Financial Times 17747 Slormgorm

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

Across

1. A swine breaking apart stacks of wood (8)

MAHOGANY : [ A + HOG(swine/pig) ] contained in(breaking apart) MANY(stacks/piles of).

From this: to this:

5. A piece from dismantled green plug (6)

ADVERT : A + 1st letter of(piece from) “dismantled” + VERT(green colour in heraldry).

Answer: Short for “advertisement”/a plug/promotional material.

10. Vocalists which cover The Sweet in concert (7)

RAPPERS : Homophone of(… in concert) “wrappers”(those which cover sweets).

Defn: … of what you might call rhythmic speech with a beat accompaniment.

11. Having gone travelling, now past Malvern? (3,4)

SPA TOWN : Anagram of(Having gone travelling) NOW PAST.

Defn: An example of which/? is Malvern in Worcestershire, England.

12. Track shoe stuffed in foodstuff (9)

SHORTCAKE : Anagram of(… stuffed) TRACK SHOE.

13. A desire for a little heroin, perhaps (5)

AITCH : A + ITCH(a desire/a longing).

Defn: The first letter of/a little “heroin”, OR, the abbreviation in slang for “heroin”.

15. Men with a contrary old lady that gets up your nose (5)

AROMA : Reversal of(… contrary) [ OR(abbrev. for “other ranks”, men in the military who do not have commissioned ranks, but including NCOs) plus(with) A ] + MA(like “old lady”, an informal term for one’s mother).

16. One despicable firestarter chasing bishop (8)

BLIGHTER : LIGHTER(that which is used to start a fire) placed after(chasing) B(abbrev. for “bishop”, the chess piece).

19. As Spooner said, Lady Fortune’s a wimp (4,4)

LAME DUCK : Spoonerism(As Spooner said) [ “dame”(lady/a woman) “luck”(fortune/one’s lot) ].

20. Not all poop… I crave laxative! (5)

PICRA : Hidden in(Not all) “poop… I crave“.

A ha-ha surface.

21. Is Slormgorm to get work in Spain, bruv? (5)

AMIGO : [ AM I?](is Slormgorm?, with the setter using the self-referential pronoun) plus(to get) GO(to work/to function properly).

Defn: Spanish equivalent of “bruv” or “brother”, British slang for “friend”.

23. What soldiers might enter after some shelling? (6,3)

BOILED EGG : Cryptic defn: “solders” as in strips of bread or toast dipped into that with part of its shell removed.

Lined up like soldiers:

25. Place in office where a charger recharges? (7)

INSTALL : [ IN STALL ](where a charger/a knight’s or cavalryman’s horse) rests/recharges, specifically in an individual compartment in a stable).

Defn: To …/in a position of authority.

27. Typical example I found in record book (7)

EPITOME : I contained in(found in) [ EP(abbrev. for “extended play”, a musical recording with more tracks than a single but fewer than an album) + TOME(a large, heavy book) ].

28. Relief centre with standing room only for men? (6)

URINAL : Cryptic defn: Receptacle in public toilets for men only to stand to relieve themselves/urinate.

29. Princess, with small blasts of wind, nauseates (8)

DISGUSTS : DI(short for Diana, once a princess) plus(with) S(abbrev. for “small”) + GUSTS(blasts/rushes of wind).

Down

1. Excellent shot of Stamp with son at top of movie article (8)

MARKSMAN : MARK(stamp/a pattern on a surface made with a stamp) plus(with) S(abbrev. for “son”) plus(at) 1st letter of(top of, in a down clue) “movie” + AN(an article in grammar).

2. Beastly types photo a pimp I slapped about (11)

HIPPOPOTAMI : Anagram of(… slapped about) PHOTO A PIMP I.

3. Might one say Hans Christian Andersen’s a dog (5,4)

GREAT DANE : Double defn: 1st: What you might say Hans Christian Andersen is.

4. Tree or ship in New York area (5)

NYSSA : SS(abbrev. for “Steam Ship”, used in the names of such craft) contained in(in) [ NY(abbrev. for New York) + A(abbrev. for “area”) ].

6. Little drink and drop of absinthe creates excitement (5)

DRAMA : DRAM(a little drink of whisky or other spirits) plus(and) 1st letter of(drop of) “absinthe“.

7. I love to be sat on by excitable government leaders (3)

EGO : O(letter representing 0/love in tennis scores) placed below(to be sat on by, in a down clue) 1st letters, respectively, of(government leaders) “excitable government“.

Defn: …/one’s self.

8. Fish seen from time on park seat, but not bass (5)

TENCH : T(abbrev. for “time”) placed above(on, in a down clue) “bench”(a park seat/a long seat for several people to be found in a park) minus(but not) “b”(abbrev. for “bass”, in music, a man with a very deep singing voice).

And “bass” is also a type of fish.

9. When jeopardy engulfs undersized 10 star (8)

ASTERISK : AS(when/at the time of, as in “please bow as you enter”) + RISK(jeopardy/danger) containing(engulfs) “ten”(10) minus its last letter(undersized …).

Defn: A star-like symbol used in text.

14. Unreliable research out needing correction (11)

TREACHEROUS : Anagram of(… needing correction) RESEARCH OUT.

