Financial Times 18,116 by ARTEXLEN

July 25, 2025 at 11:15 am by Turbolegs

A fun challenge from ARTEXLEN

FF: 9 DD: 9

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1	DRAWBACK	What contrary portrait artist might do is liability (8)
		cryptic def; read as DRAW BACK ( what contrary artist portrait artist might do )
5	RAPIER	Drab uncovered coastal structure is steel (6)
		RA ( dRAb, without end letters ) PIER ( coastal structure )
10	CHEQUER	Report of one who verifies regular pattern (7)
		sounds like CHECKER ( one who verifies )
11	OEDIPAL	First person in reference work, friend of mythical king (7)
		I ( first person ) in [ OED ( reference work, Oxford English Dictionary ) PAL ( friend ) ]
12	OMANI	Soon returned from sultanate (5)
		reverse of IN A MO ( soon )
13	LATHERING	Forming foam disc on machine tool (9)
		LATHE ( machine tool ) RING ( disc )
14	TURNING POINT	Getting score is decisive moment (7,5)
		cryptic def?
18	UNOBSTRUCTED	Clear one in French court with debts resolved (12)
		UN ( one, french ) [ COURT DEBTS ]*
21	FRUSTRATE	Hinder fine plant’s disease with speed (9)
		F ( fine ) RUST ( plant's disease ) RATE ( speed )
23	OPINE	Suppose irrational individual hides (5)
		PI ( irrational ) in ONE ( individual )
24	WRANGLE	Struggle to fish beside water that’s unoccupied (7)
		WR ( WateR, without inner letters ) ANGLE ( fish )
25	TRIPOLI	Journey round centre of peculiarly Mediterranean port (7)
		TRIP ( journey ) O ( round ) LI ( pecuLIarly, centre of )
26	DREARY	Dull drive at daybreak taking out learner (6)
		DR ( drive ) EARlY ( daybreak, without L – learner )
27	TRAYBAKE	Yen for saccharine ultimately in tea break — demolished cake (8)
		[ TeABREAK ( with Y – yen, replacing E ( saccharinE, ultimately )) ]*
DOWN
1	DOCTOR	Senior academic in function with other ranks holding court (6)
		[ DO ( function ) OR ( Other Ranks ) ] containing CT ( court )
2	ARENAS	Venues like to support upcoming new generation (6)
		[ reverse of N ( new ) ERA ( generation ) ] AS ( like )
3	BOUTIQUES	Shops being located in roundabout I questioned (9)
		hidden in "..roundaBOUT I QUEStioned"
4	CAROLINA REAPER	Joyous song popular live, essentially chant through Hot Stuff (8,6)
		CAROL ( joyous song ) IN ( popular )
6	ADDLE	Become confused having diamonds taken in dodgy deal (5)
		D ( diamonds ) in [ DEAL ]*
7	IMPLICIT	Understood artlessness should be exposed (8)
		sIMPLICITy ( artlessness, exposed i.e. without end characters )
8	RELEGATE	Demote ambassador after upsetting queen (8)
		RE ( reverse of ER, queen ) LEGATE ( ambassador )
9	CONTENT CREATOR	Influencer pleased God? (7,7)
		CONTENT ( pleased ) CREATOR ( god )
15	PRECOCITY	Publicity on self-sustaining settlement being advanced development (9)
		PR ( publicity ) ECO CITY ( self-sustaining development )
16	GUFFAWED	Following nonsense article, you and I had laughed out loud (8)
		GUFF ( nonsense ) A ( article ) WE ( you and i ) D ( had, as ~'d )
17	POPULACE	Residents pressure a couple to move (8)
		P ( pressure ) [ A COUPLE ]*
19	MIMOSA	I’m about to join mother consuming very large cocktail (6)
		reverse of IM [ MA ( mother ) containing OS ( very large, oversize ) ]
20	DERIDE	Laugh at terrible uprising of French guards (6)
		reverse of DIRE ( terrible ) in DE ( of, french )
22	TIGER	Cat regularly scratched at King Henry (5)
		alternate letters dropped in "..aT kInG hEnRy"

18 comments on “Financial Times 18,116 by ARTEXLEN”

Pelham Barton

#1 - Fri 25th Jul 25, 10:44

Thanks Artexlen and Turbolegs

14ac: I think this is meant to be TURNING (Getting) + POINT (score). For turn= get, Collins 2023 p 2124 has 13 “to change so as to become: he turned nasty when he heard the price“, and for point = score, p 1540 has 19 “a single unit for measuring or counting, as in the scoring of a game”.

