Financial Times 18,106 by SLORMGORM

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SLORMGORM kicks off the week…

A fairly gentle start to the day, my main problem being that I can't spell PYRENEES.

Thanks SLORMGORM!

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1. Priest on dope and drink in papers, perhaps (8)
PASSPORT

P (priest) on ASS (dope) and PORT (drink)

5. Pretty Penny and Nick will make love August 1st! (6)
PACKET

POCKET (nick, will make O (love) A[ugust] (1st))

10. The French Connection? (7)
CHUNNEL

Cryptic definition

11. Music producer in old automobile visiting area (7)
OCARINA

O (old) + CAR (automobile) + IN (visiting) + A (area)

12. Drill or try bit of sledgehammer to break up concrete? (9)
REHEARSAL

(HEAR (try) + S[ledgehammer] (bit of)) to break up REAL (concrete)

13. Predatory flapper mostly keen to snap up liberal (5)
EAGLE

EAGE[r] (keen, mostly) to snap up L (liberal)

15. Tender old females about to get knocked back (5)
OFFER

O (old) + FF (females) + (RE)< (about, <knocked back)

16. Spirit knight put in lager for one starting first course? (8)
BEGINNER

(GIN (spirit) + N (knight)) put in BEER (lager)

19. Suit maids don after getting some work done (8)
DIAMONDS

(MAIDS DON)* (*after getting some work done)

20. Take a load off after engineers exam (5)
RESIT

SIT (take a load off) after RE (engineers)

21. Pressure for all to get one of the five a day? (5)
PEACH

P (pressure) + EACH (for all)

23. Star originally associated with new Estonian hit (9)
SENSATION

S[tar] (originally) associated with (ESTONIAN)* (*new)

25. Briefly bristle about shower in The Apprentice (7)
TRAINEE

TEE[m] (bristle, briefly) about RAIN (shower)

27. Bit of polish on skirt worried cloth rep (7)
PRIMATE

P[olish] on RIM (skirt) + ATE (worried)

28. A meeting place in a street lined with ash? (6)
AVENUE

A + VENUE (meeting place)

29. Range of prey seen gambolling about (8)
PYRENEES

(PREY SEEN)* (*gambolling about)

DOWN
1. Select a fortune-telling tile, say, for pirate (8)
PICAROON

"pick a rune" = PICAROON (select a tile, "say")

2. State of haircuts styled by amateurs primarily (5,6)
SOUTH AFRICA

(OF HAIRCUTS)* (*styled) by A[mateurs] (primarily)

3. Writer getting signature has stuff for star (9)
PENTAGRAM

PEN (writer) getting TAG (signature) has GRAM (stuff)

4. Lists of items one might need for picnics? (5)
ROLLS

Double (cryptic) definition

6. Informed of conflict in hospital department (5)
AWARE

WAR (conflict) in AE (hospital department)

7. You must catch annoyingly evasive variety of fish (3)
KOI

"coy" = KOI (annoyingly evasive, "you must catch")

8. Indication of what has happened in tense contest (5)
TRACE

T (tense) + RACE (contest)

9. Non-reactionary sort of peer with flatulence (5,3)
NOBLE GAS

NOBLE (peer) with GAS (flatulence)

14. See a smug tit behaving badly gets a reckoning? (11)
GUESSTIMATE

(SEE A SMUG TIT)* (*behaving badly)

16. Repartee about one’s in-flight safety feature (8)
BANISTER

BANTER (repartee) about IS (one's)

17. Criminal in a rare TV report (9)
NARRATIVE

(IN A RARE TV)* (*criminal)

18. Sweet comment about chaotic state of affairs (4,4)
ETON MESS

(NOTE)< (comment, <about) + MESS (chaotic state of affairs)

21. Ancient city paintings record turned up (5)
PETRA

(ART (paintings) + EP (record))< (<turned up)

22. Religious type of church in Dubrovnik (5)
HINDU

[churc]H IN DU[brovnik] (of)

24. Quick little drink Bond perhaps shakes close to bars (5)
NIPPY

NIP (little drink) + [s]PY (Bond perhaps, shakes [bar]S (close to))

26. Beer lacking in colour with no head (3)
ALE

[p]ALE (lacking in colour, with no head)

13 comments on “Financial Times 18,106 by SLORMGORM”

  1. Nice puzzle and good blog. Thanks to the setter and the blogger.

    Liked BEGINNER, PICAROON and KOI.

    PENTAGRAM
    A minor error in the blog
    stuff=RAM

  2. Some of these were easier to solve than parse. No favourites today.

    Why is PEACH one of five a day?

    Thanks Slorgorm and Teacow

  3. A peach would be one of the five fruit and vegetable portions per day said to be part of a healthy diet Martyn.

  4. Martyn@2. The recommended dietary intake is at least five portions of fruit or veg per day.
    Good start to the week so thanks to Slormgorm and Teacow.
    Sorry crossed with JamesP

  5. We in Australia are directed to eat five vegetables and two fruits a day — not five. You Brits must be healthier than us. Or at least, more regular. I didn’t know RESIT could be a noun. Never heard of KOI. Didn’t think much of the definition for NOBLE GAS. And I still don’t think “of” is sufficient as an inclusion indicator.

    I’m a bit grumbly today, aren’t I?

  6. Beaten right at the end by the interlinked PACKET and KOI. My bad. Plenty of this setter’s normal fare – amusing surfaces full of sex, drink and drugs which is always fun on a Monday morning! Unlike Martyn, I could tick loads as favourites today. Too many to list.

    Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow

  7. The scientific recommendation in UK was for 7 fruit or veg a day, but that was thought to be a hopelessly unrealistic target. And potatoes don’t count as a vegetable, because they’re normally eaten as chips. I suspect we aren’t healthier than Aussies! Anyway, back to the crossword. Mainly good fun, but I really dislike the word CHUNNEL. No-one ever uses it, thank heavens.

    Thanks to slormgorm and teacow.

  10. Thank you KVa. Not a term I’ve ever encountered with regard to bishops – but then, I’m no expert in ecclesiastical matters.
    I certainly wouldn’t have got that in a month of Sundays…

  11. Thanks Slormgorm for the entertainment. Lots of good clues including BEGINNER, SOUTH AFRICA, NOBLE GAS, NARRATIVE, and ETON MESS. Thanks Teacow for the blog.

  12. PM@6 – I am convinced that my liking of a puzzle is greatly influenced my mood as I am solving it. I did this puzzle when pressed for time and intermittently trying to do something else, which I am sure contributed to me@2 writing I did not have any favourites. Unfair I know, but difficult to control. Looking at the clues again, I could have named the last three of TS@11’s favourites as a start…..

  13. I live in the United States. We called ketchup a vegetable once. And the pickles and sauerkraut on a sandwich. So you could feed school kids a hot dog and they could satisfy three of their vegetable requirements for a $1.50. Glad to welcome the peach to fill the non meat quota! Thank you all

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