Financial Times 16,100 by JASON

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A fine start to the week from JASON…

A nice mix of clues here. The definition of 6d was not one we had come across, nor had we seen 3d before – but we liked the clue.
LOI was 22d since getting 25a took a while – another clue we particularly enjoyed.

Thanks JASON!

completed grid

Across

9 Love a bash with budget (9)
ADORATION
A + DO (bash) with RATION (budget)

10 Love silver primate (5)
AGAPE
AG (silver) + APE (primate)

11 Official in Commons could be small next to Crown and monarch (7)
SPEAKER
S (small) next to PEAK (crown) + ER (monarch)

12 Divine old Scot downing some wine (7)
PREDICT
PICT (old Scot) downing RED (some wine)

13 Kip down (3)
NAP
Double definition

14 I am a child knocked back by ape (11)
IMPERSONATE
IM (I am) + PERSON (a child) PER (a) + SON (child) + ATE (knocked back)

Thanks to Hovis @1 for correcting the parsing of this!

17 Delightful starters of ginormous Italian mushrooms perhaps (5)
FUNGI
FUN (delightful) + G[inormous] I[talian] (starters of)

18 Take the mickey out of some jazz music (3)
RAG
Double definition

19 Time to squabble about gins (5)
TRAPS
T (time) + (SPAR (squabble))< (<about)

21 Keep ancient name somehow (11)
MAINTENANCE
(ANCIENT NAME)* (*somehow)

23 Long stretch in therapy (3)
ERA
[th]ERA[py] (in)

25 One of Cavafy’s letters open in the matter of driving force? (7)
NUCLEAR
NU (one of Cavafy’s letters, Cavafy being Greek) + CLEAR (open)

27 Footballers who could be so agile? (7)
GOALIES
(SO AGILE)* (*could be)

28 Plonked down by your woodland deity (5)
SATYR
SAT (plonked down) by YR (your)

29 Dreadful program – sort of wrestling with golf (9)
APPALLING
APP (program) + ALL IN (sort of wrestling) with G (golf)

Down

1 Checks relating to fruit (6)
DAMSON
DAMS (checks) + ON (relating to)

2 Simple and unsophisticated domestic’s witticism (8)
HOMESPUN
HOMES (dosmestic’s) + PUN (witticism)

3 Subversive in the IT dept? She reports on tense troubled visit (10)
HACKTIVIST
HACK (she reports, a journalist) on T (tense) + (VISIT)* (*troubled)

4 Pastry recipe such as you might see at the seaside (4)
PIER
PIE (pastry) + R (recipe)

5 Break to run and run tediously in plant (10)
SNAPDRAGON
SNAP (break) + DRAG ON (to run and run tediously)

6 With due respect, pressure the best (4)
PACE
P (pressure) + ACE (the best)

7 Wreck in a place to moor up? (6)
MARINA
MAR (wreck) + IN A

8 Fidgety? Have fewer breathers (8)
RESTLESS
REST LESS (have fewer breathers)

15 One who leaps into the unknown with standard mystic (10)
PARANORMAL
PARA (one who leaps into the unknown) + NORMAL (standard)

16 Where to lay out fighting irons is open for discussion (2,3,5)
ON THE TABLE
Double definition

17 I’ll fight for my right to have short skirt in social event (8)
FEMINIST
MINI (short skirt) in FEST (social event) &lit

20 Whiffled pirate providing whistle-whetting drink (8)
APERITIF
(PIRATE)* (*whiffled) + IF (providing)

22 Whip up popular state (6)
INCITE
IN (popular) + CITE (state)

24 Give out a small gesture (6)
ASSIGN
A + S (small) + SIGN (gesture)

26 Pick up, without lecturer, merit (4)
EARN
[l]EARN (pick up, without L (lecturer))

27 Navigation aid going round America breaks (4)
GAPS
GPS (navigation aid) going round A (America)

15 comments on “Financial Times 16,100 by JASON”

  1. Found this tough.

    Didn’t know Agape for ‘Christian love’ or that meaning of ‘pace’ or ‘fighting irons’ as military slang for cutlery.

    In 14a, I have PER + SON for A + CHILD.

    Thanks to Jason and Teacow.

  2. I’m with Hovis@1- the definitions of AGAPE, PACE and “fighting irons” were all new to me. I also needed Teacow’s help for the parsing of NUCLEAR as Cavafy was a complete unknown to me.

    Thanks to Jason and Teacow.

  3. Cavafy was by coincidence on ‘Poetry Please’ yesterday, Radio 4. And “pace” (pron. ‘pah-chay’) Teacow -to whom thanks for the tight blog – Cavafy was actually Egyptian ( or ’Egyptiot’) though he spoke & wrote in Greek.
    So, for once, there were no ‘unknowns’ for me today, which made for a very brisk solve indeed. Smug, me?
    Loved the tongue-in-cheek &lit in 17d.
    Thanks too to Jason.

  4. Thanks Jason and Teacow

    Agree with Hovis about the difficulty factor and his parsing of IMPERSONATE.

    6d, which was my last one in, brought on the error – having written in FACE – I thought that I could remember a discussion here about a setter using F (force) for ‘pressure’ previously, and with the definition of giving or saving face as ‘respect’.  Always new learnings to be had, eh !

    I did like the clue for PARANORMAL.

  5. Another one where I knew the required ‘stuff’ – loads to enjoy so thank you to Jason and Teacow

  6. re Hovis @ 1, not  being a military man, I would have preferred “eating irons” in clue  for 16d.

    Thanks Jason and Teacow

  7. Thanks to Jason and Teacow. I did not know cutlery-fighting irons but did know PACE. i had to look up the connection between wrestling and all in for APPALLING.

  8. Not that easy for a Monday. APPALLING was my favourite – reminded me of Alan Partridge’s desperate ideas for a TV show.

    Picky pedantry corner: it should be whistle-wetting for APERITIF. You whet your appetite, but wet your whistle.

  11. Tough for me too. Dnk the same as Hovis and others, nor did I parse IMPERSONATE or PARANORMAL where I was stuck on PAR meaning standard and trying to figure out what was mystic about NORMAL! Even after looking up Cavafy NUCLEAR also remained unparsed. FUNGI and SNAPDRAGON were my favourites. Thanks to Jason for the workout and Teacow (and Hovis) for the explanations.

  12. Thanks to Teacow and Jason

    Mostly perfectly fine but one or two had me thinking “what?”, and no-one else has mentioned them so it must be me:

    How does THE MATTER OF DRIVING FORCE = NUCLEAR

    Paratroops would have an objective, and would know exactly where they are and where they are to land. The idea of them “leaping into the unknown”, had me searching for alternative parsings such as PAR = STANDARD + ANORMAL = not NORMAL =MYSTIC. All highly unlikely but no more so than our clueless jumper.

    And thirdly, as Nila Palin@8 says, WHET doesn’t work. Without at least a ? at the end, it’s not a point of pedantry – it invalidates the clue.

    Or am I being too harsh?

     

     

  13. Dansar, my pedantry was just on the minor point that it should be wetting and not whetting.

    Technically the clue seems okay to me, and (unless I’m missing something) I guess Jason wanted to lighten it up with some bonus alliteration.

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