Financial Times 17,876 by XELA

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A new setter in the FT stable (or should that be kennel)?

I've not come across Xela before, and there is no mention of him/her on Fifteensquared, so I assume that Xela is a new setter. You'd be unlikely to think that given the quality of the puzzle though, which was excellent, wuth some nice misdirections and clever definitions. I liked HINGE and THE GRUFFALO in particular. If I had any quibbles, it would be that in the clue for USUALLY, "supports" would indicate to me that the USU should be below the ALLY, but I could see what the compiler was trying to do.

Thanks Alex – hope to see more of your work in future.

ACROSS
1 WHOLE NUMBER
Unit in hotel in west Melbourne getting renovated (5,6)

H (hotel) in *(w melbourne) [anag:getting renovated] where W is west
7 RAJ
Quarrel over former government (3)

<=JAR ("quarrel", over)
9 NIFFS
Smells initially need investigating? You’ve got 2 b kidding me! (5)

[initially] N(eeds) + I(nvestigating) + FFS (for f***'s sake, so "you've got 2 be kidding me" in textspeak)
10 UPSKILLED
Raises wiped out for retrained workers (9)

UPS ("raises") + KILLED ("wiped out")
11 WORD SALAD
Gibberish line about oddly dismal boy (4,5)

<=ROW ("line", about) + [oddly] D(i)S(m)A(l) + LAD ("boy")
12 SPECK
Tiny bit of smoked ham (5)

Double definition
13 RUNAWAY
Strip of ground home to a wild horse (7)

RUNWAY ("strip of ground") home to A
15 SLAM
Small beat poetry competition (4)

S (small) + LAM ("beat")
18 RIGG
Equipment good for one of The Avengers (4)

RIG ("equipment") + G (good)

Refers to Diana Rigg, who played Emma Peel in the 60s TV series The Avengers.
20 SULTANA
Almost all nuts mixed with a dried fruit (7)

*(al nuts) [anag:mixed] with A where AL is [almost] AL(l)
23 HINGE
Some breathing exercises for part of one’s chest? (5)

Hidden in [some] "breatHING Exercises"
24 UNEARTHLY
Weird uniform just about covers the tops of the hips (9)

U (uniform) + NEARLY ("just about") covers [the tops of] T(he) H(ips)
26 RAISE HELL
After bold poker bet, that guy will create trouble (5,4)

After RAISE ("bold poker bet"), HE'LL ("that guy will")
27 DELHI
City food shop stocking sourdough, finally (5)

DELI ("food shop") stocking (sourdoug)H [finally]
28 ATE
Had lunch in canteen regularly (3)

(c)A(n)T(e)E(n) [regularly]
29 THE GRUFFALO
Kid’s book seeing hateful frog undergoing a transformation (3,8)

*(hateful frog) [anag:undergoing a transformation]
DOWN
1 WINDWARD
Snake fighting bird ultimately exposed to blows? (8)

WIND ("snake") + WAR ("fighting") + (bir)D [ultimately]
2 OFFERING
Gift not available online with phone (8)

OFF ("not available") + E– (online, as in "e-mail") with RING ("phone")
3 EASES
Stops ignoring Conservative moderates (5)

(c)EASES ("stops", ignoring C (Conservative))
4 USUALLY
Associate supported by American university, by and large (7)

ALLY ("associate") supported by US ("American") + U (university)
5 BESIDES
Energy is invested in songs that aren’t usually hits as well (7)

E (energy) is invested in B-SIDES ("songs that aren't usually hits")
6 REINSTALL
Put back in controls? Not likely! (9)

REINS ("controls") + TALL ("not likely", as in "a tall tale")
7 RELIEF
Story penned by whistle-blower provides comfort (6)

LIE ("story") penned by REF ("whistle-blower")
8 JUDOKA
Dan possibly cut Judy short with satisfactory answer (6)

[cut] JUD(y) [short] with OK ("satisfactory") + A (answer)

A judoka is a person who does judo, and dan is a level of judo, or the name given to someone who achieves that level.
14 WHITE MEAT
Chicken, or maybe turkey piece stuffed in certain type of bread (5,4)

ITEM ("piece") stuffed in WHEAT ("certain type of bread")
16 VALHALLA
Meeting room with a toilet set up outside? That’s heaven! (8)

