Financial Times 17574 Gozo

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Thank you to Gozo. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1. Participating in more than a wild goose chase (2,6)

ON SAFARI : Cryptic defn: When you would be chasing more and bigger animals than just a wild goose. And you probably won’t see any wild geese.

5. Shortly gauge drug ring (6)

SPEEDO : SPEED(an amphetamine drug) + O(letter describing something ring-shaped).

Defn: Short for/shortly “speedometer”, a speed gauge.

10. Nobleman at counter, working (5)

BARON : BAR(a counter in a pub or restaurant) + ON(working/functioning).

11. Fourth grade judo award which will not attract development (5,4)

GREEN BELT : Double defn: 1st: That awarded to a judo practitioner in the UK who has qualified for the fourth grade; and 2nd: The area around a city …/where urban development is prohibited.

12. Travellers’ delight (9)

TRANSPORT : Double defn: 1st: Travellers’ delight, enabling travellers to put up their feet and not walk; and 2nd: delight/a strong emotion of joy.

13. African expresses disapproval over Indian leader (5)

TUTSI : TUTS(expresses disapproval, as in “tut tut, you disappoint me”) plus(over) 1st letter of(… leader) “Indian“.

Defn: …, also called a Watutsi and Watusi, from Rwanda and Burundi.

14. Hikers’ distressing call (6)

SHRIEK : Anagram of(… distressing) HIKERS.

15. Publicity broadcast that is plain (7)

PRAIRIE : PR(abbrev. for “public relations”) + AIR(to broadcast over the radio or television) + IE(abbrev. for “id est”/that is).

Home to:

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18. Go miles breaking porcelain (7)

LIMOGES : Anagram of(… breaking) GO MILES.

An example:

Defn: … produced by factories around and in the French city of the same name.

20. Civic announcement from them in tears? (6)

CRIERS : Double defn: 1st: “Civic announcement from them“, historically, the town criers; and 2nd: “them in tears“/those who are crying.

22. Pompous dwarf’s question about his identity? (5)

MEDOC : “ME DOC?” is a question that Doc, the pompous dwarf from “Snow White”, the German fairy tale, could ask about his identity.

Defn: …/an appellation of wines from this particular part of the Bordeaux region in France.

24. Social worker, female, having short chat before baby is born (9)

ANTENATAL : ANT(a social insect, one of whose castes is the worker) + ENA(a feminine name) plus(having) “talk”(a chat/conversation) minus its last letter(short …).

25. Boatman drooling drunkenly over last of ale (9)

GONDOLIER : Anagram of(… drunkenly) DROOLING containing(over) last letter of(last of) “ale“.

26. Relatives — one of them seen in Taunton with leading spinner (5)

AUNTS : Hidden in(one of them seen in …) “Taunton” plus(with) 1st letter of(leading) “spinner“.

27. A deception — initially, husband’s upset woman (6)

SHEILA : Reversal of(… upset) [A + LIE(a deception/untruth) + 1st letter of(initially) “husband” + ‘S) ].

Defn: A woman’s name, or, in Australian slang, a woman.

28. Two sets of cards for one on board (8)

DECKHAND : DECK,HAND(2 sets of playing cards, the former is one from which the latter is dealt).

Defn: One working on board a ship.

Down

1. Gold fragments on paths (6)

ORBITS : OR(the gold colour in heraldry) + BITS(fragments/small pieces of a whole).

Defn: Curved .. in space going round a planet, star or moon.

2. Pleasure in fraudulent London suburb (9)

STREATHAM : TREAT(event or item that gives pleasure) contained in(in) SHAM(fraudulent/phoney).

3. End of term activity before coming out? (9,6)

FINISHING SCHOOL : FINISHING SCHOOL(reaching the end of a school term and starting holidays).

Defn: …, ie. time in a private college where girls are prepared before coming out/entering into fashionable society.

4. Toddler’s bedtime story of a good baron in castle (3,4)

RAG BOOK : [A + G(abbrev. for “good”) + B(abbrev. for “baron”) ] contained in(in) ROOK(a chess piece informally called a “castle”).

Defn: A book with pages made of fabric designed for use by young children, and from which a … is read or told.

6. Maybe stop, turning up mountain track (11,4)

PUNCTUATION MARK : Anagram of(turning) UP MOUNTAIN TRACK.

