PETO kicks off the week…
A very enjoyable, and not too taxing, Monday morning puzzle. Not sure what the S is doing in 10d.
Thanks PETO!
ACROSS
1. Pass on from Sunak — falling short after record in recession (6)
PERISH
RISH[i] (Sunak, falling short) after (EP)< (record, <in recession)
4. Go on earliest of teach-ins with spiritual leader (6)
RABBIT
T[each-ins] (earliest of) with RABBI (spiritual leader)
8. Uproar, caused by strike in sovereign’s household, cut short (7)
CLAMOUR
LAM (strike) in COUR[t] (sovereign’s household, cut short)
9. Letter describing murder victim reportedly in motionless representation of historical scene (7)
TABLEAU
TAU (letter) describing “Abel” = ABLE (murder victim, “reportedly”)
11. Given in return for beaten-up police car without a hint of rust (10)
RECIPROCAL
(POLICE CAR)* (*beaten up) without R[ust] (hint of)
12. Nick almost admitting son’s a piece of work (4)
TASK
TAK[e] (nick, almost) admitting S (son)
13. Attempt to capture American tenor’s zest (5)
GUSTO
GO (attempt) to capture (US (American) + T (tenor))
14. Learned when playing well at Leeds regularly (8)
INFORMED
IN FORM (playing well) at [l]E[e]D[s] (regularly)
16. Dance hall’s opening a long time after prohibition (8)
HABANERA
H[all] (opening) + A + (ERA (long time) after BAN (prohibition)
18. Explosion of plant disease (5)
BLAST
20. Discharge coming? Not today (4)
VENT
[ad]VENT (coming, not AD (today))
21. Expert, 51, featured in escapist novel (10)
SPECIALIST
LI (51) featured in (ESCAPIST)* (*novel)
23. Arrange in order to hit back at quiet gangster (7)
MARSHAL
(RAM)< (hit, <back) at SH (quiet) + AL (gangster)
24. Hotchpotch of rules embraced by football bosses in the past (7)
FARRAGO
R R (rules) embraced by (FA (football bosses) + AGO (in the past))
25. Risk of death at the start fisherman left out (6)
DANGER
D[eath] (at the start) + ANG[l]ER (fisherman, L (left) out)
26. Single out line maintained by witness at court (6)
SELECT
L (line) maintained by SEE (witness) at CT (court)
DOWN
1. Beat poet’s debut at posh educational establishment (5)
PULSE
P[oet] (debut) at U (posh) + LSE (educational establishment)
2. Straps controlling movement on either side of mum’s stays (7)
REMAINS
REINS (straps controlling movement) on either side of MA (mum)
3. Owing nothing and single in the beginning (6,3)
SQUARE ONE
SQUARE (owing nothing) and ONE (single)
5. Help getting Virginia into trouble (5)
AVAIL
VA (Virginia) into AIL (trouble)
6. Throw up on interminably relentless supporter (7)
BOLSTER
(LOB)< (throw, <up) on STER[n] (relentless, interminably)
7. Said oddly after article looking into Alexander-Arnold’s passing (9)
TRANSIENT
(S[a]I[d] (oddly) after AN (article)) looking into TRENT (Alexander-Arnold)
10. Make operative do something that’s involving tax on sulphur (9)
ACTIVATES
ACT (do something) + (IE (that’s) involving VAT (tax)) on S (sulphur)
13. Earnest fellow flipped over date’s unappealing shift (9)
GRAVEYARD
GRAVE (earnest) + (RAY)< (fellow, flipped over) + D (date)
15. Trump up for broadcast after ABC conceals investigator’s source (9)
FABRICATE
(AFTER ABC)* (*broadcast) conceals I[nvestigator] (source)
17. Party devotee dismissing head of policy as a crafty type (7)
ARTISAN
[p]ARTISAN (party devotee dismissing P[olicy] (head of))
19. Not confined in an area aimed at mostly around lake (2,5)
AT LARGE
A TARGE[t] (an area aimed at, mostly) around L (lake)
21. Rock climbers finally getting acclaim in speech (5)
SHALE
[climber]S (finally) getting “hail” = HALE (acclaim, “in speech”)
22. View of soldiers heading north near the outskirts of Hobart (5)
SIGHT
(GIS)< (soldiers, <heading north) near H[obar]T (outskirts of)
Not a fan of clues like the one for TABLEAU although I have seen similar clues in the past. It plays on the fact that ABLE sounds like ABEL but, imo, to work properly it needs to be pronounced that way in TABLEAU.
I agree that 10d seems to want “Makes operative” as the definition. Maybe just a typo.
Good stuff but I made hard work of it. Liked rabbit and fabricate. Didn’t love shale where I spent ages trying cram in stone or slate but I cant really blame Peto for that. Thanks to both.
As Teacow says, enjoyable, and not too taxing, We agree that using a homophone of Abel in TABLEAU is a bit of a stretch although we had no problem with it; actually it could have been avoided by rewriting the clue with ‘confused murder victim’. And we too thought the clue for 10dn should read ‘Makes operative …’. We liked the clue for 4ac, although we seem to have seen the rabbi/rabbit device, whichever way it’s worked, a fair amount lately.
Thanks, Peto and Teacow.
I got TRANSIENT but didn’t think much of it because I don’t follow football and have never heard of Trent Alexander-Arnold. Of course, that doesn’t of itself justify criticism of the clue, but when the name is an unusual one which solvers will either instantly know or can look up on the internet without any risk of looking up the wrong person, it makes the clue rather a weak one. (I didn’t in fact look him up till after reading the blog as I had hoped there might be some explanation given. Clearly the chap concerned is a lot more famous than I supposed.)
10d bothered me for longer than it should have. I can only assume there’s a typo and the clue should read “makes” rather than “make”. Hopefully the FT staff will prioritise investigating this over writing about news and such.