Financial Time 17,830 by Julius

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Puzzle from the Weekend FT of August 31, 2024

Thank you Julius for another winning puzzle.  I especially like 11 (NINJA).  It may be an easy and somewhat obvious clue but I think that does not detract from its brilliance.  I also especially like 1a (LOUNGE BAR), 14d (ARTHROPOD), 15 (KIERKEGAARD), 17 (TRANSPONDER) and 19d (FIDDLER).

ACROSS
1 LOUNGE BAR
Labour, upset about November GE, drown their sorrows here (6,3)
N (November) + GE (GE i.e. General Election) together in anagram (upset) of LABOUR
6 ALBUM
Pound ugly first thing in the morning, some sort of record (5)
LB (pound) + U[gly] together in AM (morning)
9 PALMYRA
Old City mate: ‘your mum’s outside’ (7)
PAL (mate) + YR (your) in (outside) MA (mum). Palmyra is an ancient city in the eastern part of the Levant, now in the center of modern Syria.
10 BETOKEN
Portend clear-out of brittle cryptocurrency (7)
B[rittl]E + TOKEN (cryptocurrency)
11 NINJA
Assassin in Japan strangles assassin in Japan (5)
Hidden word (strangles)
12 PUBIC HAIR
Bar firm’s leader inhibiting current growth down under (5,4)
PUB (bar) + I (current) + CHAIR (firm’s leader)
14 ABS
Jacks’ muscles (3)
Double definition
15 KIERKEGAARD
After change of heart, Starmer rubbishes Dark Age philosopher (11)
KIER (after change of heart, [Keir] Starmer) + anagram (rubbishes) DARK AGE
17 TRANSPONDER
Aircraft tech that tracks one crossing the Atlantic? (11)
Double/cryptic definition referencing ‘pond’ in the sense of the North Atlantic Ocean
19 FEY
Slightly potty, occasionally fiery (3)
F[i[E[r]Y
20 REHEARSAL
Tries to get in authentic practice session (9)
HEARS (tries) in (to get in) REAL (authentic)
22 INDEX
List of characters penned by Colin Dexter (5)
Hidden word (penned by)
24 PARQUET
Dad runs search, having lost son in area of US theatre (7)
PA (dad) + R (runs) + QUE[s]T (search having lost son). I am most used to ‘parquet’ referring to a type of flooring but Americans also use the term to mean what Brits call the stalls of a theatre.
26 SCHOLAR
Academic introducing Switzerland to green energy sector (7)
CH (Switzerland) in (introducing) SOLAR (green energy)
27 DODGE
Avoid automaker (5)
Double definition
28 GRAND PRIX
Great photographs capturing Republican race (5,4)
GRAND (great) + R (Republican) in (capturing) PIX (photographs)
DOWN
1 LUPIN
Trinidadian writer turned up without notes, which is a bloomer! (5)
N[a]IP[a]UL (Trinidadian writer without notes) backwards (turned up)
2 UPLANDS
Highveld University timetable disheartened daughters (7)
U (university) + PLAN (timetable) + D[aughter]S
3 GUY FAWKES
Fresh wagyu, fine cuts — kilos! — fed English traitor (3,6)
F (fine) in (cuts) anagram (fresh) of WAGYU + E (English) in (fed) K S(kilos)
4 BLASPHEMOUS
Profane abuse MPs & HoL suffered? (11)
Anagram (suffered) of ABUSE MPS HO:L
5 RUB
Massage parlour’s closure initially upset bishop (3)
[parlou]R U[pset] B[ishop]
6 AZTEC
Old Mexican detective settled south of Arizona (5)
AZ (Arizona) + TEC (detective)
7 BAKLAVA
Odd bits of black rock that’s sticky and sweet (7)
B[l]A[c]K + LAVA (rock)
8 MAN FRIDAY
A new Kahlo framed by Julius’s factotum (3,6)
A (a) N (new) + FRIDA (Kahlo) in (framed by) MY (Julius’s)
13 BAKED ALASKA
Sweet warmed up in the style of rude boy music (5,6)
BAKED (warned up) + ALA (in the style of) + SKA (rude boy music)
14 ARTHROPOD
Hard-top or convertible Beetle? (9)
Anagram (convertible) of HARD TOP OR
16 GARNISHED
Decorated knight — boring, vulgar newspaper boss (9)
N (knight) in (boring) GARISH (boring, vulgar) + ED (newspaper boss)
18 ADHERED
Closely followed boss after cycling, showing sign of exertion (7)
HEAD (boss) cycled + RED (sign of exertion)
19 FIDDLER
He’s found at the bow, following little fish, wasting time (7)
F (following) + [t]IDDLER (little fish wasting time)
21 ACUTE
Sharp article, clever (5)
A (a) + CUTE (clever)
23 XEROX
With which to copy lover boy endlessly covered in kisses? (5)
ERO[s] (lover boy endlessly) in (covered in) X X (kisses)
25 TAG
Tail a sports car performing a U-turn outside (3)
A (a) in (outside) GT (sports car) backwards (performing a U-turn)

