Financial Times 16,074 by WANDERER

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An interesting puzzle from WANDERER this Friday – witty cluing and elegant surfaces.

FF: 9 DD: 9

Across
1 LINCHPIN Former Taoiseach said personal security guard is key individual (8)
LINCH (sounds like LYNCH, former irish leader) PIN (personal security guard)
6 CAUDAL Like the tail of a duck – tail removed, sadly, by gangster (6)
[A DUCk (tail removed) AL (gangster)]*
9, 10 ENFANT TERRIBLE Ref let banter in game become subject of controversy? (6,8)
REF LET BANTER IN*
11 CRYPTOGRAM Sob quietly in front of flipping French girl’s coded text (10)
CRY (sob) [reverse of MARGOT (french girl, flipping)]
12 TA-TA A Farewell to Arms, just opened twice (2-2)
To Arms (just opened = first letters, twice)
13 TOTHER The woman’s after a small child? Not this one! (6)
TOT (small child) HER (the woman’s)
15 LABOURER The FT’s in party queen’s hand (8)
OUR (the ft’s) in [LAB (party) ER (queen)]
18 UTENSILS Implements production of tinsel in America (8)
TINSEL* in US (america)
20 LOTION Skin care product? Spot’s about gone! (6)
LOcaTION (spot, without CA – about)
21 RSVP Small number to enter the Philippines, as the French request (1,1,1,1)
[S (small) V (five, roman numeral)] in RP [Republic of Philippines]
23 BRIDGEABLE B—– large bed, I suspect – if so, you can make the other side! (10)
B LARGE BED I *
25 EXACTING Former luvvie’s job in sort of firm that’s hard to please (8)
EX (former) ACTING (luvvie’s job)
26 MASTER Become an expert in how a term’s evolved? (6)
A TERM’S*
27 RHESUS Monkey King, in Greek mythology (6)
double def, king of thrace in iliad
28 RESPECTS Pays proper attention to details (8)
double def
Down
2 INNERMOST Sort of secrets revealed in Monsters, Inc., each detailed crudely (9)
MONSTERs INc* (de tailed i.e. without last letter)
3 CLASP Catch hold of head of cobra (large snake) (5)
C (head of Cobra) L (large) ASP (snake)
4 POTPOURRI Rip up root, for mixing into a stew (9)
RIP UP ROOT*
5 NATURAL Ancient city in former British colony is not affected (7)
UR (ancient city) in NATAL (former british colony)
6 CD-ROM Doctor put in key order for memory device (2-3)
DR (doctor) in [ C (key) OM (order, order of merit) ]
7  UNIT TRUST Form of investment providing one with credit (4,5)
UNIT (one) TRUST (credit)
8 ALLOT Dispense a large amount to be taken orally (5)
sounds like A LOT (large amount)
14 HAND-PICKS Carefully selects journalists embracing new measure of resolution (4-5)
HACKS (journalists) containing [ N (new) DPI (dots per inch, measure of resolution, in pictures)
16 BALLGAMES Reckless gambles involving a league that includes Rugby and Poole, we hear (4,5)
GAMBLES* containing [A L (league)]
17 EMOLLIENT Soothing girlfriend of gangster that is found in e-books (9)
[ MOLL (girlfriend of gangster) IE (that is) ] in [E NT (books)]
19 SNIGGER Laugh about German shorts’ turn- up (7)
RE (about) G (german) GINS (shorts), all reversed
22 SIXTH This shifted fencing by a fraction (5)
THIS* around X (by, times)
23 BLISS One who scored ecstasy (5)
double def; first one referring to the composer arthur bliss
24 AISLE Corridor in which Liverpool manager once stripped off (5)
pAISLEy (bob, liverpool manager, without end characters)

*anagram

10 comments on “Financial Times 16,074 by WANDERER”

  2. Just seen it in Merriam-Webster (meaning ‘the other one’). l blame myself for missing ‘small child’=tot.

  4. Thanks WANDERER and Turbolegs; very enjoyable. For me, this was towards the easier end of WANDERER’S spectrum in that I was able to finish it relatively quickly and unaided. Re 13a, I now live in the US but grew up in Kent many years ago and my recollection is that t’other was a Yorkshire (or general Northern England) contraction of ‘the other’ e.g. ‘pull t’other one’. Re 25a, the ‘in some sort of firm’ part of the surface seemed a bit clunky and somewhat redundant.

  6. Thanks, Turbolegs and Wanderer.

    Another enjoyable puzzle – I was amused to find TOTHER [a word I use often] in the dictionary.

    I too was puzzled by the ‘sort of firm’ and, initially,  ‘game’ in 9,10, until I realised it must be the other meaning [‘lame’. as in ‘gammy leg’] and thus the anagram indicator.

    [A wee slip, Turbolegs: in 6ac, ‘of a duck’ is not part of the definition.]

  8. Thanks to Wanderer and Turbolegs. Enjoyable. Yes, I found this puzzle a bit easier than usual from this setter. I had no problem with TOTHER, but I struggled a bit with Paisley as a manager, Natal as a former colony, and the first word in UNIT TRUST.

  9. Thanks to Turbolegs and Wanderer

    I think I can imagine the struggle to find the link words in 9,10 but surely the setter eventually gave up. If GAME = LAME or even if it means ACTIVITY then BECOME should be BECOMES.

    Likewise at 23a –  what do the dashes signify? Are they there simply because there was no ready way to incorporate that awkward B into an anagram?

    In 25a I can only see SORT OF FIRM as a separate definition i.e. wordplay plus double definition.

    I still quite liked it as a whole though.

    BTW what does the nina mean?

     

  10. Thanks Wanderer and Turbolegs

    Actually did this on a flight back from Malaysia at the end of January, and although distracted, it still took longer than normal for a puzzle by this setter – maybe it was the altitude !   Anyway, eventually was able to finish off the last couple of words (CAUDAL and LOTION – both which took a long time to parse) early the next morning.

    Didn’t spot the nina.   I notice that with CRYPTOGRAM – you have omitted the P (quietly) from your parsing.  I’d actually parsed it differently – having CRY (sob) + PTO (flipping) + MARG (French girl) – which I now see relies on ‘flipping’ doing double duty.

    The term ‘luvvie’ to mean ACTOR was new to me – but having looked it up and seeing the context, I thought made it a very clever clue.  Didn’t know Mr PAISLEY either.

    Found it a quite challenging and enjoyable crossword.

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