Financial Times 16,898 by MOO

by

Moo provides the FT breakfast entertainment.

I'm genuinely not sure whether I liked this puzzle or not. Some of the clues were very good, among them PUBLISHER, INTERFERE, RETINUE, EUPHRATES, BOOTS and PREACHER and my favourite POLICE STATION.

However, the pedant in me was awoken by the lack of a definition in CREDO, the superfluous words in OBLONGS, the definition in the clue for INHERITANCE leading to "inheritor" etc.

In the clue for PEEK, EEK simply is not the same as "there's a mouse!", although it may be some people's reactions (mine would be more like AW!, but then I like wildlife). And finally, the clue for SICK AS A PARROT simply isn't cryptic.

I applaud Moo for "pushing the envelope" on CREDO and PEEK in particular; I genuinely want to like clues like these, but I'm a Ximenean at heart and they don't "follow the rules".

I'm sure some of you will disagree, as is your right, but I think a little editing could have made this an excellent puzzle instead of a very good one.

Thanks, Moo

ACROSS
1 PEPYS
Diarist has a furtive look, they say (5)

Homophone [they say] of PEEPS ("has a furtive look")
4 PUBLISHER
Billie occasionally visiting dealer in Bloomsbury perhaps (9)

B(i)L(l)I(e) [occasionally] visiting PUSHER ("dealer")
9 EARLIER
Previously more like a man of noble birth (7)

A nobleman could be an EARL, like a nobleman could thus be EARLY, so "more like a" nobleman could be EARLIER

There should be a question mark at the end of the clue, in my opinion.
10 OBLONGS
Old boys harbouring desire for figures such as these? (7)

OBs (old boys, as in former pupils) harbouring LONG ("desire")

The "such as these?" is superfluous
11 POLICE STATION
A busy place? (6,7)

Cryptic definition, "busy" being a slang word for a policeman.
14 ARTY
Pretentious Penny booted out by Tories for one (4)

P (penny) booted out of (p)ARTY ("Tories for one")
15 UNTOUCHED
A Parisian off his head – or in perfect shape? (9)

UN ("one" in French, so "a Parisian") + TOUCHED ("off his head")
18 INTERFERE
Meddle in current rent-free arrangement (9)

I (symbol in physics for electric "current") + *(rent free) [anag:arrangement]
19 CRAM
Press knocking back the brandy (4)

[knocking back] <= MARC ("brandy")
21 SICK AS A PARROT
Down with the same bug as Polly? (4,2,1,6)

(Not very) cryptic definition.
24 RANCHES
Estates controlled most of the game (7)

RAN ("controlled") + [most of] CHES(s) ("game")
26 RETINUE
Followers of Her Majesty holding couple back (7)

<=(ER (Elizabeth Regina, so "Her Majesty") holding UNITE ("couple")) [back]
27 EUPHRATES
River pasture he cultivated (9)

*(pasture he) [anag:cultivated]
28 CREDO
I believe in Latin, as almost all the boys do (5)

[almost all] CRE(w) ("the boys") + DO

There isn't really a definition in this clue, just a derivation of the solution and a cryptic indication.
DOWN
1 PEEK
Look! There’s a mouse by piano! (4)

EEK ("what someone may cry when they see "a mouse") by P (piano, in music notation)
2 PERIPATETIC
Vagabond’s precipitate movement (11)

*(precipitate) [anag:movement]
3 SHIELD
Guard started to cross lake (6)

SHIED ("started", as in recoiled) to cross L (lake)
4 PARACHUTE
Ready to drop? This might help (9)

Cryptic definition
5 BOOTS
Where one on drugs might go for kicks? (5)

BOOTS is a chain of dispensing chemist's shops, so "one on drugs might go" there.
6 IN LEAGUE
Reporter’s local group conspiring (2,6)

Homophone [reporter's] of INN ("local") + LEAGUE ("group")
7 HAN
Dynasty’s influence failing in the end (3)

HAN(d) ("dynasty", failing at the end)

The Han dynasty ruled China for over 400 years.
8 RISING DAMP
In some homes it’s a problem of course (6,4)

Cryptic definition
12 INHERITANCE
Incinerate husband perhaps? He’s got it coming! (11)

*(incinerate h) [anag:perhaps] where H = husband.

Difficult to pinpoint the definition here. It can't be "he's got it coming" as that would be INHERITOR.
13 PATISSERIE
Exotic pastries I originally enjoyed here (10)

*(pastries i) [anag:exotic] + [originally] E(njoyed)
16 THESAURUS
Reference work ambassador’s placed in house (9)

HE's ("ambassador's", as in His Excellency's) placed in TAURUS ("house" of the Zodiac)
17 PREACHER
Child’s hero under pressure to become a man of God (8)

(Jack) REACHER ("hero" of a series of novels by Lee "Child") under P (pressure)
20 ARCTIC
Lorry carrying Charlie’s very cold (6)

ARTIC (short for articulated "lorry") carrying C (Charlie, in the phonetic alphabet)
22 ASSET
Attraction of girl from the south (5)

<=TESSA ("girl", (reading upwards) from the south)
23 HERO
Leading man a little lecherous (4)

Hidden in [a little] "lecHEROus"
25 NAP
Tip vessel over (3)

<=PAN ("vessel", over)

A "nap" is a racing tip.

