Financial Times 17,757 by Buccaneer

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Puzzle from the Weekend FT of June 8, 2024

Our pirate setter gave me a good challenge with this puzzle.  My first-in was 9 (EXCEPTION) and last was 7 (DYNAMO).  There is one term I was unfamiliar with, LOUIS D’OR in 17d.  My favourites are 5 (INVIGORATE), 10 (BAYOU), 15 (RED SETTERS) and 25 (SCARLET).  Thank you Buccaneer.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
9 EXCEPTION
Republican expelled from party admitting vote anomaly (9)
X (vote) in [r]ECEPTION (Republican expelled from party)
10 BAYOU
Horse outside of Ouagadougou in marshy area (5)
BAY (horse) + O[uagadougo]U
11 RHUBARB
What may make a fool vocally regret harsh remark (7)
Homophone (vocally) of “rue barb” (regret harsh remark)
12 INEXACT
I demand to follow initiator of nouvelle vague (7)
I (I) + N[ouvelle] + EXACT (demand)
13 SIR
What to call a baronet right behind one’s back (3)
IS (one’s) backwards (behind?) + R (right)
14 HARP ON ABOUT
Endlessly discuss Marx and forbid doing a U-turn on strike (4,2,5)
HARPO (Marx) + BAN (forbid) backwards (doing a U-turn) + OUT (on strike)
17 LASSO
Financial associates concealing way to seize stock (5)
Hidden word (concealing)
18 D N A
Make-up from the east in handbag (1,1,1)
Reverse (from the east) hidden word (from)
19 THREE
Prime heroin loaded aboard plane? (5)
H (heroin) in (loaded aboard) TREE (plane?}
21 URBAN LEGEND
Fanciful story Pope, say, penned in advance (5,6)
URBAN (pope) + EG (say) in (penned in) LEND (advance)
23 SOB
Show unhappiness with scoundrel from America (3)
Double definition with the second referring to “a son of a bitch”.
25 SCARLET
Red Sierra — diminutive vehicle? (7)
S (sierra) + CARLET (diminutive vehible)
27 INTERNS
Trainees put in the ground shell of nuts (7)
INTER (put in the ground) + N[ut]S
28 OVOID
Latin writer penning nothing elliptical (5)
O (nothing) in (penning) OVID (Latin writer)
29 ROMANTICS
People like Byron love getting stuck into jollies and capers (9)
O (love) in (getting stuck into) RM (jollies) + ANTICS (capers)
DOWN
1 ZEBRAS
That non-binary person’s put on lingerie items — they’re striped (6)
ZE (that non-binary person) + BRAS (lingerie items). “Ze” is a pronoun coming from the trans community.
2 ACQUIRES
A hundred bundles of paper bags (8)
A (a) + C (hundred) + QUIRES (bundles of paper)
3 SPLASH DOWN
Land in the main depressed after sensational story (6,4)
SPLASH (sensational story) + DOWN (depressed)
4 LIMB
Politician holding male member (4)
M (male) in (holding) LIB (politician)
5 INVIGORATE
Liven up, mad about northern Spanish city (10)
N (northen) + VIGO (Spanish city) in IRATE (mad)
6 ABLE
Ignoring United, a Chelsea player with talent (4)
A (a) + BL[u]E (ignoring United a Chelsea player)
7 DYNAMO
Live wire in party drinking a great deal, tipping over (6)
MANY (a great deal) backwards (tipping over) in DO (party)
8 SUBTITLE
Using computers in nuanced piece of translation (8)
IT (computers) in (in) SUBTLE (nuanced)
15 RED SETTERS
Dogs from Liverpool entertaining me (3,7)
SETTER (me) in (entertaining) REDS (Liiverpool, FC that is)
16 ANTEDATING
Coming before e.g. worker seeking love online? (10)
ANT (e.g. worker) + E-DATING (seeking love online)
17 LOUIS DOR
Old French bread Parisian agreed to feed to dissolute lords (5,3)
OUIS (Parisian agreed) in (to feed) anagram (dissolute) of LORDS.  A Louis D’Or is an old French gold coin.
20 RESTRAIN
Nastier manoeuvres keeping king in check (8)
R (kind) in (keeping) anagram (manoeuvres) of NASTIER
22 BEACON
Inspirational figure to join the Tories (6)
BE A CON (to join the Tories)
24 BASEST
Most contemptible guitar player in recital (6)
Homophone (in recital) of “bassist” (guitar player)
26 LIDO
Pool ball under cover (4)
LID (cover) + O (ball)
27 IAMB
British capital raised, taking lead from Michael Foot (4)
M[ichael] in (taking) B (British) + AI (capital) all backwards (raised). I had trouble seeing how ‘capital’ works in this clue and must thank my solving buddy BC for coming up with ‘capital’ used to mean top-class or A-1.

18 comments on “Financial Times 17,757 by Buccaneer”

  1. Thanks Buccaneer and Pete!
    Great puzzle! Lovely blog!

    Liked ZEBRAS, ANTEDATING and IAMB.
    A couple of minor observations:
    RHUBARB
    (Vocally RUE) +BARB. Makes no difference, I guess.
    SIR
    R behind (following) IS back (reversed). Is Pete asking something else about the ‘behind’?