16. Tory beauty (on radio) makes bloomer (8)

BLUEBELL : BLUE(informal name for a Tory, a member of the Conservative Party in the UK) + homophone of(… (on radio)) “belle”(a female beauty).

17. Event horse by a pig pen horsing about around noon (9)

HAPPENING : H(abbrev. for “heroin” or horse in slang) plus(by) anagram of(… horsing about/fooling around) A PIG PEN containing(around) N(abbrev. for “noon”).

18. Risk eating large and small bats, perhaps (8)

DANGLERS : [ DANGER(risk/jeopardy) containing(eating) L(abbrev. for “large”) ] plus(and) S(abbrev. for “small”).

Defn: How you might/perhaps describe sleeping bats.

21. A kiss off you takes so long (5)

ADIEU : ADIEU!(goodbye/a dismissal/a kiss off)

OR

A + DIE(is done/is finished/to kiss off – reference to the kiss of death?) + U(symbol for “you” in text messages).

I’m not sure if either parsing is correct.

22. A bad actor with Oscar turning up in state (5)

OMAHA : Reversal of(… turning up, in a down clue) [A + HAM(a bad actor, one who is excessively theatrical) plus(with) O(letter represented by “Oscar” in the phonetic alphabet) ].

Defn: (City) in the state of Nebraska, USA? Or clue error?

24. Old people can be wearing close to Diwali, church admitted (5)

ICENI : IN(wearing/sporting) + last letter of(close to) “Diwali” containing(… admitted) CCE(abbrev. for the Church of England).

Defn: An ancient British people.

26. Runner in funny sketch has bottom pinched (3)

SKI : “skit”(a funny sketch/a satirical or humorous short act) minus its last letter(has bottom pinched, in a down clue).

Defn: …/one of the thin strips under a sledge on which it moves over snow.

23 comments on “Financial Times 17747 Slormgorm”

  3. ADIEU
    I remember seeing somewhere ‘kiss off’ being used in the sense of ‘to die’.
    I can’t locate the source now.
    OMAHA
    Could be an error in the clue or we are missing something.

  4. I agree that OMAHA is a mistake and the clue should say ‘city’ not ‘state’. I guess, at a stretch, it could be an indication that it is an American place that is wanted but I doubt that. Although I don’t like “hippopotami” as a plural, and would never use it, it is accepted if not preferred in the usual sources.

  5. Thanks for the blog, very enjoyable, lots of neat clues, I think HIPPOPOTAMI is okay in a crossword, perhaps the only word that fits.
    I have the same two issues, OMAHA not a state, I have seen Azed make this mistake at least twice, so good company.
    ADIEU , I can’t really make it work, I think of kiss off as a dismissal and Chambers93 agrees, so does Collins.

  6. Thanks Slormgorm and scchua

    2dn: Put “hippopotamus song” into your favourite search engine for the Flanders and Swann song of that name. It is perhaps best known for the chorus beginning “Mud, mud, glorious mud” but contains the delightful rhyme “A regular army / of hippopotami”.

  7. Further to 6, verse 3 of the song begins

    Now more hippopotami
    Began to convene
    On the banks of that river so wide.
    I wonder now what am I
    To say of the scene
    That ensued by the Shalimar side.

    On a more prosaic note, hippopotami is given as a valid plural in the latest editions of Chambers, Collins, and ODE, as noted by Hovis @4.

  9. I considered every other variety of soldier but totally forget toast strips! Yet, I still use it at breakfast with little kids. Having not solved that< I had no chance with “danglers” for 18d.

  10. Tom I@8
    ADIEU
    While commenting @3, I checked every dictionary except my Chambers app.
    Can you believe it? I had even come across the usage as mentioned @3.
    Strange! 😀

  11. The Cassell Dictionary of Slang also gives “kiss off” as “[1940s] [US] to murder or to die”.

  15. In 1d “Stamp” must be Terence…
    …and in 9d the “undersized 10 star” has to be Dudley Moore.

  17. …but still alive, the much older hiera picra ‘Pharmacology. a. 1379– A purgative drug composed of aloes and canella bark, sometimes mixed with honey and other ingredients. Also corruptly hickery-pickery, hicra picra, higry-pigry, which see.
    b. a1639– figurative (with allusion to the etymology).’ [The etymology is Greek: ἱερά sacred, πικρά bitter].

  18. Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang is by Jonathon Green. His online Green’s Dictionary of Slang has kiss off v. ‘2. (US) to murder or to die.’…

  21. Didn’t much enjoy and found some of it easy and some of it very difficult / obtuse.

    Got there other than Danglers, where I put in Wagglers, which I knew wasn’t correct but it was the best I could manage.

    I thought Bats might be ears which might be described as wagglers. Somehow wager (risk) and L and S. But I was still missing G.

    Hmmm.

    Excellent blog

  22. Thanks Slormgorm. I found this challenging but I eventually solved it except for RAPPERS. My top picks were LAME DUCK, BOILED EGG, INSTALL, DRAMA, EPITOME, and DANGLERS. I had the same issue with OMAHA as others and I thought ‘stuffed’ and ‘foodstuff’ in SHORTCAKE was jarring, as either word could have easily been changed. Thanks scchua for another easy-on-the-eyes blog.

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