Financial Times 17,669 BOBCAT

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A fun challenge from BOBCAT!

FF: 9 DD: 8

ACROSS
1 WORLD-WEARINESS
Raw new soldiers fighting for the experience of a lifetime (5-9)

[ RAW NEW SOLDIERS ]*
10 AMBER
A doctor’s hesitation is a warning sign (5)

A MB ( doctor ) ER ( hesitation )
11 NON-EVENTS
Odd times lacking substance (3-6)

semi &lit; NON-EVEN ( odd ) TS ( TimeS, lacking substance i.e. without inner characters )
12 IMITATE
Copy — one I’m returning to gallery (7)

I ( one ) { reverse of IM } TATE ( gallery )
13 SUNRISE
Take action about new teacher retiring early today? (7)

SUE ( take action ) around [ N ( new ) reverse of SIR ( teacher ) ]
14 FRAUD
Con German woman leading her country (5)

FRAU ( german woman ) D ( Deutschland , germany )
16 ASTRONAUT
Fidel perhaps losing face: relative putting name forward’s a high-flier (9)

cASTRO ( fidel, without starting letter ) [ AUNT ( relative ) with N ( name ) moving to the front of the word ]
19 FOOTSTOOL
Supporter pays proceeds of crime back (9)

FOOTS ( pays ) reverse of LOOT ( proceeds of crime )
20 YACHT
Craft constructed by unknown number of Germans (5)

Y ( unknown ) ACHT ( german for eight )
22 CALLOUS
Insensitive time-wasting demands to strike (7)

CALL OUtS ( demands to strike, without T – time )
25 PAPYRUS
Spilt syrup on secretary’s manuscript (7)

PA ( secretary ) [ SYRUP ]*
27 SUPERHERO
Comic character or ecstasy pusher in disguise? (9)

[ OR E ( ecstasy ) PUSHER ]*
28 AGAPE
Wide range of kitchen games (5)

AGA ( kitchen, swedish brand ) PE ( games )
29 SELF-EMPLOYMENT
Application by Santa’s primary little helper for freelance work (4-10)

S ( Santa, first letter ) ELF ( ~santa's little helper ) EMPLOYMENT ( application )
DOWN
2 OBBLIGATO
Significant scoreline got Bilbao rocking (9)

[ GOT BILBAO ]*
3 LARVA
Something part-way through cellular variation (5)

&lit; hidden in "..celluLAR VAriation"
4 WINNEBAGO
Wagon being mostly converted to mobile home (9)

[ WAGON BEINg ( mostly ) ]*
5 AGNES
She needs a long time to capture knight (5)

AGES ( long time ) containing N ( knight )
6 INVENTORY
List old lines covered by make up (9)

INVENT ( make up ) O ( old ) RY ( lines ) – i expected 'covered' to be a containment indicator
7 ENNUI
Endless sport embodies universal tedium (5)

tENNIs ( sport, endless i.e. without end characters ) containing U ( universal )
8 SUSPECT
Dubious sort of marketing advantage held by group (7)

USP ( sort of marketing advantage, Unique Selling Proposition ) in SECT ( group ) – i think it might be ok to include sort in the definition

9 TARIFF
Uncertainty US student group raised around charge list (6)

IF ( uncertainty ) in reverse of FRAT ( us student group )
15 DISCOURSE
Converse of infernal place to run (9)

DIS ( infernal place ) COURSE ( run )
17 TELEPHOTO
Long-distance image maker flying to the pole (9)

[ TO THE POLE ]*
18 ASCERTAIN
Discover how to amuse, replacing one half of ascent with the other (9)

entERTAIN ( amuse, with ENT being replaced by ASC )
19 FOCUSES
Sharpens view of cold country surrounded by adversaries (7)

[ C ( cold ) US ( country ) ] in FOES ( adversaries )
21 TASSEL
Some selfless attorney held up hanging (6)

hidden, reversed in "..selfLESS ATtorney.."
23 LAPEL
Primate wearing £50 collar piece (5)

APE ( primate ) in LL ( £ 50 )
24 SWEEP
Southwestern Energy’s record surge (5)

SW ( south western ) E ( energy ) EP ( record )
26 PSALM
Song elevated mullahs every now and then after start of prayers (5)

reverse of MLAS ( MuLlAhS, alternate letters of ) after P ( Prayers, starting letter )

23 comments on “Financial Times 17,669 BOBCAT”

  1. Unique Selling Proposition? Good grief. And the only explanation I could find for FRAT is Falls Risk Assessment Tool.

    These were my only speed bumps (or, as I learnt from a recent puzzle, what you Brits call sleeping policemen). Everything else flowed and was enjoyable, thank you Bobcat.