HALL ("meeting room") with <=A LAV ("a toilet", set up) [outside]
17 BABYCINO
Cabin-boy whipped up drink for the little ‘uns (8)

*(cabin boy) [anag:whipped up]
19 GRUYERE
Swiss dairy expanded? Uh-huh, so we’re told (7)

Homophone/pun/aural wordplay [so we're told] of GREW ("expanded") + YEAH ("uh-huh")

Not a good homophone, but maybe just about worthy of being called a pun.
20 STELLAR
Cycling reports are mostly excellent (7)

[cycling] TELLS ("reports") becomes S-TELL + AR(e) [mostly]
21 SHERPA
Tibetan turn of phrase (6)

*(phrase) [anag:turn of]
22 IN TIME
Hint at leaving eventually (2,4)

AT leaving INTIM(at)E ("hint")
25 RID OF
Free from resistance, I tended to faff at the end (3,2)

R (resistance) + I + (tende)D (t)O (faf)F [at the end]

26 comments on “Financial Times 17,876 by XELA”

  1. A rewarding experience from a new setter. I didn’t know a slam is a poetry competition, and was unaware of niffs/smells (Collins says it’s British slang). Never heard of JUDOKA, but the wordplay was clear. The Avengers with Diana Rigg is going back a bit. It’s a good thing most of us are ancient!

  2. Liked RUNAWAY, JUDOKA, HINGE and GRUYERE (my ignorance was helpful!).

    WHOLE NUMBER
    I took it as H in (W+melbourne*).

    Thanks Xela and loonapick!

  3. Thanks for the blog, excellent puzzle full of neat and clever clues . UNEARTHLY and WINDWARD both flow very nicely , HINGE is very deceptive . I do not know how to pronounce GRUYERE so I am happy with the soundalike.I have been to a few poetry SLAMs , surprisingly exciting. I think I can recite the GRUFFALO word for word after many readings .
    Minor quibble as in the blog for USUALLY , “supporting” would have worked.

  4. A new setter but I agree that probably not a “new” setter .
    I have seen GILA on the main page here quite often , a weak soundalike , never done the puzzles as it is the Independent .

  5. 1a WHOLE NUMBER – I took it as H in W+(Melbourne*).
    Liked 19d GREW YEAH – Gruesome! 🙂
    [Didn’t like the position of the apostrophe in 29a 🙁]
    Thanks [a]X&L[e]

  6. 19d – oed.com has two identical “British English” pronunciations (and no US one) for Gruyère: ‘/ɡruːˈjɛː/ – groo-YAIR’ and ‘/ˈɡruːjɛː/ – GROO-yair’
    [And the definition uses the word “consistence” instead of “consistency”.]

  7. I wasn’t as keen on this as others here but I did learn a few things, which is always good. Didn’t know ‘poetry slam’ (bunged in ‘stan’ as a guess from wordplay) nor did I know SPECK was a type of ham. I agree with loonapick’s intro on 4d, which doesn’t work for me. Wasn’t sure about ‘jar’ = ‘quarrel’ but the answer was clear. Didn’t like RIGG. She was an actress who appeared in The Avengers but to say she was one of The Avengers (Emma Peel was) also doesn’t work for me. I bunged in an unparsed KING. At least, Tara was one of them.

  8. A wonderful Goldilocks effort by Xela—thank you and look forward to more of your puzzles. Great blog as always by lookapick!

  9. Another day with a few new words or phrases: NIFFS, WORD SALAD, SLAM (as the definition used) and JUDOKA.

    Frankie @5: I am with you on the misplaced apostrophe; that is why I hate “mother’s day” and “father’s day”. What about all the other mothers and fathers? Sorry about the rave – just a pet peeve of mine.

    Jay? What is a “Goldilocks effort”?

    As always, thank you to all.

  10. I agree with Jay @8.

    I especially liked 1ac WHOLE NUMBER, 23ac HINGE, 19dn GRUYERE, which made me smile (it’s pretty much how I pronounce it) and 22dn IN TIME.

    Many thanks to Xela and loonapick.

