Financial Times 17,633 by NEO

by

A good challenge from NEO this Friday.

FF: 8 DD: 8

 

There are a couple of clues that I could use some help with.

ACROSS
1 LIPSTICK
Insolence and criticism? That’s cosmetic (8)
LIP ( insolence ) STICK ( criticism )
5 LITMUS
Important books by Greek characters in test paper (6)
LIT ( important books ) MUS ( plural of MU, greek characters)
9 FLAGPOLE
European after decline means to raise standard (8)
FLAG ( decline ) POLE ( european )
10 PSYCHO
Gypsy chorus to an extent used for classic film (6)
hidden in “gyPSY CHOrus..”
12 INNER
Private meal served without starter (5)
dINNER ( meal, without first letter )
13 BLOOD BANK
Count with descendants, investment in claret made here? (5,4)
BLOOD ( descendants ) BANK ( count )
14 FICKLE
Inconstant female facing crisis where power’s out (6)
F ( female ) pICKLE ( crisis, without P – power )
16 MAJORCA
Killer led by pack around island (7)
[ reverse of JAM ( pack ) ] ORCA ( killer )
19 SAFFRON
Son with slight temperature avoided species of crocus (7)
S ( son ) AFFRONt ( slight, without T – temperature )
21 HYBRID
Husband unknown: wife-to-be almost getting cross (6)
H ( husband ) Y ( unknown ) BRIDe ( wife-to-be, without last letter )
23 PARQUETRY
Blocks standard question — expert finally brought in (9)
PAR ( standard ) [ QUERY ( question ) containing T ( experT, finally )
25 SPELL
Suggest a magical formula (5)
double def
26 ADRIFT
Marketing division cut loose (6)
AD ( marketing ) RIFT ( division )
27 FILAMENT
Fine malt drunk in Strand (8)
[ FINE MALT ]*
28 TELLER
Informant perhaps in bank job (6)
cryptic def
29 REVEILLE
Morning call: about to ring woman snake tempted, unfortunately (8)
RE ( about ) containing [ EVE ( woman snake tempted ) ILL ( unfortunately ) ] – needed help to solve this
DOWN
1 LEFTIE
Radical English newspaper dragged into deception (6)
[ E ( english ) FT ( newspaper ) ] in LIE ( deception )
2 PLAINTIFF
Ugly row has one making claim (9)
PLAIN ( ugly ) TIFF ( row )
3 TOPER
Habitual drinker wanting best beer — half only? (5)
TOP ( best ) beER ( half of )
4 CALIBRE
Bore on the Tube to have concern about Ed Davey? (7)
CARE ( concern ) around LIB ( ed davey, for example )
6 INSIDE JOB
Type of crime where Jacob keeps account? (6,3)
cryptic def / See KVa@4
7 MOCHA
Instant tea and fine coffee (5)
MO ( instant ) CHA ( tea )
8 STOCK CAR
Keep short jack for example in racing vehicle (5,3)
STOCK ( keep ) CARd ( jack, without last letter , playing cards )
11 ROOM
Low resistance when rocketing in space (4)
MOO ( low ) R ( resistance ), all reversed
15 KERFUFFLE
With UK reel, triple forte could cause commotion (9)
[ UK REEL FFF ( forte, triple ) ]*
17 RAISE HELL
Bring up subject of suffering and make trouble (5,4)
RAISE ( bring up ) HELL ( subject of suffering )
18 ASHPLANT
Constitutional asset with crook entertaining Commons and Lords? (8)
ASH ( ~constitutional ) PLANT ( asset ) – apparently, the sapling from an ash tree that is used as a walking stick ; a crook is a staff that a shepherd uses. i had to use a wordfit to solve this and am still not sure this is the right answer. any help would be much appreciated. / See FrankieG@1
20 NUTS
Lift to floor for enthusiasts (4)
reverse of STUN ( floor )
21 HAYWIRE
All awry Spooner’s much more important (7)
spoonerism of WAY HIGHER ( more important )
22 BLITHE
Carefree bachelor having much flexibility (6)
B ( bachelor ) LITHE ( having much flexibility )
24 RURAL
Run, with Russian runner, for country (5)
R ( russian ) URAL ( russian river )
25 SPARE
Ears ruptured — pressure found inside Prince Harry? (5)
[ EARS ]* containing P ( pressure )

27 comments on “Financial Times 17,633 by NEO”

  6. RURAL
    Def: For Country?

    Top faves: LITMUS, BLOODBANK, INSIDE JOB and ASHPLANT (excellent def).
    Thanks Neo and Turbolegs.

  7. Thanks

    Some nice clues here, as seems to be Neo’s wont. Even a Spoonerism that made sense. But this one seemed a bit inconsistent. I had trouble parsing the same clues as you, Turbolegs, so I am afraid I cannot add much to the conversation on ASHPLANT or REVEILLE. I had the same parsing of INSIDE JOB as KVa@4.

    Several virtual ticks (I use the app on weekdays, paper on weekend). I think my favourite may have been MAJORCA – it just hangs together so nicely.

    Thanks for an enjoyable puzzle, Neo. And thanks for the blog, Turbolegs

  8. When I looked up Ed Davey it told me Lib Dems, so I was none the wiser. I couldn’t parse ASHPLANT (which I’d not heard of), as HP for houses of parliament didn’t occur to me. Mostly enjoyable, thanks Neo & Turbolegs.

  9. BLOOD BANK
    contd from me@5
    Chambers says ‘claret’ is ‘blood’ (old slang).
    Investment in ‘claret’ made here?
    It’s a nice cryptic def.