  3. Straightforward for me today and I even found the nina across the middle. Is that it? Wasn’t too happy about 17d as I would expect this to be ‘telephoto lens’ or ‘telephoto camera’, but I suppose some people may simply shorten it as per the answer here…. Thanks Bobcat and Turbolegs.

  4. Yes, spotted the nina; is it a gemstone I spy or perhaps just a big cat? Either way, it helped settle the amusing DISCOURSE.
    This was over all too quickly but with much to enjoy along the way. Some great surfaces including 1, 19d and my favourite, WINNEBAGO. Also liked the charade for ASCERTAIN.
    I was grateful that OBBLIGATO was an anagram but had to come here to see how TARIFF worked. Frat boys, of course.
    Thanks to Bobcat and Turbolegs.

  5. Marvellous and a quick solve. My LOI was Superhero where I missed the (now obvious) anagram. Also failed to spot Tigers. Particularly enjoyed Ascertain, the cleverly disguised World Weariness and Obbligato – thank goodness it was an anagram.

    Thanks all

  6. Missed the Nina – but I will be shocked when I spot one (let alone in time for it to help).

    A well constructed and enjoyable crossword.

    Thanks Bobcat and Turbolegs

  7. Matthew,
    This setter – as his name might suggest – has been rather partial to feline-themed ninas in the past. And although he went a lengthy spell without them, it might pay to look closely at the grid next time Bobcat appears…just in case.

  8. Enjoyed this . A simpler and more straightforward than other recent ones. Yesterday was a dnf for me.
    Is PE a game? Not in my book.
    Thanks Bobcat for a fun puzzle and Turbolegs for the usual limpid blog.

  9. Good solid cluing helped a reasonably swift passage, altho held up by not focusing on ‘range’ as part of the clue rather than the def in 28ac (PE was definitely games in the schools I went to SM@8), but had not encountered DIS for underworld previously.. swings and roundabouts..
    Thanks BOBCAT n Turbolegs

  10. Thanks Bobcat. This took me two sittings to finish, the first over a glass of wine, the second over morning coffee. Both unlock my brain in different ways so I was able to complete this and also see the TIGERS. I had many favourites including AMBER, FRAUD, FOOTSTOOL, YACHT, SUPERHERO, ENNUI (fresh clue for a tired word), and my COTD, ASCERTAIN. Thanks Turbolegs for the blog.

  11. An enjoyable straightforward crossword. A few write-ins but otoh some more challenging clues. We agree with TonyS@10 about ASCERTAIN.
    Thanks, Bobcat and Turbolegs.

  12. Thanks for the blog, good set of neat clues, I agree that ASCERTAIN is the pick of the bunch and I agree that PE was called the GAMES lesson when I was at school.
    USP I think of as unique selling POINT , rather like the FT in the UK with the economic emphasis .

  13. Peter @13 – I don’t know why you had that post held for moderation, but I had one held when I included three links (to news stories mentioned in the FT Sunday news crossword), just long enough not to be able to check the links worked!

    Late to this as I left it to solve on the tube today. Entertaining challenge, all over too fast.

    Thank you to Bobcat and Turbolegs.

  14. Thanks Bobcat and Turbolegs

    24dn: The first definition of surge n in Collins 2023 is “a strong rush or sweep”.

  20. Paul@19 If you look at the solution to this puzzle as it appears in today’s FT (https://www.ft.com/content/3e3e4405-1834-4179-a6d2-7c555408f4ef), you will see that TIGERS appears across the middle row. An “unchecked” letter in a crossword is a letter appearing in a position in the completed grid that forms part of just one answer, whereas a “checked” letter is one which appears in a position where a down answer intersects with an across answer.

  23. Paul@22: Please see the entry for Nina on the site’s FAQ page. You may find them uninteresting and have the right to say so, but please respect the fact that others do find them of interest (see for example Diane@7). Sometimes more elaborate ninas can be a real help in solving, especially when the grid has unchecked letters on two or four sides, and a message covers all of these. Although current orthodoxy is that, in the absence of special instructions, the nina should not distinguish between two possible answers to a clue, this is not set in stone.

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