4dn: To complete the parsing here, CAROL + IN + ARE (live) + A (essentially chant) + PER (through). I am sure Turbolegs had this.
Autistic Trier

#2 - Fri 25th Jul 25, 10:45

I enjoyed this, getting most of the answers does help of course!

Even with the blog I still don’t understand 4D Carolina Reaper, never heard of it, ah well

Thanks ARTEXLEN and turbolegs
SM

#3 - Fri 25th Jul 25, 11:08

Inho of CAROLINA REAPER either and needed help to get the answer . It is the hottest pepper in the world.
Thanks Artexlen and Turbolegs.
James P

#4 - Fri 25th Jul 25, 11:42

4d where does the ‘a reaper’ bit come from? Never heard of the answer and can’t see the intention either. Guessed it from crossers and google
James P

#5 - Fri 25th Jul 25, 11:50

Sorry just saw PB’s explanation
Mark A

#6 - Fri 25th Jul 25, 14:31

Got carolina reaper straight away but couldn’t for the life of me parse it fully.

I’ve no intention of ever trying one either!
Martyn

#7 - Fri 25th Jul 25, 14:53

Liked TIGER, POPULACE, and CONTENT CREATOR

I scored it DD 9, FF 5. Too heavy on the charades, and too light on the variety for me.

Thanks Artexlen and Turbolegs
Petert

#8 - Fri 25th Jul 25, 14:57

I liked PRECOCITY. Some quite complex constructions, like CAROLINA REAPER and TRAYBAKE. A minor quibble – is a Caroline Reaper not a hot thing rather than hot stuff?
Cineraria

#9 - Fri 25th Jul 25, 15:18

Nice puzzle. I could not fathom the parsing for IMPLICIT. NHO TRAYBAKE, but the clue was clear enough. Incredibly hot peppers (and sauces) are a niche enthusiasm in the US.
allan_c

#10 - Fri 25th Jul 25, 15:21

“A fun challenge” – except for the nho 4dn.
Otherwise no ptoblems. Thanks, Artexlen and Turbolegs.
JKtiffin

#11 - Fri 25th Jul 25, 15:55

Thank you to setter and blogger. I agree with the ratings. We found this challenging but enjoyable. I really like the lateral-thinking brain needed to untangle some of the clues. The last two PRECOCITY and nho TRAYBAKE took almost as much time as the rest of the crossword.
Tony Santucci

#12 - Fri 25th Jul 25, 15:58

Thanks Artexlen for an enjoyable challenge. I revealed the nho CAROLINA REAPER but I was able to piece together the nho TRAYBAKE. I couldn’t parse IMPLICIT. My top picks were FRUSTRATE, ARENAS, CONTENT CREATOR, POPULACE, MIMOSA, and DERIDE. Thanks Turbolegs for the blog.
Martyn

#13 - Fri 25th Jul 25, 16:33

Late request: some time ago I received a recommendation for a dictionary for my phone from one or more commentators. I tried searching the site, but cannot locate it now.

I have SOED on my phone but it seems short of a good few words

What would everyone recommend, please?
Petert

#14 - Fri 25th Jul 25, 17:07

Martyn@13 I like the Chambers App.
Simon S

#15 - Fri 25th Jul 25, 17:10

Martyn @ 13 I second Petert’s recommendation: it also includes a useful word search facility.

When I bought it some years back it was available as a bundle with their Thesaurus, which is worth getting too.
Martyn

#16 - Fri 25th Jul 25, 17:11

Thanks Petert! I am pretty sure that was the previous recommendation and a great help this time
Tony Santucci

#17 - Fri 25th Jul 25, 18:08

Martyn @13: The Chambers dictionary app is inexpensive and it’s very, very good; it lists numerous definitions and abbreviations and it’s a favourite among setters. Collins has a free site that’s also good, particularly for synonyms.
Martyn

#18 - Fri 25th Jul 25, 20:18

Thanks also to Simon and Tony

Comments are closed.