Neo provides a straightforward puzzle in today’s FT.
This one felt a bit like a Monday Guardian puzzle, with a few double definitions scattered around the clues. There was nothing very difficult, no obscure general knowledge’ and very little misdirection, although I did like FORMER as a definition for MAKER.
Thanks, Neo.
| Across | ||
| 1 | REPLICA | Double agent picked up booze (7) |
| REP (“agent”) + homophone of [picks up] LIQUOR (“booze”) | ||
| 5 | LEAFLET | Female in meadow allowed to produce brochure (7) |
| F (female) in LEA (“meadow”) + LET (“allowed”) | ||
| 9 | SALEM | Trading event attracts million in Oregon location (5) |
| SALE (“trading event”) attracts M (millions)
Salem is the capital of Oregon. |
||
| 10 | LANDSLIDE | Left coming into party to secure first big majority (9) |
| L (left) coming into SIDE (“party”) with LAND (“to secure”) first | ||
| 11 | RETRIEVER | Hound person to set the situation right? (9) |
| Double definition, the second referring to someone able to “retrieve” a situation. | ||
| 12 | EGYPT | Poem without the Spanish part in country (5) |
| (el)EGY (“poem” without EL (“the” in “Spanish”)) + PT. (part) | ||
| 13 | SAUNA | Tabloid article about American in Finnish bath (5) |
| SUN (“tabloid”) + A (“article”) about A (American) | ||
| 15 | ABANDONED | Group with single in commercial scrapped (9) |
| BAND (“group”) with ONE (“single”) in AD (“commercial”) | ||
| 18 | ODOURLESS | Free from stench in Lourdes, so revived (9) |
| *(lourdes so) [anag: revived] | ||
| 19 | MOWER | Frenchman, one in debt, wants machine in garden (5) |
| M (monsieur, so “Frenchman”) + OWER (“one in debt”) | ||
| 21 | MOURN | Lament some from our neighbourhood (5) |
| Hidden in [some] “froM OUR Neighbourhood” | ||
| 23 | FEROCIOUS | Force in disarray promises to pay savage (9) |
| *(force) [anag:in disarray] + IOUs (“promises to pay”) | ||
| 25 | SATELLITE | Dependent nation worried Liberal outsiders in place (9) |
| ATE (“worried”) + L(ibera)L [outsiders] in SITE (“place”) | ||
| 26 | MAKER | Former kamikaze dropping content inside wreck (5) |
| K(amikaz)E [dropping content] inside MAR (“wreck”) | ||
| 27 | SPANNER | Tool causing trouble in works (7) |
| If you “throw a sapnner in the works”, you cause trouble. | ||
| 28 | THEOREM | Scientific statement the more complicated (7) |
| *(the more) [anag: complicated] | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | RESORTS | Men taking breaks round seaside towns (7) |
| OR (other ranks, so “men”) taking RESTS (“breaks”) round | ||
| 2 | POLITBURO | Nothing newly built taken in for committee (9) |
| O (“nothing”) + *(built) [anag: newly] taken in PRO (“for”) | ||
| 3 | IAMBI | Ace storage unit with two round feet? (5) |
| A (ace) + Mb (megabyte, so “storage unit”) with II (“two”) round | ||
| 4 | ALLEVIATE | Relieve patriarch in a recent case (9) |
| LEVI (“patriarch”) cased in A LATE | ||
| 5 | LINER | Refuse to be enclosed in this cruise ship? (5) |
| Double definition, the first relating to a bin liner. | ||
| 6 | AMSTERDAM | Port road morning mist envelops (9) |
| Rd. (“road”) enveloped by A.M. (“morning”) STEAM (“mist”) | ||
| 7 | LAITY | Song retains appeal for amateurs (5) |
| LAY (“song”) retains IT (sex “appeal”) | ||
| 8 | TREATED | Given care at another’s expense? (7) |
| Double definition | ||
| 14 | ADRENALIN | An Ireland revitalised – that’s rousing stuff (9) |
| *(an ireland) [anag:revitlaised] | ||
| 16 | ABSORBENT | Taking it all in having gone round planet? (9) |
| ABSENT (“gone”) round ORB (“planet”) | ||
| 17 | NEW YORKER | Fresh delivery for Brooklyn addressee? (3,6) |
| NEW (“fresh”) + YORKER (difficult to play “delivery” in cricket) | ||
| 18 | OSMOSIS | Old Saxon lawgiver one for eastern assimilation (7) |
| O (old) + S (Saxon) + MOS(e>i)S (“lawgiver” with I (“one”) for (i.e. replacing) E (eastern)) | ||
| 20 | ROSTRUM | Run out, curious about stone platform (7) |
| R.O. (“run out”, in cricket) + RUM (“curious”) about St. (stone) | ||
| 22 | ULTRA | Fanatic given such sound treatment? (5) |
| An ultra is a sports fan, although some may argue that an ultra pays less attention to the sport than to opposing fans. | ||
| 23 | FRIAR | Day ends in anger for Dominican perhaps (5) |
| Fri. (short for Frida, so “day”) in [ends of] A(nge)R | ||
| 24 | COMBE | Hollow black blocks arrive (5) |
| B (black) blocks COME (“arrive”) | ||
*anagram
I thought the intended meaning of ULTRA in 22d was a political extremist rather than a sports fan.
|t has been a good week or so for fans of Mr Bringloe whichever alias he is using. This one was short lived but as enjoyable as ever
I agree with Andrew about the meaning of ULTRA in 22d
Thanks to Neo and loonapick
Thanks to Neo and loonapick. Very enjoyable. I took a while parsing SPANNER and hesitated about the lica in REPLICA.
COD SPANNER which was also my LOI.
Hello loona et al. I’ve still got the lurgee. I thought beer would kill it, but evidently that is not the case.
Many thanks for your blog and remarks. An ULTRA in Collins is an extremist, but the term has been borrowed by football fans who like to set off flares and wave flags. And sometimes kill you.
Thanks Neo for another fine crossword. Enjoyed OSMOSIS and MAKER in particular. Thanks Loonapick for the parsing of LAITY, an answer I guessed from the surface alone.
Thanks Neo & loonapick.
27 across seems to have caused trouble in the blog, too.
Thanks Neo and loonapick
As stated in the blog, a more sedate puzzle from this setter whose crisp clueing style I really enjoy. Think that this was my quickest solve of all of his offerings.
Hadn’t heard of the hollow COMBE and lazily didn’t finished working out the second definition of RETRIEVER.
Finished with that COMBE and the trickily defined MAKER.