  11. My turn to agree with Eileen in that this made me smile.
    It’s always a voyage of discovery with a new setter in terms of style and difficulty. On this showing, I’ll eagerly await Xela’s next 2d.
    My picks were THE GRUFFALO, RIGG, VALHALLA and JUDOKA.
    Hearty thanks – and welcome – to Xela and thanks to Loonapick.

  12. So Jay and Eileen both agree that this was a “wonderful Goldilocks effort”. Would someone explain to me what that means?

    Thank you.

  13. Something went wrong with my last post so I shall try again.

    Another day with a few new words or phrases: NIFFS, WORD SALAD, SLAM (as the definition used) and JUDOKA.

    Frankie @5: I am with you on the misplaced apostrophe; that is why I hate “mother’s day” and “father’s day”. What about all the other mothers and fathers? Sorry about the rave – just a pet peeve of mine.

    Jay? What is a “Goldilocks effort”?

    As always, thank you to all.

  14. Freida@13.
    You should look up the cautionary tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The Goldilocks effect is when something is just right .
    The Goldilocks Zone in astronomy is an area which is not too cold or too hot.

  15. Thanks Alex and loonapick

    1ac: I took this the same way as loonapick when solving, but I prefer the version given by KVa@2 and Frankie@6.

    7ac: Collins 2023 p 1044 has jar² as an intransitive verb “to disagree; clash”, which I think is near enough. Chambers 2016 p 816 has “to quarrel” explicitly, immediately after “to clash”.

    5dn/16dn: Did anyone else see “arenit” and “Thatis” instead of “aren’t” and “That’s”? I use the version on ft.com, copying the image into a new tab of my browser ready for printing out.

  17. BABYCINO (from the 225 archives)
    Cabin boy mixed milky drink (8) Rosa Klebb FT
    Babycino smeared on son’s small hands (5,4) Filbert Indy (the other way round)
    Cabin boy’s drunk milky concoction (8) Rodriguez Indy

  18. 17dn: BABYCINO appears to be a fairly new word. I can find it in Collins 2023 and Chambers 2014 or 2016, but not in Chambers 2011, ODE 2010, or SOED 2007. Rosa Klebb had it in FT 17,602 with the same checked letters and effectively the same anagram, but a less helpful definition (just “milky drink”)
    https://www.fifteensquared.net/2023/12/22/financial-times-17602-rosa/

    Edit: This crossed with KVa@17, but I think there is enough in my comment that is not pure duplication, so I have left it unchanged.

  19. Pelham Barton @15. Re 5d/16d. Pretty much, except I have “arenít” and “thatís”. This problem with punctuation has appeared several times in the past. I’m kind of used to it now but still wish they’d sort it out.

  20. Hovis@19: Thank you for coming back on that. Actually when I go back to the website and zoom in sufficiently, I can see that it was as you have it: the distinction is not very clear on the printout. I saw 16dn first and assumed that a space was missing, but of course that does not work for 5dn. Strange that not all of the apostrophes have been affected.

    Added in edit: Incidentally, my reason for preferring to use double quotation marks is that they do not clash with apostrophes.

  21. I enjoyed this but was also not as enthusiastic as others.

    There were plenty of clues I liked, including ATE, HINGE, SHERPA, USUALLY, UPSKILLED. But there seemed to be a lot of charades and unusual words which added to the difficulty for me.

    Same quibbles as above. I was OK with the homophone for GRUYERE, but not the definition. It is a cheese or a dairy product, not a dairy, right? Maybe I am being too literal.

    Thanks Xela and loonapick

  22. Frieda@12+13, re Goldilocks.
    I hope I’m not guilty, but if so, I apologise.
    I am not a fan of jargon in postings, but I used the reference to compliment Filbert’s superb puzzle, Independent on Sunday, 20th October.
    In my defence, I did say I meant it was ” all the ingredients, just right”.
    I promise not to repeat the offence.
    To be honest, as a grumpy old man, I probably won’t find another puzzle that doesn’t have at least one clue that I don’t like!

  23. Like EN@23 it is not unusual for me to find a clue I do not like, but in my case it is often because I have misunderstood the clue. I guess that still makes me grumpy.

  24. Goldilocks refers to the children’s story and is meant to imply “just right”—in this case not too hard or too easy.

  26. For those of us who are rhotic… that is who pronounce our rs properly (as opposed to propelly)… 19d is full of holes.

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