The puzzle can be found here.
Hello everyone. The regular blogger is away, and so I’ve jumped over the fence to explore the grounds of the FT.
Thanks to Neo who struts his stuff today. I’m familiar with the setter’s work elsewhere, so there were no surprises, just the expected enjoyment. Highlights for me were the German rock singer in 8a, the 14a spell-check, the prize animal of 15d, and the 20d platform. What features on your podium?
Definitions are underlined in the clues below. In the explanations, quoted indicators are in italics and I’ve capitalised and emboldened letters which appear in the ANSWER.
Across
1a Bizarre eponym worked for lad on warship (6, 6)
POWDER MONKEY
An anagram of (bizarre) EPONYM WORKED
8a German rock singer teaching the French one (7)
LORELEI
A charade of LORE (teaching), LE (the, French), and I (one)
9a Girl is delayed coming to king’s monument (7)
OBELISK
ISOBEL (girl) with IS moved to the end (delayed), followed by (coming to) K (king)
11a Regular college class (7)
UNIFORM
UNI (college) + FORM (class)
12a Fail to draw positive conclusion in Dante’s work? (7)
INFERNO
INFER NO (fail to draw a positive conclusion – draw a negative conclusion)
13a Share hole where fool accommodates fifty (5)
HALVE
HAVE (fool, as a verb) contains (accommodates) L (fifty). To halve a hole in golf is to play it in the same number of strokes as one’s opponent. I got this from the (wrong) definition, share, then had to work out where on earth hole came into it. On the golf course!
14a Spell-check? (4-5)
TIME-LIMIT
A cryptic definition, or &lit charade with TIME (spell) + LIMIT (check). I think the enumeration is wrong; the major dictionaries give the answer as two words
16a Transported via Gate 4? (9)
ENTRANCED
ENTRANCE D might be Gate 4
19a Take action to receive credit in Bolivian city (5)
SUCRE
SUE (take action, legally) containing (to receive) CR (credit)
21a Complaint setter will put to head (7)
ILLNESS
I’LL (setter will) placed next to (put to) NESS (head)
23a Aristotle so thought to contain kingdom (7)
LESOTHO
AristotLE SO THOught includes (to contain) the answer
24a Yielded to pressure about wildly excessive dance (7)
GAVOTTE
GAVE (yielded to pressure) around (about) OTT (wildly excessive, over the top)
25a Mock one worried about educational establishment (7)
IMITATE
I (one) + ATE (worried) around (about) MIT (educational establishment, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
26a All-male hike excluding absolutely no-one? (5, 3, 4)
EVERY MAN JACK
EVERY + (all) + MAN (male) + JACK (hike, as in jack up prices)
Down
1d Not complete in showing bias (7)
PARTIAL
Two definitions
2d Reception FT compilers attend, consuming litres (7)
WELCOME
WE (FT compilers) + COME (attend), containing (consuming) L (litres)
3d Mysterious magnetic variation around island (9)
ENIGMATIC
MAGNETIC anagram (variation) around I (island)
4d Oil sprinkled on second radish (5)
MOOLI
OIL anagrammed (sprinkled) next to (on) MO (second). A new one for me
5d Necessary end with fuel exploding (7)
NEEDFUL
END with FUEL made into an anagram (exploding)
6d Saying sliced pie good with butter (7)
EPIGRAM
An anagram of (sliced) PIE followed by G (good) with RAM (butter, one who butts)
7d Make one joyous sound about another killing (12)
SLAUGHTERING
SING (make one joyous sound) around (about) LAUGHTER (another, i.e. another joyous sound)
10d Campanologists should be up to speed (4, 3, 5)
KNOW THE ROPES
Campanologists should … literally, KNOW THE ROPES
15d Meat cut from prize animal (9)
MEDALLION
This cut of meat is formed of MEDAL (prize) plus LION (animal)
17d Mediterranean metropolis has a live TV broadcast (3, 4)
TEL AVIV
A LIVE TV, anagrammed (broadcast)
18d American with risk to run as accomplice (7)
ABETTOR
A (American) with BET (risk), TO (from the clue), and R (run)
19d Endless fuss in the main poetic structure (7)
SESTINA
All but the last letter of (endless) STINk (fuss) in SEA (the main)
20d Platform elevated with two-way struts? (7)
CATWALK
A cryptic definition of an elevated platform on which models strut their stuff in both directions. My last in – it took me ages to twig!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tfi3UNA-y1Y
22d Pressing need perhaps to have small animals harnessed (5)
STEAM
S (small) + TEAM (animals harnessed). You might need to use steam to aid in your ironing. (Or you might be like me and simply avoid wearing clothes which need ironing)
I really liked this. Gosh!
Very good and worth doing for CATWALK alone. We’ve probably had it before but the ‘German rock singer’ also brought a smile as did the ‘Pressing need’. A new vegetable to remember to cap off an enjoyable puzzle.
Thanks to Neo and to Kitty for both blog and pics
Well, he’s a favourite setter so I would have enjoyed solving anyway, but the clip of the cat on a catwalk has made my day. Thanks Kitty and of course thanks PB
Thanks Neo and Kitty (welcome)
One of those ones that the grid got filled in OK but the logic was not always spot on of how it got there – had to add or change logic to both 13a and the last bit of 26a. Could see CATWALK as a cd, but not as thoroughly as I needed to.
MOOLI was a new term to me also.
Didn’t take overly long to complete but with enough depth in the clues to make it a very enjoyable solve. Last couple in were IMITATE (which shouldn’t have been) and MEDALLION (which certainly should have and was my cod).
Lovely pics. Thanks for the blog
I put catwalk in knowing you’d be blogging … didn’t I?
Many thanks all.
Copmus! Next round’s on me.
Thanks for the blog, Kitty.
IMHO 14ac simply doesn’t work as a clue.
In 26ac Hike is not synonymous with ‘Jack’. Hike is synonymous with ‘Jack Up’. It is tiresome when setters try to pull stunts like this.
Otherwise this crossword was OK, albeit rather dull and humourless…