Financial Times 17,770 by PHSSTHPOK

by

PHSSTHPOK starts off the week….

Sorry for the lateness of the blog… just got back from hols.

A very enjoyable puzzle to solve, with some great surfaces.

Thanks PHSSTHPOK!

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1. Real wilderness — or not? (8,6)
CONCRETE JUNGLE

CONCRETE (real) + JUNGLE (wilderness) &lit

10. Remove water from outside tip of spicy herb (5)
BASIL

BAIL (remove water from) outside S[picy] (tip of)

11. Uninhibited boy nearly does lap dance (4,5)
PASO DOBLE

(BO[y] (nearly) DOES LAP)* (*uninhibited)

12. Both act weirdly in conversation with this AI (7)
CHATBOT

(BOTH ACT)* (*weirdly)

13. Landmass formed from India and US area (7)
EURASIA

(I (India) and US AREA)* (*formed from)

14. Picked up perhaps small or medium pants (5)
SIGHS

"size" = SIGHS (perhaps small or medium, "picked up")

16. Sweet little computer programme graphics (5,4)
APPLE TART

APPLET (little computer programme) + ART (graphics)

19. Connect core of batteries inside bug (9)
INTERSECT

[bat]TER[ies] (core of) inside INSECT (bug)

20. Rumoured that paella has this poison (5)
RICIN

"rice in" = RICIN (paella has this, "rumoured")

22. Wearing apron, knocked back house drinks (7)
IMBIBES

wearing BIB (apron), (SEMI)< (house, <knocked back)

25. Dull throbbing part of ear (7)
HUMDRUM

HUM (throbbing) + DRUM (part of ear)

27. Wrapped around ligament like an octopus (9)
TENTACLED

TENTED (wrapped) around ACL (ligament, Anterior Cruciate Ligament)

28. Come to lecture after it starts (5)
REACH

[p]REACH (lecture, after it starts)

29. CPUs for weather forecasting? (14)
CLOUDCOMPUTING

Cryptic definition

DOWN
2. Offensive joke stopped regarding religious person (9)
ONSLAUGHT

LAUGH (joke) stopped (ON (regarding) + ST (religious person))

3. Star of Bethlehem initially follows church line East (5)
CELEB

B[ethlehem] (initially) follows (CE (church) + L (line) + E (east))

4. Foreign worker angry after losing right to lecture (9)
EXPATIATE

EXPAT (foreign worker) + I[r]ATE (angry, after losing R (right))

5. Follow directions to handle uranium (5)
ENSUE

E N S E (directions) to handle U (uranium)

6. Clothes submerged in river (9)
UNDERWEAR

UNDER (submerged in) + WEAR (river, in Northern England)

7. Mocks soldier — not quite elite (5)
GIBES

GI (soldier) + BES[t] (elite, not quite)

8. Refined carbohydrate finally left agent dizzy (7)
ELEGANT

[carbohydrat]E (finally) + L (left) + (AGENT)* (*dizzy)

9. One adds up account for boarding a double-decker (6)
ABACUS

AC (account) boarding (A + BUS (double decker))

15. It’s not easy to stand on committee after slave is caught (9)
SURFBOARD

BOARD (committee) after "serf" = SURF (slave, "is caught")

17. Reconciled postman with revolutionary political party (7,2)
PATCHEDUP

PAT (postman) with CHE (revolutionary) + DUP (political party)

18. Establish as inevitable (9)
ASCERTAIN

AS + CERTAIN (inevitable)

19. Stupid phrase failed to stop jerk (7)
IDIOTIC

IDIO[m] (phrase, failed to stop) + TIC (jerk)

21. Quiet hymns composed for spirits (6)
NYMPHS

(P (quiet) + HYMNS)* (*composed)

23. Prohibition on Joseph’s instrument (5)
BANJO

BAN (prohibition) on JO (Joseph)

24. At Oval, bizarrely start to serve and volley (5)
SALVO

at (OVAL)* (*bizarrely), S[erve] (start to)

26. Worth me slowing down (5)
MERIT

ME + RIT (slowing down, ritardando)

14 comments on “Financial Times 17,770 by PHSSTHPOK”

  1. Hours after this puzzle was due to appear, it hadn’t. So I gave up. Good to see it eventually materialised.

  2. Thanks PHSSTHPOK and Teacow!
    Lovely puzzle! Neat blog!

    COTD: CONCRETE JUNGLE (or not? Leaving the purpose it serves in arriving at the solution, if we consider this a practical question, the answer could be YES. Hot topic!).
    Other faves: PASO DOBLE (On one end the ‘uninhibited’ and on the other the ‘dance’. Stuck in between for some time!) and SALVO (Cri-nnis! Love all!).

  4. Was unfamiliar with “Paso Doble”, but possible to work it from the surface, otherwise no real problems, a steady solve…
    Thank you to PHSSTHPOK and Teacow

  5. I am afraid I agree with Mark A ref CLOUD COMPUTING. I’m also not convinced by wrapped = TENTED. ELEGANT is probably my fave clue – it was … elegant.

    Thanks Phssthpok and Teacow

  6. I was thrown by 29a as well. Other than that, smart. Loved the ‘sweet little computer programme’!

  7. Further to Mark A@3, CPUs is also a terribly inaccurate definition.
    Cloud computing is a whole networking configuration, not just a bunch of central processing units.
    But otherwise an enjoyable lunch time!

  8. This is a mixed bag.

    Cloud computing is two words

    CPU isn’t a definition of cloud computing. CPU is a central processing unit. Part of a computer.

    Don’t easily see how tented means wrapped

    Does the surfboard clue work. Why “….is caught”? Aren’t the last two words unnecessary and confusing?

    Thank you for explaining Rit and which I didn’t know.

    The editing is not what it was in the FT. I wonder if the editor’s boss understands this?

    Thanks for blog.

  9. Thanks for the blog, good Monday puzzle.
    Moly@8 ….is caught? means is heard . SURF sounds like serf (slave) .

  10. I seem to remember that Delia’s method for cooking turkey involves tenting it – wrapping it in foil but with some space like a tent, so TENTACLED just about works.

  11. Glad we aren’t alone on the enumeration of 29ac. We didn’t see the parsing of 27ac, though; we just stuck in TENTACLED from checking letters and definition. A nice fairly gentle puzzle for a Monday, anyway. PASO DOBLE was our favourite.
    Thanks, Phssthpok and Teacow.

  12. For 29a I had CLOUD COMPUTERS (two words, but so is the correct answer), since CPUs is plural. I still think it is just as good an answer, if not better, and only the crosser from 18d spoiled it.

    I’m not sure I get “rumoured” as an indicator for aural wordplay. Rumours are not necessarily oral.

    Otherwise this was an enjoyable puzzle. I liked the image of Joseph playing the banjo in his amazing technicolor coat (at 23d) – also the wilderness of the CONCRETE JUNGLE at 1a.

    Thanks Phssthpok (your moniker reminds me of the Li’l Abner comic character Joe Btfsplk) and Pete for the excellent puzzle and blog.

  14. Horrible puzzle. 1 and 29 were just ridiculous. Jo isn’t short for Joseph. Joe is short for Joseph. Jo is short for Joanne or Josephine.
    I’ve never heard of bail meaning ‘remove water from’.
    Never heard of expatiate.
    Never heard of rit = slowing down.

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