Financial Times 17,676 by Buccaneer

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Puzzle from the Weekend FT of March 9, 2014

My first-in was 6 (MULTIPLEX) quickly followed by 1 (INSPECTOR MORSE).  And there are some fine clues here, by my reckoning:  7 (RIGHT), 10 (TRUSS), 15 (REFERRALS), 24 (CARET) and 25 (INANEST).

Thank you, Buccaneer.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1 INSPECTOR MORSE
Endeavour, with code, to follow script one rejigged (9,5)
Anagram (rejigged) of SCRIPT ONE + MORSE (code)
10 TRUSS
Unsuccessful Liz Taylor, gutted, curses periodically (5)
T[aylo]R +[c]U[r]S[e]S
11 STOP LIGHT
A red jumper, say, petite on the outside (4,5)
TOP (jumper say) in (on the outside) SLIGHT (petite)
12 CHICAGO
Marx banks a thousand pounds in big city (7)
A (a) + G (thousand pounds) in (banks) CHICO (Marx)
13 DEISTIC
Edict is put out pertaining to religion (7)
Anagram (put out) of EDICT IS
14 OTHER
Further trouble that bishop’s escaped (5)
[b]OTHER
16 INSULATOR
One won’t transmit current abuse about American troops (9)
A (American) in (about) INSULT (abuse) + OR (troops i.e. other ranks)
19 REDEFINED
Elegant coats of Parisian evaluated differently (9)
DE (of Parisian) in (coats) REFINED (elegant)
20 XENON
Note individual’s back on Twitter for a gas (5)
X (Twitter) + N ONE (note individual) backwards (back)
22 GASTRIC
Sort of flu soldier caught embracing drunken star (7)
Anagram (drunken) of STAR in (embracing) GI (soldier) C (caught). Gastric flu is another name for gastroenteritis.
25 INANEST
Superlatively silly goose could be here? (7)
IN A NEST (goose could be here)
27 THESAURUS
Articles covering small, extinct ox in reference work (9)
S (small) in (covering) THE A (articles) + URUS (extinct ox). This ox is new to me.
28 ALL-IN
Spent a pound, then nothing on the way back (3-2)
A (a) + L (pound) + NIL (nothing) backwards (on the way back)
29 ACROSS-THE-BOARD
Comprehensive head in Ashford enraged supervisory committee (6-3-5)
A[shford] + CROSS (enraged) + THE BOARD (supervisory committee)
DOWN
2 NOURISHED
Harboured new setter in the place we keep tools? (9)
N (new) + I (setter) in (in) OUR SHED (the place we keep tools)
3 PASTA
Fool’s knocked up? You shouldn’t have savoury food (5)
SAP (fool) backwards (knocked up) + TA (you shouldn’t have)
4 CUSTODIAN
Keeper is cut and injured catching ball (9)
O (ball) in (catching) anagram (injured) of IS CUT AND
5 OVOID
Elliptical poet filled with love (5)
O (love) in (filled with) OVID (poet)
6 MULTIPLEX
Where several films are shown many times (9)
Multiple (many) + X (times).  I originally saw this as a double definition but, with thanks to commenters KVa and others, I believe I now have the correct parsing.
7 RIGHT
Picked up pen properly (5)
Homophone (picked up) of WRITE (pen)
8 ENTICER
One caught breaking into lodge is one who’ll appeal (7)
I (one) + C (caught) in (breaking into) ENTER (lodge)
9 STUCCO
Decorative coating mostly fixed on condo’s walls (6)
STUC[k] + C[ond]O.  Hmm, Stucco might have been a good stage name for another Marx brother.
15 REFERRALS
Patients changing doctors slip into tight flares (9)
ERR (slip) in (into) anagram (tight) of FLARES
17 SIDE ISSUE
Factions litigate about one minor matter (4,5)
I (one) in (about) SIDES (factions) SUE (litigate)
18 TUNNELLER
Person digging melody catches Eleanor Rigby’s intro (9)
NELL (Eleanor) in (catches) TUNE (melody) + R[igby]. I did not know that Nell was a short name for an Eleanor.
19 REGATTA
Identification for car drivers keeping sober in racing event (7)
REG (identification for car) + TT (sober) in (keeping) AA (drivers)
21 NOTING
Observing unpopular leader of government (6)
NOT IN (unpopular) + G[overnment[
23 SWEAR
Vow to make black dresses wide (5)
W (wide) in (dresses) SEAR (black)
24 CARAT
Measure of the weight of eg Ruby’s vegetable, we hear (5)
Homophone (we hear) of CARROT
26 ALAMO
Ill-fated mission to Malaysia keeps heading north (5)
Reverse (heading north) hidden (keeps)

16 comments on “Financial Times 17,676 by Buccaneer”

  2. Always happy to see INSPECTOR MORSE, my favourite in an enjoyable weekend solve.
    Thanks to Pete, especially for explaining Nell from ELEANOR and the URUS element of THESAURUS. There’s a typo in 24d, however, which should read CARAT (CARET is a proofreading squiggle). I agree with KVa re MULTIPLEX.
    Thanks both to Buccaneer and Pete.

