Financial Times 16,866 by JASON

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A decent challenge for a Tuesday.

Hard enough in spots to make it satisfying, but not enough to eat too far into one’s busy day. Thanks, Jason

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
8 GREASE
Bribe comes from gross manoeuvre (6)
GR[oss] + EASE (to ‘manoeuvre’, as in to ‘ease’ into a tight parking-space)
9 REACTION
Somehow certain about old backlash (8)
Anagram (‘somehow’) of CERTAIN around O[ld].
10 DISH
Cracker in cupboard is hard (4)
Hidden in ‘cupboarD IS Hard’.
11 EAST INDIES
Most casual money drops off in Indonesia and the rest (4,6)
Most of EASy (‘casual’) + TIN (‘money’) + DIES (‘drops off’, as of wind).
12 WIKI
Communal website in which Enzedder gets odd bits mixed (4)
KIWI (New Zealander, ‘NZedder’), its K & W switched.
13 ROOF GARDEN
Fear drongo larking about in top plot? (4,6)
Anagram of FEAR DRONGO + cryptic def.
17 MEND
Other ranks died for reform (4)
MEN (O.R., ‘other ranks’) + D[ied].
18 HEAVE
Cast in all but complete contentment (5)
As in e.g. ‘cast’, ‘heave’ overboard. HEAVEn, shortened.
19 PACE
With an expression of polite dissent pressure expert (4)
P[ressure] + ACE (‘expert’). Usually pronounced ‘Pa-chay’, meaning, ‘with all due respect’.
21 PLAY TRUANT
Dodge a turn aptly out of order (4,6)
Anagram (‘out of order’) of A TURN APTLY.
23 LAND
Kid taking in new country (4)
LA.D contains N[ew].
24 FALSE ALARM
Artificial aluminium limb causing needless nervousness (5,5)
FALSE (‘artificial’) + AL[uminium] + ARM (‘limb’).
28 DART
River launch (4)
Double definition.
29 RED ALERT
Ultimate state of readiness on valley – right (3,5)
RE (‘on’…) + DALE (‘valley’) + R[igh]T.
30 TRENCH
Fish circling river’s deep depression (6)
T.ENCH around R[iver].
DOWN
1 ARTIFICE
Drawing, say, provided that cool scam (8)
ART (‘drawing, say’) + IF (‘provided that’) + ICE (to ‘cool’).
2 BAD HAIR DAY
Troubling time when your locks play up? (3,4,3)
Cryptic definition.
3 RESEARCHER
Dodgy seer and novelist peer who conducts study (10)
Anagram (‘dodgy’) of SEER + ARCHER (Jeffrey of that ilk, ‘novelist’, and never were inverted commas more apt). ‘Peer’ could go with either him or the researcher.
4 EROS
Flipping tender god (4)
SORE, reversed.
5 TAXI
Make heavy demands on current cab (4)
TAX + I (symbol for electrical ‘current’).
6 STUD
Boss has little time in the South of France (4)
SU.D (Fr. ‘South’) contains T[ime].
7 COHERE
Crown Office and judge, as reported, stick together (6)
C[rown] + O[ffice] + HERE (homophone of HEAR, to try, to ‘judge’).
14 OMAHA
Sioux city where some invaders landed (5)
Double definition, although Sioux City itself is 100 miles north of the Sioux city of Omaha. 2nd def = the D Day invasion beach, of course.
15 GUESTIMATE
Roughly work out with patron I partner (10)
GUEST (‘patron’, as of e.g. an hotel) + I + MATE.
16 ROPE LADDER
Painter, eg, on run means to get up (4,6)
ROPE (e.g. painter, a mooring rope) + LADDER (a ‘run’, as of a stocking).
20 CONTRACT
Reduce order (8)
Double definition.
22 LEADEN
Oppressive open country where wild animal holes up? (6)
LEA (meadowland) + DEN (animal shelter).
25 SCAM
Fiddle with prawns pulling tails off (4)
SCAMpi.
26 APEX
Copy No. 10’s tip (4)
APE + X (Roman ten).
27 ANTE
Guarantee to conceal payment (4)
Hidden in ‘guarANTEe’. First ‘payment’ into, e.g., a poker kitty.

12 comments on “Financial Times 16,866 by JASON”

  1. First time I’ve tried a Jason puzzle but on this showing, I hope to see more from the setter.
    Was very slow starting, with 24a and 29a my first two in. The down clues proved kinder and then things flowed readily enough.
    Favourites included 12, 13, 21 and 30. Re 3d, here was I thinking ‘dodgy’ was performing a double duty!
    Thanks to Jason and Grant.

  2. To Diane:
    Me, too. I deleted the double ‘dodgy’ from the blog as being too tendentious but I stand by the ‘in quotes’ bit.

  3. Grant,
    Where else can you scoff at a bit of financial skulduggery if not in an FT thread?! Can’t comment on those “novels” having never read them.

  4. Thanks for the blog, pretty decent puzzle and Diane has picked my favourites.
    Did not get WIKI , never heard of it or Enzedder , think the E put me off, I would have got NZer.
    I think the peer is not in the definition for 3D , ” novelist peer ” has both terms equally laughable.
    Lord Archer is the best possible argument for abolishing the House of Lords.

  5. Thanks for explaining how EASE could be used for ‘manoeuvre’; I couldn’t think of an example. The only other one I had trouble with was DART which wasn’t the first word to come to mind for ‘launch’.

    Best bits were the appearance of the word ‘drongo’ in 13a, the tricky parsing for EAST INDIES and pulling the tails off prawns (a traditional Christmas activity) for SCAM.

    Thanks to Jason and Grant

  8. Re 28a, in fairness to the setter, the first definition in Chambers of “dart” as a transitive verb is “to hurl suddenly”, and the first two of “launch” are “to throw or hurl; to dart”, so it seems reasonable enough on that basis.

  9. For the second time in a week I failed to finish after entering wrong answer for the first across clue. I had BORAGE for the “bribe” which turns out to be the origin of grease. Thanks Grant and Jason.

  11. Except for missing DART this went in fairly methodically for me. I can’t see where OMAHA = Sioux city — I approached the clue as a triple definition; even though the Sioux and the Omaha were bitter enemies they both were Plains Indians and both spoke a Siouan language. Thanks Grant for parsing — I could not figure out WIKI, ROPE LADDER, or LEADEN. Favourite clue was HEAVE. Thanks Jason.

  12. Thanks Jason and Grant
    I remember this setter being an easier Monday one, but this had some sting it, particularly those tricky little 4-letter ones. Was trying to do it with a repeat of Game of Thrones going in the background, so it took quite a bit longer than it would have normally. WIKI was the clue that gave most satisfaction, needing my partner to remind me that an Enzedder was a ‘kiwi’ – a clever trick to get the rest.
    That was my third to last in, followed by ARTIFICE (nicely put together charade) and MEND (after seeing a different use of ‘other ranks’ to give something other than OR).

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