Financial Times 16421 Moo

Thanks Moo for the (debut?) puzzle. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1 Woman in Congress almost completely mad (6)

BONKER : “bonkers”(completely mad/insane) minus its last letter(almost …).

Defn: Woman (or man) in congress/having sexual intercourse.

4 Philosopher makes old actress sad (8)

SOCRATES : Anagram of(… sad) [O(abbrev. for “old”) + ACTRESS]

10 Her Majesty feeding groups of crows? They’ve got a taste for blood (9)

MURDERERS : ER(abbrev. for Elizabeth Regina/ Her Majesty, the Queen of England) contained in(feeding) MURDERS(collective noun for groups of crows).

11 Rudeness of reporter’s informant (5)

SAUCE : Homophone of(reporter’s/of that which makes a sound) “source”(informant, perhaps a reporter’s).

12 Put phone back (4)

LAID : Reversal of(… back) DIAL(to make a phone call).

13 Water pipe repair ultimately botched. Bugger! (10)

WIRETAPPER : Anagram of(… botched) [WATER PIPE + last letter of(… ultimately) “repair“].

Defn: …/one who bugs/taps your phone, from a time when phones were all wired.

15 Horribly fizzy wine left in New York (7)

NASTILY : [ASI(fizzy Italian wine/bubbly) + L(abbrev. for “left”)] contained in(in) NY(abbrev. for New York).

16 Mistakes in Cicero’s writings? (6)

ERRATA : Cryptic defn: Latin for “mistakes”/errors, as any such would be called in the writings in Latin of Cicero, Ancient Roman statesman and philosopher.

19 Slippery Boris adopts American line (6)

ISOBAR : Anagram of(Slippery) BORIS containing(adopts) A(abbrev. for American).

Defn: … joining points on a geographical map with the same atmospheric pressure.

21 Punishment for article skewering vice president (7)

PENANCE : AN(grammatical article) contained in(skewering) PENCE(Mike, Vice President to Trump).

23 Bloody Tory set up! (10)

CONFOUNDED : CON(abbrev. for a member of the Conservative Party/a Tory) + FOUNDED(set up/established, such as, a charitable, well, foundation).

Defn: Like …, a (though milder) expression of anger or annoyance at something/someone, as in “those _____ politicians!”.

25 Went to get some dope (4)

WEED : Double defn: 1st: …/urinated; and 2nd: Slang for marijuana, an example of/some dope/drug).

27 Model that’s drunk shows a bit of leg (5)

THIGH : T(an early model manufactured by the Ford Motor Company) + HIGH(drunk on alcohol or drugs).

28 Jam is better outside! (9)

IMPROVISE : IS contained in(… outside) IMPROVE(to make better).

Defn: …/to play spontaneously or without preparation, with other musicians.

29 A violent outburst on the way? (4,4)

ROAD RAGE : Cryptic defn: “The way” being the roads/expressways/etc.

30 Judge‘s son enthralled by clowns (6)

ASSESS : S(abbrev. for “son”) contained in(enthralled by) ASSES(clowns/dopes).

Down

1 Amateurish jewellery you wear on your bottom? (8)

BUMBLING : [BUM BLING](jewellery/bling you might wear on your bottom/bum).

2 He fancied himself a handsome chap in bed (9)

NARCISSUS : Cryptic defn: In Greek mythology, the handsome young man who fancied/fell in love with himself, or rather a reflection of himself in a pool of water, presumably thinking it was someone in the bottom/bed of the pool. Thus lending his name to describe anyone who is self-centred and vain.

3 Garden delighted English nurses (4)

EDEN : Hidden in(… nurses) “delighted English“.

5 Boob half glimpsed, you say? That’s awfully rude (7)

OBSCENE : Last 2 out of 4 letters of(… half) “Boob” + homophone of(…, you say) “seen”(glimpsed) .

6 Aren’t rats dreadful round university cafe? (10)

RESTAURANT : Anagram of(… dreadful) AREN’T RATS containing(round) U(abbrev. for “university”).

7 Time to get behind the President (5)

TRUMP : T(abbrev. for “time”) plus(to get) RUMP(the behind/hind part of a mammal).

8 Mountain range in South Africa? I’m mistaken (6)

SIERRA : SA(abbrev. for South Africa) containing(in …) [I ERR](I’m mistaken/making an error).

9 Cheerfulness of Italian put in charge (6)

LEVITY : IT(abbrev. for “Italian”) contained in(put in) LEVY(a charge/an imposed tax, fee or fine).

14 Huge fuss about Russian leader. He’s got his eye on you! (3,7)

BIG BROTHER : BIG(huge) + BOTHER(a fuss/a to-do) containing(about) 1st letter of(… leader) “Russian“.

Defn: Figuratively, those who are in power and are able to spy/have an eye on everyone.

17 Argentine bananas, or some other fruit? (9)

TANGERINE : Anagram of(… bananas) ARGENTINE.

18 Hostility on ship’s uncalled for (8)

NEEDLESS : NEEDLE(hostility/antagonism, as in “a bit of needle between the managers”) placed above
(on, in a down clue) SS(abbrev. for “steamship”, used in the names of, well, steamships).

20 Order German crime writer to appear first (7)

RANKING : G(abbrev. for “German”) placed below(… to appear first, in a down clue) RANKIN(Ian, Scottish crime writer).

21 Champion swimmer‘s assistants coming under pressure (6)

PHELPS : HELPS(assistants, as in “domestic helps”) placed below(coming under, in a down clue) P(symbol for “pressure” in science).

Answer: Michael, champion swimmer with the most Olympic medals.

22 Zippy vehicle leaving behind one old duck (6)

SCOTER : “scooter”(a zippy/a fast, especially in traffic jams, two-wheeled vehicle) minus(leaving behind) “o”(one of “oo”/2 x abbrev. for “old”).

24 Nigerian coins new word for song on journey north (5)

NAIRA : N(abbrev. for “new”) + reversal of(… on journey north, in a down clue) “ARIA”(word for a song for a solo voice).

26 A bitter constituent (4)

HOPS : Cryptic defn: The dried flowers of the hop plant which taste bitter, are used in brewing/is a constituent of a sort of beer called a bitter, from the resulting taste.