  2. Lots of variety for sure. I did this on a long plane ride, and it was just the right mix wit and challenge for the trip, which made it very enjoyable.,

    I only just remembered that the Royal Marines are jollies, and I had never seen ZE before. Like Pete, LOUIS D’OR was new to me. I have no idea what the convention is, but should it be numbered (5, 2’1)? Anyway, I managed to solve but not fully parse ROMANTICS and ZEBRAS and parse LOUIS D’OR and only understand the clue after an internet search. I know RHUBARB to mean meaningless mumble from The Goon Show, but have not encountered it meaning “what may make a fool”

    I felt quite an achievement overcoming these challenges, and had many virtual ticks for the other clues (I was using the app for a change). I fully agree with Pete’s selection of favourites to which I add D N A for its cleverness. I could add several more.

    Thanks Buccaneer for a challenging and entertaining puzzle and thanks Pete for a great blog

  3. I’ve noticed jollies = RM a few times recently. One to remember.

    Very nice puzzle as always. Was hoping today’s Prize puzzle would be a Picaroon but no luck. 🙁

  4. Thanks Buccaneer and Pete

    11ac is presumably using fool in the sense of a dessert such as gooseberry fool. This sense is marked chiefly Brit in Collins and ODE.

    1dn: The sense of ze used here is in Collins 2023. However, it is not in Chambers 2016 or ODE 2010, perhaps because it is too recent a coinage.

  5. This is a crossword my daughter and I enjoyed completing travelling to a family funeral last weekend. The journey included a 3 hour delay on the outward leg so finished a lot of crosswords to while away the journeys. (Slightly consoled by knowing that two hours or more delay on a train journey means a full refund of the ticket price.)

    It’s funny where General Knowledge takes us – I knew ZE and various other suggestions for gender free pronouns. I suspect these pronouns haven’t caught on as there are so many variations and using they/them has a long precedent whatever the prescriptive grammarians say.

    I also love rhubarb and/or gooseberries, especially as fools, but those puddings and fruits are out of favour and hard to find now. They are both a bit too tart for yoghurt without loads of sugar, which rather defeats the object.

    Thank you to Buccaneer and Pete Maclean.

  6. Lovely puzzle – I really enjoyed it.

    Favourites: INVIGORATE, RHUBARB, URBAN LEGEND, SCARLET, ACQUIRES (sure I’ve seen quire in another puzzle last week)

    Thanks Buccaneer and Pete Maclean

  7. Especially liked 12a INEXACT – not only a ‘lift and separate’, but in French, and in italics – “nouvelle vague“.
    oed.com dates ZE to 1864 – ‘an isolated early use’ – then more recently: 1972, 1985, 1996, and 2016.

  9. Thanks for the blog, good set of neat clues. HARP ON ABOUT is a phrase I like and nice to see an alternative Marx.

  10. Another lovely puzzle from Buccaneer.

    My favourites were HARP ON ABOUT, URBAN LEGEND, OVOID, ROMANTICS, SUBTITLE, IAMB and RHUBARB. I totally concur with Shanne re the last: I last saw gooseberries (and blackcurrants) in a shop, two years ago, at the seaside – both grown in abundance in my grandpa’s garden, so featured largely in puddings in my childhood. Fortunately, rhubarb is rather more readily available – but I do miss making my gooseberry (and blackcurrant) ice cream.

    Thanks to Buccaneer for the fun and Pete for the blog.

  12. RM = Royal Marines , the nickname given by the Navy has always been Jollies.
    O simply looks like a ball , sometimes a doughnut .

  13. Thank you Roz#12. I’ll try to remember that. The “O” logic does sound a bit weak!

    Regards

  14. Nice one Buccaneer. I especially liked the baby Sierra at 25a SCARLET, the poetic dancing marines at 29a ROMANTICS, and the peers eating stale bread at 17d LOUIS D’OR.

    Shanne@5 re ZE, I wish it would take hold, and replace the singular THEY. I can rationalize THEY intellectually, but a lifetime of plurality makes it grate on the tongue and ear.

    Thanks Buccaneer for the fun and Pete (and your solving buddy for 27d) for the helpful blog.

  15. [Cellomaniac@14: SOED 2007 gives “they 4 In relation to a singular noun or pronoun of undetermined gender: he or she”. This is dated LME, which means “late Middle English 1350-1469”, so it has been around for some time. Is it really any different from the use of you to refer to a single person?]

  16. [ PB@15, the parallel with ‘you’ is why I said it is rationally sound. But it still grates, because it has been exclusively plural for 70 of my 75 years. As for ‘you’, I like how southern Americans keep it singular, and use ‘you-all’, sometimes shortened to ‘y’all’ for the plural. ]

  17. In !rish the plural of you is ‘yous – regional (chiefly Scottish, Irish English, U.S., and Australian).
    1835– With singular or plural reference: = you pron. Cf. yez pron.
    1835 It’s well for yous, a pair of foreign jintlemen, that you happened to ax a man of my edicashun and jintility. Dublin Penny Journal 21 February 266′
    ‘Variant forms: 1800s yowz; 1800s– yous, youse; 1900s– yooz, youz, youze, yuz’

  18. ‘yez – regional (esp. Irish English).
    1802– With singular and plural reference: = you pron. Cf. yous pron.
    1908 I will send him very gladly if that will make yiz all happy and loving. J. Joyce, Letter 8 December (1966) vol. II. 226
    1977 It’s not going to be on general release and yez can’t buy it at general outlets. Sounds 9 July 8/5
    2007 Oive come t’lead yiz, fer Oirland’s freedom we’ll foight and doye! J. McCourt, Now Voyagers ix. 418′
    ‘Variant forms: 1900s– yez, yiz; Scottish 1800s yeas, 1900s– yaes, yeez, yese, yez, yiz; Irish English 1800s– yees, yeez, yez, yiz 1900s– yis’

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