Financial Times 17,812 by ARTEXLEN

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ARTEXLEN kicks off the week…

Nice solid and enjoyable puzzle.

 

Thanks ARTEXLEN!

ACROSS
1. Double-checked about volume and article fitted (4-2-7)
MADE-TO-MEASURE

MADE SURE (double-checked) about (TOME (volume) and A (article))

9. Image reduced: musical instrument (7)
PICCOLO

PIC (image) + COLO[n] (:, reduced)

10. Comparatively uncertain discussing Guevara alongside Starmer (7)
SHAKIER

“Che” = SHA (Guevara, “discussing”) alongside KIER (Starmer)

11. Drunk Aussie not a problem (5)
ISSUE

([a]USSIE (not A))* (*drunk)

12. Resolved row — shares chargers (9)
WARHORSES

(ROW SHARES)* (*resolved)

13. Alcohol consumed by Doctor Finlay regularly with tetchy manner (8)
GRUMPILY

RUM (alcohol) consumed by GP + [f]I[n]L[a]Y (regularly)

15. Exposed fence raged being put behind bars (6)
ENCAGE

[f]ENC[e] [r]AGE[d] (exposed)

18. New second home housing king (6)
MODERN

MO (second) + DEN (home) housing R (king)

19. African beast present leaving with run to the west (8)
AARDWOLF

A[w]ARD (present, leaving W (with)) + (FLOW)< (run, <to the west)

22. Original theory radical backed with success is start of movement (9)
DARWINISM

(RAD)< (radical, <backed) with WIN (success) + IS + M[ovement] (start of)

24. Hiding somewhere in America, make fun of westbound former PM (5)
BLAIR

hiding LA (somewhere in America), (RIB)< (make fun of, <westbound)

25. American very loudly voices concerns (7)
AFFAIRS

A (American) + FF (very loudly) + AIRS (voices)

26. Prepares payment (7)
READIES

Double definition

27. Dross novel’s confused with an esteemed literary work (4,3,6)
SONS AND LOVERS

(DROSS NOVELS)* (*confused) with AN

DOWN
1. Cat chewing softly on leg is washing (7)
MOPPING

MOG (cat) chewing (P (softly) on PIN (leg))

2. Outsiders from Christchurch avoid being bitten by relative’s dog (9)
DACHSHUND

(C[ristchur]H (outsiders from) + SHUN (avoid)) being bitten by DAD (relative)

3. People already indicated distinctive character cycling (5)
THOSE

ETHOS (distinctive character) cycling

4. Low grass area raised with 1000 steps far above (8)
MOONWALK

MOO (low) + (LAWN)< (grass area, <raised) + K (1000)

5. Funny muscles on tongue contracted (6)
ABSURD

ABS (muscles) on URD[u] (tongue, contracted)

6. Unloved bears beginning to navigate plain (9)
UNADORNED

UNADORED (unloved) bears N[avigate] (beginning to)

7. Opponents crossing border to overturn rulers (5)
EMIRS

E S (opponents, in bridge) crossing (RIM)< (border, <to overturn)

8. 24 hours, short date for salad item (6)
FRISEE

FRI (24 hours, short) + SEE (date)

14. Knock over small bird, one on wall (9)
PARTITION

(RAP)< (knock, <over) + TIT (small bird) + I (one) + ON

16. Moist area after upsetting perfume (9)
AROMATISE

(MOIST AREA)* (*after upsetting)

17. Drunk man from Genesis, Banks in manor-house with wine (8)
HAMMERED

HAM (man from Genesis, son of Noah) + M[anor-hous]E (banks in) + RED (wine)

18. Curry not all there and breads oddly missing (6)
MADRAS

MAD (not all there) and [b]R[e]A[d]S (oddly missing)

20. Supporting homes for birds after destroying top wildlife habitats (7)
FORESTS

FOR (supporting) + [n]ESTS (homes for birds, after destroying top)

21. Party justifies tax squeezes (6)
FIESTA

[justi]FIES TA[x] (squeezes)

23. Many waterborne conveyances (5)
RAFTS

Double definition

24. Excellent support for woman, very old (5)
BRAVO

BRA (support for woman) + V (very) + O (old)

12 comments on “Financial Times 17,812 by ARTEXLEN”

  1. Thanks Artexlen and Teacow

    In 10 ‘discussing’ must apply to Starmer as well, as his first name is spelt Keir.

  2. Thanks Artexlen and Teacow

    9ac: Punctuation must not be ignored.
    10ac: I was going to make the same point as Simon@1, but also my understanding is that Che Guevara’s nickname is pronounced in the Spanish way, in which case the initial Ch is pronounced as in English, not as in French. That is the pronunciation given in ODE 2010 p 779, but I am prepared to be corrected on this with authoritative support. Incidentally, I either never knew, or had forgotten, that his correct first name was Ernesto.

  3. Thanks Artexlen and Teacow. A very nice crossword with a well clued and long opener across the top to ease one into the challenge.

  4. Pelham Barton, I believe you’re right about the pronunciation of Che. The Wikipedia article gives it in IPA as tʃe (roughly “Chay”) and links to this page with examples of native speakers saying his name.

    A rather surprising fact about him that I learned from the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford is that he became president of the National Bank of Cuba.

  6. Thanks Artexlen and Teacow.

    A good and fair puzzle although I couldn’t parse PICCOLO and had never heard of AARDWOLF. I particularly liked 13ac

  7. I thought the SHAKIER clue was itself “comparatively uncertain” in its construction, but homophone clues are a perennial bone to pick. I did get a smile when I realized how PICCOLO worked.

  8. 10a SHAKIER: Agree on the pismronunciation of CHE. Other annoyances:
    PINOCHET as PIN O’SHEA – The O is short, the CH is not a SH, and the T is not silent.
    MACHISMO as MACKIZMOW – The CH is not a K either, the S is not a Z, and the O is still short.
    KEIR disobeys the “i” before “e” rule. Cf. Anto’s mistake in the G: “Increasingly weird Labour leader going after family (7)”
    Thanks A&T

  9. Thanks Artexlen. Despite a few awkward surfaces I enjoyed this with my favourites being SHAKIER, SONS AND LOVERS, MOPPING, DACHSHUND (the wordplay was very helpful in spelling a word I often misspell), PARTITION, and FORESTS (good surface). I failed with AARDWOLF. Thanks Teacow for the blog.

  10. Another 19a AARDWOLF failure here. I couldn’t get past OFF for leaving, and trying to move an R to the left somewhere, but it was an excellent clue. I also couldn’t parse 9a PICCOLO – I ignored the punctuation, contrary to PB’s advice @2.

    Favourite clues were the aforementioned PICCOLO, and 13a GRUMPILY for the image of the dipsy doctor.

    Thanks Artexlen for the fun puzzle, and Teacow for the excellent and very helpful blog (and FrankieG@8 for the Ronnie Barker link).

  11. I didn’t particularly love the second level clue in 8D (24 hours=day=Fri) but otherwise really enjoyed the puzzle. I thought 9A (Piccolo) was quite clever.

  12. We weren’t too sure about 10ac, but regarding the pronunciation of ‘Che’ I believe that Latin American Spanish pronunciation sometimes differs from Castilian Spanish – but if this includes the ‘ch’ sound is more than I can say.
    Apart from that, as Teacow says, a nice solid and enjoyable puzzle.
    Thanks, Artexlen and Teacow.

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