Defn: An example of which/maybe is the full stop/period in American usage.

7. It happened during the 70s (5)

EVENT : Hidden in(during the) “seventies”(70s).

8. Frequently takes papers after round (3-5)

OFT-TIMES : FT,TIMES(English daily newspapers) placed below(after, in a down clue) O(describing something round).

9. Drivers should do so and keep quiet (4,2)

BELT UP : Double defn: 1st: …, ie. buckle their safety belts; and 2nd: …!/be silent!

16. Land of Hope (9)

RURITANIA : Cryptic defn: Fictional land/country that is the setting for novels by Anthony Hope.

17. The very best having a long time at The Feathers (8)

PLUMAGES : PLUM(the best/choice) plus(having) AGES(a long period of time).

19. Arrest secret policemen (6)

STASIS : What you might call members of Stasi, the former East German secret police agency.

Defn: …/stoppage of the flow body fluids, also used as a suffix.

20. Select group at lake bed, first (7)

COTERIE : ERIE(one of the Great Lakes in North America) placed below(…, first, in a down clue) COT(a plain narrow bed).

21. Wound up near Germany (6)

CLOSED : CLOSE(near/only a short distance away) + D(International Vehicle Registration code for Germany, from “Deutschland”).

Defn: …/dissolved as with a business, say.

23. Old tribe at church function (5)

DANCE : DAN(a tribe in biblical Israel) plus(at) CE(abbrev. for the Church of England).

26 comments on “Financial Times 17574 Gozo”

  1. The grid which appears on the FT crossword website is incorrect. I don’t know whether that’s the same as the one which appears in the printed newspaper. The one appearing on the app is correct.

  2. I don’t like the interactive app, and gave up after a few solves. I contacted the FT within minutes of the wrong grid appearing and received acknowledgement, but six hours later it hadn’t been fixed. The Guardian was having problems today too.

  3. I had no problem with the app or the grid. Quite an easy puzzle but enjoyable and a splendidly illustrated grid.

    One quibble in 22ac MEDOC. The definition as identity is a bit of a stretch.

    Thanks to Gozo and Scchua

  4. The grid on the print version was incorrect but I copied and pasted the interactive one and managed to finish.

    Re 24A: “Ena” was unknown to me as a female name. I remember Una Stubbs from some British TV comedy but Ena?

    Very odd that “baron” appeared as a clue in 4D and as an answer in 10A…

    5D: Here in Australia, “speedos” are better known as men’s swimwear.

    Thanks scchua

  5. Began this on the app and continued later with the printed newspaper as my phone ran out of charge so ran into a temporary spot of bother.
    Luckily, I wasn’t held up for long and enjoyed the grid, especially OFT-TIMES, EVENT, DECKHAND and GONDOLIER.
    Like Peter, Ena wasn’t the first female to spring to mind but I just about remembered Ena Sharples from Coronation Street!
    Thanks to Gozo and Scchua for the customary show and tell.

  6. Thanks to scchua for supplying the correct grid. Gozo is far from my favourite setter and I thought this was one of his worst yet. The clue for SAFARI seems very weak, TRANSPORT & CRIERS barely work, MEDOC lacks a definition (identity??) … Ah well, there’s always tomorrow.

  7. Thanks Gozo and scchua (especially for posting the correct grid).

    ‘Identity’ in 22 isn’t the definition. It’s a verbatim repeat of a clue in Gozo 17241 on 2/11/22, which had an undefined theme of drinks, and was also used verbatim in Maskarade 28987 on 7/2/23, where the lack of definition caused no end of confusion, as it wasn’t a themed puzzle.

    I’m/ all for recycling, but…

    Peter @ 4 Ena Sharples was a long-running character in the UK soap Coronation Street.

  8. I liked OFT-TIMES and DECK HANDS and admired the anagram behind PUNCTUATION MARK.

    However I am with Hovis in that several clues were of the type I dislike. In addition to those mentioned by Hovis I raised my eyebrows at PUNCTUATION MARK = “stop, maybe” and feel a RAG BOOK is a type of media, not a story as clued. I would have expected STASI to be both plural and singular, and not only does MEDOC lack a definition but the bit about the dwarf is silly (to be charitable).

    Thanks Gozo and Scchua

  9. Diana and Simon: re Ena Marples – you’re both showing your age! I was too young to watch Coronation Street as my parents decreed that a show set in a pub was not suitable viewing for children.

