PETO kicks off the week…
Sorry for the delay in this blog. I really struggled with some of the parsing, not entirely sure I'm happy with what I ended up with. Still, I enjoyed it!
Thanks PETO!
ACROSS
1. Huge mistake, facing uncertainty, contained in a moment I hear (8)
TERRIFIC
(ERR (mistake) facing IF (uncertainty)) contained in "tick" = TIC (a moment, "I hear")
6. Remark intended to mock German dissenter perhaps (6)
DIGGER
DIG (remark intended to mock) + GER (German)
9. Calm before finally leaving prison (6)
COOLER
COOL (calm) + ER[e] (before, finally leaving)
10. Provided that in slogan as arranged (2,4,2)
AS LONG AS
11. Somewhat lecherous Greek mathematician (4)
HERO
[lec]HERO[us] (somewhat)
Hero of Alexandria
12. Impoverished fop reportedly revealed late changes earlier (3,2,5)
OUT AT ELBOW
"beau" = BOW (fop, "reportedly"), (OUT (revealed) + (LATE)* (*changes)) earlier
14. Rabble-rouser with a gun set about Italian soldiers (8)
AGITATOR
A + (GAT (gun) set about IT (Italian)) + OR (soldiers)
16. Managed without American butter (4)
GOAT
GOT (managed) without A (American)
18. A lover of rock music? Not entirely you say (4)
BEAU
BEA[t] (rock music, not entirely) + "you" = U ("say")
19. It’s unimportant gossip about an award (2,6)
NO MATTER
NATTER (gossip) about OM (award, Order of Merit)
21. Not noticed when a Spanish bishop attended as an assistant (10)
UNOBSERVED
UNO (a, or one, in Spanish) + B (bishop) + SERVED (attended as an assistant)
22. Becomes quiet after initially abandoning relief for the poor (4)
ALMS
[c]ALMS (becomes quiet, after initially abandoning)
24. Surprisingly wrap axe up at the end in something found in the kitchen (3,5)
WAX PAPER
(WRAP AXE [u]P (at the end))* (*surprisingly)
26. Priest accepting new denial of weather changer in the tropics (2,4)
EL NINO
(ELI (priest) accepting N (new)) + NO (denial)
27. Respect lawyer over note about… (6)
ADMIRE
(DA)< (lawyer, <over) + MI (note) + RE (about)
28. …European learning to take in serious offence in Danish castle (8)
ELSINORE
E (European) + LORE (learning) to take in SIN (serious offence)
DOWN
2. Call to mind fine the first lady received (5)
EVOKE
OK (fine), EVE (the first lady) received
3. Tubful and more produced employing Henry’s rough-and-ready practical method (4-2-5)
RULE-OF-THUMB
(TUBFUL and MORE)* (*produced) employing H (Henry)
4. In favour of drunkard keeping nothing? Hard indeed! (8)
FORSOOTH
FOR (in favour of) + (SOT (drunkard) keeping O (nothing)) + H (hard)
5. Exact authority for part of book opposite in position over Norway (7,3,5)
CHAPTER AND VERSE
CHAPTER (part of book) + (ADVERSE (opposite in position) over N (Norway))
6. Cancel permit to block river (6)
DELETE
LET (permit) to block DEE (river)
7. Get to answer avoiding trap (3)
GIN
G[a]IN (get to, avoiding A (answer))
8. English party not united at start of election? Fancy! (9)
ELABORATE
E (English) + LABO[u]R (party, not U (united)) + AT + E[lection] (start of)
13. Entertaining trick involving girl with powerful torch (5,6)
LIGHT CANNON
LIGHT (entertaining) + (CON (trick) involving ANN (girl))
15. Inexperienced person needing money and assistance (9)
GREENHAND
GREEN (money) and HAND (assistance)
17. Suggestion of mine included in new designs in very small amounts (8)
SMIDGENS
M[ine] (suggestion of) included in (DESIGNS)* (*new)
20. Politician, 50, overwhelmed by support from church (6)
TEMPLE
(MP (politician) + L (50)) overwhelmed by TEE (support)
23. It belonged to a nobleman of fashion say (5)
MANOR
"manner" = MANOR (fashion, "say")
25. Good to receive husband’s letter from Greece (3)
PHI
PI (good) to receive H (husband)
Thanks for the blog, all your explanations seem perfect to me. Good set of neat clues , SMIDGENS is a lovely word.
The parsing looks fine. This puzzle had a little bite to it, especially the idioms and multiword solutions, which can be tricky to work out sometimes.
I found some of this quite tricky. The Diggers were new to me, as was OUT AT ELBOW. I wasn’t quite convinced ‘beat’ means ‘rock music’ – and a little surprised the BEAU/BOW homophone didn’t link to the entry BEAU.
Thanks Peto and Teacow.
Well done parsing this! Several obscure words, phrases, spellings and meanings (greenhand, out-at-elbow, smidgen spelled unusually, light cannon, digger) meant that solving required more arcane dictionary knowledge than parsing-power. A disappointing puzzle.
Thanks Peto and Teacow
18ac: Collins 2023 (page 178) gives us beat n 33 a pop or rock music characterized by a heavy rhythmic beat.
I found this a bit chewier than the Monday FT puzzles can be, but entertaining.
The EVOKE clue here was rather more straightforward than the one I blogged at the weekend where it was clued “Summon apple thief, receiving fine.”
Thank you to Teacow and Peto.
I wondered if there was something going on with the double bow (beau). The Agitator had a confused GOAT at heart and we had a warmer (El Nino) to match the COOLER, but I was chasing shadows.
I agree with Kevin @4
This rather felt as though most of the clues were written by computer software.
It lacked human warmth.
I thought the puzzle was fun. The only clue I had trouble parsing was 7D (Gin). Although there were several phrases that were new to me the word plays led me to the right place. Thanks Peto, and thanks to Teacow for a great blog!
Not heard og LIGHT CANNON (in that sense, anyway) but it had to be that, and googling turned up several examples. And if we knew DIGGER as a dissenter we’d forgotten it so we didn’t get the crossing 6ac and 7dn. The rest was quite challenging, too.
Thanks, Peto and Teacow.
DNF with 4 to go. Several answers I have never heard of including “out at elbow” and Greenhand.
Poor puzzle.
I concur with the critical commentators above.
I was missing half the clues and it was several hours before I realised I had printed the puzzle on A5 paper.