Financial Times 17,931 by JASON

by

Apologies that my blog is later than usual.

First of all, I hope everyone had a great Christmas and Santa was good to you all. It slipped my festive mind that I had a blog to do today, so apologies for its lateness. Thankfully, the puzzle wasn't overly challenging although I can't parse BIRDCAGE to my satisfaction.

Thanks, Jason.

ACROSS
1 TISSUE
Cleaner’s in disagreement, area must be freed up (6)

A (area) must be freed from (a)T ISSUE ("in disagreement")
4 IMMOBILE
I am on phone still (8)

I'M (I am) on MOBILE (phone)
9 ORACLE
Who’d look into the future? Love career involving learner (6)

O (love, in tennis) + RACE ("career") involving L (learner)
10 MALTREAT
Whisky, say, right to feed abuse (8)

MALT ("whisky, say") + R (right) + EAT ("to feed")
12 BIRDCAGE
Time to lock up singer who tweets? (8)

BIRD ("time", as in a prison sentence) + CAGE ("to lock up")

Not sure of the definition?
13 TACTIC
Diplomacy without borders, nice approach (6)

TACT ("diplomacy") + (n)IC(e) [without borders]
15 ECHO
I loved a narcissist… ist… ist (4)

Cryptic defintion
16 LOVE LETTER
Think the world of tenant’s billet-doux (4,6)

LOVE ("think the world of") + LETTER ("tenant")
19 CONSCIENCE
Sense of guilt wasting nice scone, Charlie admitted (10)

*(nice scone c) [anag:wasting] where C = Charlie (in the NATO phonetic alphabet)
20 GANG
Injunction involving new clique (4)

GAG ("injunction") involving N (new)
23 WAFTED
Breezed through article this paper put in link (6)

A (article) + FT ("this paper") put in WED ("link")
25 BONEMEAL
Blame one spreading fertilizer (8)

*(blame one) [anag:spreading]
27 LOCATION
Place ordinary feline in the grip of another (8)

O (ordinary) + CAT ("feline") in the grip of LION ("another" feline)
28 DEVICE
Plan to free from immorality (6)

DE-VICE could mean "remove vice from", so "free from immorality"
29 PASSPORT
ID is left after transfer (8)

PORT ("left" on a ship) after PASS ("transfer")
30 REDDEN
Blush finding haunt of commies? (6)

RED ("of commies?") + DEN ("haunt")
DOWN
1 TROUBLE
Struggle beginning to transfer foreign cash (7)

[beginning to] T(ransfer) + ROUBLE ("foreign cash")
2 SEA URCHIN
A danger to barefoot paddlers? Doctor has cure on the shelf? (3,6)

*(has cure) [anag:doctor] + IN (in stock, so "on the shelf")
3 UNLOCK
Free one in French bar (6)

UN ("one in French") + LOCK ("bar")
5 MEAN
Intend chap to accept last of these (4)

MAN ("chap") to accept [last of] (thes)E
6 OUTDATED
Make public engagement with Democrat démodé (8)

OUT ("make public") + DATE ("engagement") with D (Democrat)
7 INEPT
Popular English exercises make you awkward (5)

IN ("popular") + E (English) + PT (physical training, so "exercises")
8 ENTICER
I’d lead on energy being more agreeable about temperature (7)

E (energy) + NICER ("more agreeable") about T (temperature)
11 IGNORES
Discounts from relaxed regions (7)

*(regions) [anag:relaxed]
14 REACTOR
To do with Guinness perhaps as what makes a change (7)

RE ("to do with") + ACTOR ((Alec) "Guinness, perhaps")
17 TRADE WIND
Current driver of commerce tried dawn sailing (5,4)

*(tried dawn) [anag:sailing]
18 SCREWTOP
Particular sort of bottle to do over elite (8)

SCREW ("to do over") + TOP ("elite")
19 COWSLIP
Cutting about old wife’s flower (7)

CLIP ("cutting") about (O (old) + W (wife) + S ('s))
21 GALLEON
Brass (eastern) aboard boat (7)

GALL ("brass") + E (eastern) + ON ("aboard")
22 REVERE
Think highly of son avoiding setback (6)

S (son) avoiding REVER(s)E ("setback")
24 FACTS
Such as shouldn’t be denied following gigs (5)

F (following) + ACTS ("gigs")
26 MOOR
Anchor fell (4)

Double definition

13 comments on “Financial Times 17,931 by JASON”

  1. 12a confuses me also. I suspect the question mark at the end is meant to point to a cryptic definition clue, i.e. BIRDCAGE is cryptically time to lock up (bird) but for ‘a singer who tweets’. If it is a CD, I don’t think it works particularly well.

  2. Thank you, Jason and loonapick. This was a (pleasant) BREEZE after yesterday’s festive exertions.
    BIRDCAGE — AGE (time) following (to lock up / close) BIRD that tweets note C? Wordplay only, no def? Tenuous, I know, but then there’s the question mark…

  5. Thanks Loonapick.

    12ac: The only other suggestion I have to offer is that the singer who tweets might be a police informer, but I cannot make a convincing parsing out of it. Thanks Jason for the rest of the puzzle.

    19ac: I think the final word “admitted” has to be a containment indicator, so the C from Charlie is inserted into the anagram rather than being part of it.

  8. I enjoyed this much more than yesterday’s, 19A and D got me started and I got most of the bottom half although I found the top half a bit harder to tune into but that’s probably just me.

  10. I neither liked nor disliked this one. I think the setter and I just did not click today. No favourites, and a few mysteries cleared up by loonapick.

    Thanks Jason and loonapick.

  11. It seems to me that the clue for 12A may have gone awry. The wordplay provides the required answer, BIRDCAGE, but the definition, which, as indicated by the questionmark, is a definition by example, appears to give CAGE-BIRD. Is this what SM@9 has in mind?

  13. I too couldn’t understand birdcage.

    I misread 28 across as free from “immortality” and put revive as the answer 😆.

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