I’m doing in chronological order. I’m only at 2008 so far, so I have a lifetime of unalloyed pleasure before me. ]

  18. Many thanks Julius. Lots of fun to be had here. Neymar was practically our last one in and not being footy fans it took a Google to home in on, but then a glorious pennydrop. The cold fish skin wrap was a lovely clue too. In fact many super clues, even MsJV was a fan and she does not often join in.

  19. Didn’t start this till almost bedtime but finished in one session leaving a glow of satisfaction to go to sleep on. Thanks, Julius and Oriel.

  20. Did the four long clues yesterday and then got distracted. Remembered this morning and finished much helped by the friendly grid. Lots of lovely clues. Really enjoyed it.

    Thanks Julius and Oriel.

Comments are closed.