  11. Peter,
    Ena Sharples, not to be confused with Jane Marple, Miss (amateur Agatha Christie sleuth)!
    Now that must be make me positively decrepit!

  12. I can’t believe that faulty clue for MEDOC has been recycled yet again. At least the other recycled clues in this puzzle haven’t appeared for a number of years.

  13. Thanks for the blog , fortunately a very easy grid to make myself, nearly all the rows and columns had no possible ambiguity. MEDOC still wandering around looking for a definition.

    Ena Sharples still in Coronation Street in the late 70s , she made the hairnet fashionable.

  14. Thanks for the extra info, Simon @7. Although I still attempt Gozo puzzles, I almost always avoid his Maskarade ones. After several such puzzles containing errors, I felt enough was enough. Aren’t crosswords supposed to be editor-approved?

  16. Thanks Gozo. I solved this on the app due to the printout error and found it fairly easy. Of course, when I’m solving in that mode I have a tendency to make more wild guesses and then check their accuracy i.e. I cheat more. I hadn’t heard of BELT UP meaning keep quiet. I originally had PENT UP, thinking a driver might be an animal herder trying to get a tup into a pen. This was my LOI so the app said I had an error somewhere. In any event thanks scchua for nicely illustrated blog.

  17. Thanks Gozo for those parts of the puzzle that were original – I think that is the vast majority – and Scchua for the whole of the blog. I share the concerns raised in earlier comments concerning 12ac and 20ac. To me, these clues only work as one part cryptic definitions.

    6dn (PUNCTUTATION MARK): Whenever this was first written, it was an excellent spot to find an anagram for the answer that gives such a smooth surface. “Maybe stop” is a perfectly constructed definition by example, and the anagram lead runs smoothly on to the anagram material.

    19dn (STASIS): I cannot find support in any of my four dictionaries for Stasi as a single policeman. They only give it as referring to the force as a whole, so the plural does not appear to be justified. Perhaps “Secret policemen’s arrest” would have been better.

    [Those with access to the minor UK television channels may – or may not – like to know that Julia Mackenzie’s performance as Jane Marple in The Pale Horse will be shown on ITV3 on Friday 17 November.]

  21. To be fair to the two gentlemen ‘showing up’, that same clue (for MEDOC) has been used three times since November 2022 by the same compiler.

    Problems at FT and Guardian sites today I note.

  22. Apart from the rubbish clues for RAG BOOK and MEDOC this was fairly straightforward and enjoyable, once we’d got the correct grid. As for MEDOC, we suggest some stong editorial control is applied next time anyone tries to use that clue again. Thanks, scchua – and Gozo.

  24. Well a bit late to the feast for a variety of reasons.. I must admit I felt it was a pretty well balanced puzzle with reasonably clear cluing.. I don’t have the advantage of massive experience or complete recall of all past clues, so whilst MEDOC was my LOI, it wasn’t the least favourite clue of the month so far. Some setters push the boundaries in all sorts of ways, my list of anagram indicators grows apace on a daily basis for instance. I just like it when I get to the end, tbh.. there is, as Hovis@6 said, always tomorrow.. thanks Gozo n sschua (nice pics!)

  26. Well I don’t agree with most commenters on this one. I thought it was a well constructed puzzle. We’re all different, of course, but, unlike Hovis @ 6, for example, I thought ON SAFARI was rather nice – it made me smile – and that’s no bad thing? And how can TRANSPORT “barely work” – I thought it was beautifully succinct?
    Perhaps I’m being unfair; as a wizened solver of many decades (though I solved this fully, slowly, and gently, I doubt it took more than ten minutes), I shouldn’t upbraid those with less experience

    Peter@4 – here in England, we also mean swimming trunks by ‘speedos’ – I feel those of us who speak English in England, and like our parents and grandparents, as our native tongue are bound to have far larger mental thesauruses than those whose use of English is far from its hub (geographically, culturally and/or linguistically); after all, English vocabulary is far greater and hugely more extensive than any other

    My favourites – SHEILA and TRANSPORT

    I wouldn’t normally comment so long after the event (and then only briefly) but I felt, after such wide-of-the-mark comments, that perhaps Gozo could do with, and certainly deserves, some positivity

    So many thanks, Gozo, for the pleasure; and to Scchua for yet another beautiful blog

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