Financial Times 16328 Falcon

Thanks Falcon for an enjoyable puzzle. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

It’s another pangram.

Across

1 Pack case for accordion (7-3)

SQUEEZE BOX : PACK(to cram/squeeze into) + BOX(a case for items such as pencils, say).

7 Shrewd signal saving time (4)

CUTE : CUE(a signal to someone to start, say, speaking) containing(saving) T(abbrev. for “time”).

Defn: …/cunning, as in the admonishment: “Don’t be cute with me!”

9 Jack plug taken by English hack (4)

JADE : J(abbrev. for “Jack”, as in the Jack of, say, Hearts playing card) + AD(short for “advertisement”/a plug/a promotional item) plus(taken by) E(abbrev. for “English”).

Defn: …/a worn-out horse.

10 No lines on me in FT, say, after I invested in scheme (5,5)

PLAIN PAPER : PAPER(an example of which/say, is the Financial Times/FT) placed after(after) [I contained in(invested in) PLAN(a scheme/a plot)].

11 Cast figure, standing, not right (6)

STATUE : “stature”(one’s standing/importance) minus(not) “r”(abbrev. for “right”).

12 Prayed uneasily in heart of Tashkent and here, in London (4,4)

HYDE PARK : Anagram of(… uneasily) PRAYED contained in(in) middle 2 letters of(heart of) “Tashkent“.

13 I met GP for treatment involving one old skin complaint (8)

IMPETIGO : Anagram of(… for treatment) [I MET GP plus(involving) I(Roman numeral for “one”) + O(abbrev. for “old”)].

15 Doctor holding a male’s umbrella (4)

GAMP : GP(abbrev. for “general practitioner”/a doctor) containing(holding) [A + M(abbrev. for “male”)].

17 Unsatisfactory, a king of Mercia (4)

OFFA : OFF(unsatisfactory/unacceptable) + A.

Defn: … from 757 to 796.

19 Passenger ship that is stocking good underwear (8)

LINGERIE : LINER(a passenger leisure ship) + IE(abbrev. for “id est”/that is) containing(stocking) G(abbrev. for “good”).

22 Sitar playing – hear genius (8)

ARTISTRY : Anagram of(… playing) SITAR + TRY(to hear in a court of law).

23 WI member appearing with the French nun’s headdress (6)

WIMPLE : WI + MP(abbrev. for a Member of Parliament) plus(appearing with) LE(French for “the”).

25 Book produced by Italian in navy, awfully objective (6,4)

VANITY FAIR : IT(abbrev. for “Italian”) contained in(in) anagram of(…, awfully) NAVY + FAIR(objective/unbiased).

26 Very large jewel brought over by American (4)

MEGA : Reversal of(… brought over) GEM(a jewel/a precious stone) plus(by) A(abbrev. for “American”).

Defn: Prefix for a very large thing.

27 Moving after I lost medal (4)

GONG : “going”(moving/travelling) minus(after … lost) “I“.

28 Relish last of salad? Unfortunate dilemma (4,6)

DILL PICKLE : Last letter of(last of) “salad” + ILL(unfortunate/unfavourable, as in “a run of ill-luck”) + PICKLE(a dilemma/a difficult situation in which one finds oneself).

Down

2 Question abnormal autumn amount (7)

QUANTUM : Q(abbrev. for “question”) + anagram of(abnormal) AUTUMN.

3 Incident in flat ending in arrest (5)

EVENT : EVEN(flat/smooth, as in “an even surface”) + last letter of(ending in) “arrest“.

4 One of Groucho’s brothers almost landed on river, going north in airship (8)

ZEPPELIN : “Zeppo”(youngest of Groucho Marx’s brothers) minus its last letter(almost) placed above(landed on, in a down clue) reversal of(…, going north, in a down clue) NILE(Egyptian river).

5 Have bellboy call, different game being required (5,10)

BEACH VOLLEYBALL : Anagram of(…, different) HAVE BELLBOY CALL.

6 Kane’s estate secured by Texan, a dude (6)

XANADU : Hidden in(secured by) “Texan, a dude“.

Defn: The fictional estate of Charles Foster Kane in Orson Welles’ film “Citizen Kane”.

7 Winner, Ms Grey, mostly bubbly? (9)

CHAMPAGNE : CHAMP(champion/winner) + “Agnes”(Grey, the governess in Anne Bronte’s book) minus its last letter(mostly).

8 Proposition made by Greek boy band? (7)

THEOREM : THEO(a boy’s name/a diminutive of masculine names, such as Theodore, all of which are of Greek origin) + R.E.M.(an American rock band in the 80s).

14 Questioning former Ugandan dictator in Ghana’s capital (9)

EXAMINING : EX-(prefix meaning “former”/once) + AMIN(Idi, former Ugandan dictator) + IN +1st letter of(…’s capital) “Ghana“.

16 Flower at present lying in small ditch (8)

SNOWDROP : NOW(at present/as of this moment) contained in(lying in) [S(abbrev. for “small”) + DROP(to ditch/to dump)].

18 Hotchpotch in Portuguese resort shown round daily, perhaps (7)

FARRAGO : FARO(resort town in Portugal) containing(shown round) RAG(a newspaper/a daily regarded as being/perhaps of low quality).

Defn: …/a mishmash.

20 Bad carrying on with a criminal (7)

ILLEGAL : ILL(bad/unfortunate, as in “ill-fortune” – cf. 28 across) containing(carrying) [LEG(on/the half of the cricket field behind the batsman as he stands to receive the ball) plus(with) A].

21 Remained sober, by the sound of it (6)

STAYED : Homophone of(…, by the sound of it) “staid”(sober/respectable).

24 Parody of opera heroine, cold (5)

MIMIC : MIMI(heroine of Puccini’s opera, La Boheme) + C(abbrev. for “cold”).