25 comments on “Financial Times 16,898 by MOO”

  1. I see your point, Loonapick, though on the whole, I enjoyed Moo’ s typical wit today but then I’m pretty liberal.
    I share your favourite though (11 – best appreciated in a thick Scouse accent) along with 4a and 8. The confluence of 1a/1d was neat, as was 2’s anagram.
    Came here to see if 5 was ‘blows’ or ‘boots’ and 25 a reversal of ‘pot’ or ‘pan’.
    Thanks to Moo and for Loonapick clarifying those; one right, one wrong.

  2. Thanks Moo and Loonapick
    9ac: I agree this needs an indication that the second definition is whimsical not actual. A question mark would just about do it.
    10ac: While I agree that the clue would work without the last three words, I would say that they are relevant, so would pass them.
    11/21ac/9dn: I am actually happier with one part clues for phrases than for single words. At least the enumeration gives us a bit more than the cryptic definition on its own.
    28ac: I was happy with “I believe in Latin” as a definition. The word “credo” is used in English to denote a section of the Latin mass, for example. It is the first word of the text.
    1dn: Not at all happy with this. I did not think of PEEK at all, but guessed between PEEP and PEER (both unparsed), wondering what the blog would give me.
    25dn: I had NIB originally for this, which I think first the cue as well as NAP or TOP (thanks Diane @1). I prefer clues to be unambiguous in themselves and not rely on checked letters to resolve the ambiguity.

    Having said akk that, there was enough that I enjoyed to make it a good puzzle for me.

  3. Pelham,
    I had ‘peer’ too first of all (‘peep’ also would have been fitting given 1a) but I think ‘eek’, while certainly loose, describes the high-pitched squeak a mouse makes and is often seen in old comics etc as the utterance of one surprised by a mouse.

  5. Thanks Moo for the puzzle, and Loonapick for explaining some of the wordplay.
    BTW I believe you meant: HAN(d) (“influence”, failing at the end)

  8. I initially had “top” for 25d, as a reversal of “pot”, thinking it a poor clue. I changed my mind when I realised my mistake.

    I don’t see the problem in 28a. CREDO is “I believe” in Latin. It seems a perfectly good definition. I just thought it was a bit obvious, but for those without the benefit of a classical education (‘O’ level Latin, 1970, in my case), I suppose it might not be.

  9. My last one in was 21A and that was only because of the cross letters. The only similar expression that I know is “sick as a dog”. The answer was new to me. Does it relate to the Monty Python sketch (which I have never seen) about a parrot?

    I also had to cheat with 25D as I know nothing about racing or gambling. With letters one and three, there were only five possible answers.

  10. Thanks to Moo and loonapick. I had no trouble with PEEK-eek (maybe I’ve seen too many cartoons), and as a Jack Reacher-Lee Child fan I enjoyed PREACHER. For the record, CRAM is the obvious answer but before spotting it I found a brandy linked to nori, so iron reversed.

  11. Ah, that’s interesting, ACD @10. I admired PREACHER belatedly as I got that from definition and crossers, having failed to spot (Jack) Reacher.

  12. Thanks for the blog , agree a bit of a mixed bag but enjoyable overall.
    Peter@9 – SICK AS A PARROT was a simply a cliche to mean disappointed , footballers mainly as I recall. The counterpart was OVER THE MOON.
    I also recall EEK being very common in the Beano and others.

  13. A curate’s egg, definitely. A lot to like but I share some of the objections raised above: in particular was held up at the end briefly by being convinced that “top” was the answer to 25d – which it could well have been, with the p already in place…Not very happy with PEEK or CREDO, either.

  15. A pleasant solve over our afternoon tea/coffee break. We enjoyed this, solved it all, and had no complaints about any of the clues.
    Thanks, Moo and (sorry you didn’t find it so enjoyable) loonapick.

  16. About 20 years ago we had backpacker from London temping for us. Being a backpacker she’d often come in with a raging hangover, moaning “I’m as sick as a parrot”. I’d certainly never heard the expression and asked about its origin. She wasn’t sure. I assured her that most of the many parrots she would see on her stay here would be in very good health.

  17. Like ACD @10 I wanted 19a to be IRON (from nori apple brandy), as I have a granddaughter named Nori.
    I thought that PEEK @1d was fine, with the exclamation marks indicating the squeal.
    I agree with PB@2 that the “extra” words in 10a OBLONGS enhance the definition.
    On the other hand, I thought hand=influence in 7d was a stretch. Also, I do not understand “of course” in the definition of 8d RISING DAMP – can anyone help me with that?

    Thanks Moo and loonapick for the fun and enlightenment.

  18. Cellomaniac,
    I thought of Maradona’s ‘hand of God’ as divine influence so that was fine by me but I can’t help with ‘of course’. I could only muster ‘damp course’ treatments for walls but it doesn’t seem enough.

  19. Cellomaniac @17, Diane is quire correct, walls are built with a membrane at a certain height to prevent rising damp , it is called a damp course. If this course fails you get rising damp. Chemical treatments are available to inject into the wall after failure.

  21. Thanks Roz- I never stop learning interesting new stuff thanks to the amazing contributors to this site. (Although particle physics will always remain beyond my ability to comprehend ? )

  25. Thanks Moo and loonapick
    Very late to the party with this one. Found it a good challenge, perhaps from the quirks described above and some unknown terms (‘busy’ for policeman and Jack REACHER, cleverly clued as ‘Child’s hero’).
    Not sure why you didn’t think there was a definition for CREDO – it literally translates from Latin as “I believe” – actually thought it was quite clever. There were a couple that I needed parsing help – POLICE STATION as mentioned and didn’t see the “INN” + LEAGUE at 6d.
    Finished with ASSET, that POLICE STATION and BOOTS (after putting my local British hat on and remembered the pharmacy chain).

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