Financial Times 18,189 by SOLOMON

A fun challenge from SOLOMON

FF: 9 DD: 9

I made heavy weather of trying to parse 8d and 9a until they both came to me after i had walked away from the crossword for a good few hours.

 picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1 CHILD
Youngster told off outside the front of Lidl (5)

CHID ( told off ) outside L ( Lidl, first letter )

4 HIBERNATE
Sleep badly in a berth by the back of barge (9)

[ IN A BERTH ]* E ( bargE, last letter )

9 TREASURER
Moneyman from Tadcaster turned out to receive half-hearted cheer (9)

[ REASsURE ( cheer, half hearted i.e. without a central character ) ] in TR ( TadcasteR, turned out, i.e. without inner letters )

10 HET UP
Agitated, the leader retreats on horseback (3,2)

HET ( THE, with first letter moving to the last ) UP ( on horseback )

11 ECLIPSE
Obscure short videos screened by telecoms company (7)

CLIPS ( short videos ) in EE ( telecoms company )

12 LIBERTY
Consecutive elements try struggling for freedom (7)

LI BE ( consecutive elements, LIthium Beryllium, periodic table ) [ TRY ]*

13 RAISE
Hoist delivered beams (5)

sounds like RAYS ( beams )

15 THRESHOLD
Drunk bouncer’s rear end holds the door (9)

[ R ( bounceR, last letter ) HOLDS THE ]*

18 LIVERPOOL
City’s organ donor register? (9)

cryptic def; read as LIVER POOL

21 RINGS
People become engaged when they receive these calls (5)

double def

22 SUSPECT
Dubious cult taking over America, quietly (7)

SECT ( cult ) containing [ US ( america ) P ( quietly ) ]

24 VENISON
Maker of diagrams about one’s love for meat (7)

VENN ( maker of diagrams ) around [ I'S ( one's ) O ( love ) ]

26 ROBIN
Examining wingless bird (5)

pROBINg ( examining, wingless i.e. without end letters )

27 AERODROME
Heads of Air Europa stick with capital city’s transport hub (9)

AE ( Air Europa, starting letters ) ROD ( stick ) ROME ( capital city )

28 PRESIDENT
Quiet lodger getting Hoover? (9)

P ( quiet ) RESIDENT ( lodger ) ; herbert hoover

29 SPLAY
Spread out trifle with spades (5)

S ( spades ) PLAY ( trifle )

DOWN
1 CATHEDRAL
Something with a bell heard around the middle of Ely? (9)

CAT ( something with a bell ) { [ HEARD ]* around L ( eLy, central letter ) }

2 IDEAL
Theoretical statement uttered by croupier? (5)

cryptic def; read as I DEAL ( what a croupier might say )

3 DISAPPEAR
Loudly insult a nobleman and leave (9)

sounds like DIS A PEER ( insult a nobleman )

4 HARVEST
The product of turning earth with the tops of spades — vegetables? (7)

[ EARTH SV ( Spades, Vegetables, first letters of ]*

5 BURGLAR
One stealing food raised alarm when exposed (7)

BURG ( reverse of GRUB – food ) LAR ( aLARm, exposed i.e. without end letters )

6 REHAB
Upset bather’s last bit of dirt removed where one gets clean (5)

reverse of BAtHER ( without T, dirT – last letter )

7 AFTERNOON
Where Oscar goes with nothing on between lunch and dinner? (9)

AFTER N ( where oscar goes, nato alphabet ) O ( nothing ) ON

8 EMPTY
Unknown film about politician put on for my relative to misidentify? (5)

[ ET ( film ) around MP ( politician ) ] Y ( unknown ); cryptic def; if MisidentifY were to be empty, i.e. without inner letters, it would become MY.

14 INVISIBLE
Blinis I’ve ruined getting hidden out of sight (9)

[ BLINIS IVE ]*

16 SERENADES
Among friends, tennis player does belt out love songs (9)

SERENA ( tennis player ) DoES ( without O – out ) ; is among friends to imply being on a first name basis?

17 DYSENTERY
24 hours after being discharged, guard is given drugs for gastroenteritis (9)

DY ( DaY, 24 hours, without inner letters ) [ SENTRY ( guard ) containing E ( drugs, Ecstasy ) ]

19 OATCAKE
Afghan perhaps the first to finish uncapped wine that goes with cheese (7)

OATC ( COAT, afghan perhaps, with first letter moving to last ) sAKE ( wine, uncapped )

20 LEVERET
Nancy’s the vet closing in on young animal (7)

LE ( nancy's the, implying french ) [ VET around RE ( on ) ]

22 SYRUP
Your drink contains something sweet and sticky (5)

YR ( your ) in SUP ( drink )

23 ENNUI
Tiredness that is overwhelming cycling nun heading north (5)

UNN ( nun, cycling i.e. first letter to the last ) in IE ( that is ), all reversed

25 STOOL
Virtuous man lifted toilet seat (5)

ST ( virtuous man ) [ reverse of LOO ( toilet ) ]

6 comments on “Financial Times 18,189 by SOLOMON”

  1. I think the whole of 4d needs to be underlined as definition: I took it to be an &lit?

    And I agree with our blogger’s take on SERENA being on first name terms if amongst friends.

    Super puzzle from Solomon as always.

    Thanks both

  2. Well I’m glad you managed to parse EMPTY, Turbolegs, because I tried very hard and failed. Well done. The wordplay for TREASURER also eluded me, along with a couple of others. But it was all quite enjoyable, although the telecom company was unknown this far away.

    A good level of difficulty — a walk in the park after a disastrous experience with Enigmatist’s in the Guardian!

  3. I agree that this was difficult so well done Turbolegs for the excellent blog. I certainly needed your help with the parsing. I took the definition of 1d to be Ely?
    Thanks Solomon and Turbolegs.

  4. [GDU: whilst there are other possible candidates, ‘phone company’ in a UK puzzle is almost always either BT (British Telecom) or EE (Everything Everywhere – which is one of those real ‘brand-y’ creations, thankfully now replaced by just the initials)]

    SM: I think CATHEDRAL is also an &lit – certainly &littish – and the QM is because Ely is only one of many possible examples.

  5. Tricky stuff, but a very enjoyable solve. I read SERENADES as ‘does’ belting out love, with the definition being Just ‘songs’. I find ‘turned out’ to be a bit of a stretch for removing all the middle letters. I tried to make a Yorkshire ‘t+reassure work, but it didn’t.

  6. I’m in the zone today! After the horrors of Wednesday I wrote this in almost straight through. Admittedly I only half understood Empty and Oatcake and the blog makes me feel unashamed. Loved Liberty, Venison, Disappear, Rehab, Afternoon, and Dysentry.

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