  10. Failed to get the crossing ASHPLANT & ADRIFT. Didn’t know the former (I see it can mean a ‘walking stick’ so, as has been said, a nice cryptic definition) and didn’t know the latter can mean ‘cut loose’ rather than ‘loose’ on its own (blog needs ‘cut’ as part of definition).

  11. Another solver beaten by ASHPLANT which is a nho and a could not parse. wrt claret = blood, these days I’d expect to hear that most often in a sporting context. Rugby is my game and one that frequently sees blood injuries (inadvertently caused, on the whole!): it is not at all unusual to hear a commentator referring to ‘claret being spilled’.

    I did manage to solve REVEILLE but it was my LOI; I was held up having mistakenly entered RAISE CAIN for 17d (having persuaded myself he could be a subject of suffering). The resulting crossers made REVEILLE unsolvable and required a rethink.

    MAJORCA, HYBRID, ADRIFT, FILAMENT, INSIDE JOB, ROOM and BLITHE were my favourites. The blunt equation of PLAIN = ugly seemed a tad on the harsh side but I see it’s listed in Chambers as euphemistic which is fair enough, I guess.

    Thanks Neo and Turbolegs

  12. Thoroughly enjoyed this. I found it an unusually quick solve for a Neo, despite failing on ASHPLANT.
    LIPSTICK, LITMUS, REVEILLE and KERFUFFLE were my picks among a very good crop.
    Agree with Postmark that ‘plain’ as ‘ugly’ is harsh although I guessed without checking that this might be one of those words like ‘nice’ that has fluctuated wildly in meaning over time. I associate it usually with ‘unvarnished’ as in ‘speak plainly’ or merely ‘ordinary’.
    Anyway, a delightful crossword so thanks to Neo and Turbolegs.

  14. PostMark @11. I also initially entered RAISE CAIN but, as I entered it, I realised that RAISE HELL was a better alternative. I then saw REVEILLE and resolved the issue.

  15. Managed to finish but could not parse ASHPLANT. I know ash is used for walking sticks but a plant would be too flimsy and supple to be of much use. Something of greater maturity than a plant would be required,
    Loved INSIDE JOB although I spent some time looking for a Rees- Mogg connection!
    Thanks IO and Turbolegs.

  16. Found the top went in quickly but then slowed down and SW took a while as never heard of ASHPLANT.

    Same favourites as Diane @12 and like PM @ 11 entered CAIN at first until I got FILAMENT and had to change it to HELL.

    Also loved INSIDE JOB

    Am familiar with the term claret for blood from novels set in earlier times when fisticuffs could result in “his claret was spilt” – usually a bloody nose.

    Thanks Neo and Turbolegs

  17. All good. I enjoyed the hard ones a lot (J-ac-ob e.g.). REVEILLE was especially tough for me as it has EVIL lurking within it somewhere, and that threw a spanner in for a while. Fave ASHPLANT which was really devious for definition and cryptic.

    The Harry one is from his book, the title of which plays on ‘heir and a spare’ I think. H is the spare, but hopefully not as in spare parts, with half the family in for running repairs at the moment.

  18. Well I had LITIMUS for 5a but i don’t understand what “IMPORTANT” has to do with the clue.
    LIT is just an abbreviation for LITERATURE in general isn’t it?

  19. Thanks Neo and Turbolegs

    5ac: The first definition of literature in ODE 2010 is “written works, especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit”. With a bit of generosity to the setter, that could be taken as a justification for the word “Important” in the clue.

  20. 29a REVEILLE – I can’t see any problem with Turbolegs’ parse.
    18d ASHPLANT – A nod to HP [H(ouses of ) P(arliament)] Sauce.

  21. Thanks all, thanks Legs.

    I had this problem where ‘woman tempted by evil’ equates fairly to either EVE or EVE/ ILL. Imagine my dilemma. So I un-dilemma-ed it. Turbs gets it right.

    All the best to all
    Neo

  22. Thanks Neo. Except for ASHPLANT this was smooth sailing for me with LITMUS, MAJORCA, SAFFRON, FILAMENT, INSIDE JOB, and MOCHA being my top picks. Thanks Turbolegs for the blog.
    [SM @15: Did your spellcheck change Neo into IO? ]

  23. ASHPLANT wasn’t so much a penny drop as a penny fall like at the fair where one realization led to another in a series of pdms. Lovely. Thanks

  24. Thanks for the blog, good set of clues, I knew REVEILLE from ” Taps at Reveille” , last short story collection of F Scott Fitzgerald. Also ASHPLANT used by Stephen Dedalus in Ulysses, LIT has helped me today..
    I think PLAIN is just a polite term for ugly, we do not refer to people as ugly usually but we might say plain.

  26. Thanks Turbolegs, I got lucky on ASHPLANT, guessed the saucy part as noted by Frankie but the only word I could imagine fitting was ASPHALT and in googling the spelling the autocomplete gave me the answer! So a failure really but that was one of quite a few good clues, eg CALIBRE and PARQUETRY. I thought 7d could replace “and fine” with “or” to make it even zippier but maybe been done? Anyway thanks for a fine challenge Neo.

  27. Failed on the non- word ASHPLANT. Even had the answer, but didn’t think it was a word.

    Still don’t.

    Spend ages on this horrid clue. What a waste of time, spoiling an otherwise good but tough crossword.

    Strikes me the sort of word that was found by the setter using WordFinder.

Comments are closed.