13 comments on “Financial Time 17,830 by Julius”

  1. A winning puzzle indeed.

    I agree largely with Pete’s favourites, with big ticks against NINJA, TRANSPONDER, and ARTHROPOD. I could name half a dozen more at least.

    Thanks Julius and Pete

  2. Julius on a Saturday – a treat with a pangram thrown in for good measure!
    A good many ticks including KIERKEGAARD, BEETLE (well-crafted anagram in a car-themed surface) and INDEX (a nicely hidden answer where one was mightily tempted to write ‘Morse’). This was one of a number clever misdirections like BETOKEN which hinted at ‘bitcoin’. And then there was FIDDLER where the definition suggested one of captain, archer or musician – unless you had already had FEY in place.
    Really liked LUPIN and BAKED ALASKA (for the ‘rude boy music’). Lots of Ks in this grid!
    Thanks to Julius and Pete.

  3. Thanks Julius and Pete!

    BAKLAVA
    Should it be
    rock that’s sticky=LAVA
    def: sweet?

    Liked NINJA, TRANSPONDER and XEROX.

  4. Thanks Julius for a reliably good crossword with KIERKEGAARD, DODGE, GRAND PRIX, ARTHROPOD, GARNISHED, and XEROX being my top picks. I revealed PARQUET, being unfamiliar with this word being ‘area of US theatre’. I couldn’t parse MAN FRIDAY and TAG. Thanks Pete for explaining.

  5. I reckoned it had to be PARQUET from the word, but didn’t know it was a term in American theatres, otherwise some very neat cluing – I laughed at the NINJA and MAN FRIDAY.

    Thank you to Julius and Pete Maclean.

  6. I thought this was a lovely puzzle with lots of clues that made me smile.

    Especially liked: KIERKEGAARD, XEROX, BAKED ALASKA, MAN FRIDAY

    Thanks Julius and Pete Maclean

  7. Thanks for a great blog, such an enjoyable puzzle with so many neat and clever clues.
    Both bits of KIERKEGAARD are well constructed , like Diane @2 I enjoyed the ALA SKA for Madness etc . I could mention many more.
    I have seen this use of PARQUET in Azed , clued by – Theater stalls – very sneaky.

  8. Drat!! I printed this puzzle last Saturday and put it away ‘somewhere safe’ to enjoy during the week – and then forgot all about it, including where I had put it!

    I’ve enjoyed reading the blog (many thanks, Pete – sorry, you’ve got your ‘Kier / Keir’ the wrong way round in 15ac) and realising that I missed a real treat. Some really brilliant clues, as always in a Julius puzzle but it’s pointless for me to list them.

    Ah well, I see we’ve got a Buccaneer today – I’ll try to be more careful this week.

  9. Eileen@8, I think Pete was not sure whether the I in Mr. Starmer should be centre-left or centre-right. Guardian readers will have their own view.

    My favourite was the marvellous cryptic definition at 17a TRANSPONDER, which I will definitely try to work into a conversation.

    Thanks J&P for the Jolly Puzzle and Judicious Parsing.

  10. Lovely puzzle with some superb clues, NINJA, KIERKEGAARD, TRANSPONDER and ARTHROPOD to name but a few. We realised we needed PARQUET to complete the pangram although we weren’t familiar with the American usage – but it was there in Chambers.
    Thanks, Julius and Pete.

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