  3. Overall I enjoyed this but I got off to a bad start. The first three clues I solved all have X next to them.

    My favourite (and only tick) was INANEST.

    I cannot imagine how anyone would describe PASTA as savoury food (3dn). And I do not think NOT IN is the same as unpopular. I know someone will quote Chambers back, but to me unpopular (negative) and not popular (neutral) are different things.

    This is not meant to be a negative review. It was simply a case of not liking a few clues, but enjoying the whole experience without many clues as stand-outs.

    Thanks Buccaneer and Pete

  4. I’ve been waiting for this blog. Agree with kVA on the parsing of 6dn.

    15d, tight as an anagram indicator?!

  5. Rats@4
    ‘tight’ in the sense of ‘drunk’

    Martyn@3
    IN is popular (or are you saying fashionable is not popular?). NOT IN has to un-popular. No?

  8. Thanks for the blog, REDEFINED is very neat using coats, similar idea for SWEAR and good use of sear.
    INSULATOR , the definition not quite correct , probably good enough for a crossword.

  9. Thank you Pete Maclean and Buccaneer.

    We did this on the Tube yesterday and weren’t too exercised by it. MULTIPLEX was one of my last in, with the crossers

    I’m sure one of the Monty Python/Fawlty Towers used tight meaning drunk, because somewhere within my long list of euphemisms for inebriation is “tight as an owl” or tight.

  10. Further to my comment @2,
    CARET is not exactly a homophone (close perhaps) for ‘carrot’ but CARAT is.

  11. Agree on 6d MULTIPLE(“many”)+X(“times”)
    Parsed the SEAR in 23d SWEAR as “to make black” rather than just ” ^ black”
    Jonathon Green on drunkenness and owls: https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/bvke4uy – In the US they have to be “b(o)iled” or “hoot” owls – ttLi
    “tight as an owl” is Wodehouse

  12. Thanks for the blog, Pete. I agree with your favourites and would add 19ac REDEFINED, 2dn NOURISHED, 4dn CUSTODIAN, and 15dn REFERRALS.
    I liked the ‘lift and separate’ Liz Taylor and Eleanor Rigby. I knew Eleanor / Nell from this well-known Nell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nell_Gwyn.
    Apparently, English has 3,000 words for ‘drunk’. Surely ‘tight’ is well known in Crosswordland? I’d never heard ‘tight as an owl’ – along with various other creatures, most familiar with tight as a newt – see here:
    https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-2007,00.html
    (I wish the Guardian still did ‘Notes and Queries’.)

    I’m with KVa et al re MULTIPLEX, with Diane re CARAT and FrankieG re SWEAR. Like others, I didn’t know the extinct ox.

    Lots of fun throughout – many thanks, as ever, to Buccaneer.

  13. Martyn @3: pasta is savoury as opposed to sweet?

    Rats @7: Chambers def no 23 (out of 26 adjectival meanings) is intoxicated (informal)

    Worth it for the ‘Unsuccessful Liz’ def alone! INSPECTOR MORSE, very good. CHICAGO, GASTRIC, INANEST, CUSTODIAN, TUNNELLER and STUCCO were my other favourites. The latter is a very nice CAD/extended def.

    Thanks Buccaneer and Pete

  14. Thanks Buccaneer for an enjoyable crossword. Among the multitude of excellent clues I chose TRUSS, INSULATOR, REDEFINED, INANEST, ALL-IN, CUSTODIAN, and TUNNELER as my favourites. Thanks Pete for the blog.

  15. Having played several examples of in, not in, unpopular and not popular through my head over the course of the day, I have convinced myself that “not in” can mean unpopular. I am afraid I cannot yet believe that pasta is savoury. Thanks KVa@5 and Postmark@12 for your comments

  16. Buccaneer always delights, and thanks, Pete, for the good blog (use of the ‘h’-word notwithstanding).

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