Financial Times 16,940 by LEONIDAS

A lot to like in this Leonidas offering.

This puzzle grew on me. I started slowly, with the bottom half failing to yield anything on my first pass. I concentrated on the top half for a while, completed it, and then tackled the bottom half, getting there in the end by eventually working out what was going on with the parsing of THESUS (my LOI).

My favourite clues were those for PIPED ("sent by tube"), INK-BLOT TEST, LEGO (clever device), DEPRIVE ("record that lasts a while") and the very clever &lit. UTRECHT.

Thanks, Leonidas – that was fun.

ACROSS
1 ISLAMABAD
City’s query regarding morality of monk (9)

IS LAMA BAD? could be a question about the morality of a lama ("monk")

6 POLYP
Growth in borders of poppy crop returned (5)

<=([borders of] P(opp)Y + LOP ("crop")) [returned]

9 PIPED
Priest wearing black and white sent by Tube (5)

P (priest) wearing (i.e. enveloped by) PIED ("black and white")

10 ESPLANADE
Some led an Alps expert around area for a walk (9)

Hidden backwards [some…around] in "lED AN ALPS Expert"

11 TEAM SPIRIT
Essence of co-operation lost as Met trashed Priti (4,6)

*(as met) [anag:lost] + *(priti) [anag:trashed]

12 LEGO
Danish export sex cryptically! (4)

LEG + O (over), gives "leg-over", so "sex" cryptically

14 SUCROSE
Carbohydrate source oddly grew (7)

S(o)U(r)C(e) [oddly] + ROSE ("grew")

15 EVOCATE
Call up vet’s centre having wounded avocet (7)

(v)E(t) ['s centre] having *(avocet) [anag:wounded]

17 UTRECHT
Rutte possibly hosts starts of campaigns here (7)

*(rutte) [anag:possibly] hosts [starts of] C(ampaigns) H(ere) and &lit.

Mark Rutte, as PM of the Netherlands, could possibly start a campaign in Utrecht.

19 INDIANA
State of Ford seen on films (7)

Harrison "Ford" plays INDIANA Jones in "films"

20 GRAB
Seizure in back of Flying Scotsman (4)

[back of] (flyin)G + RAB (Scottish version of Rob or Robert, so "Scotsman")

22 WEEKNIGHTS
Evenings after work with small entitled men (10)

WEE ("small") + KNIGHTS ("entitled men")

25 RAISE HELL
Artist regularly in shed (that guy will make trouble) (5,4)

RA (member of the Royal Academy, so "artist") + [regularly] I(n) S(h)E(d) + HE'LL ("that guy will")

26 GET-GO
Turn on good film to see beginning (3-2)

GO ("turn") on G (good) + ET ("film")

27 STUNT
This may require a double hamper (5)

Double definition

28 SATIRICAL
Mocking island state involved in sham trials (9)

I (island) + CA (California, so "state") involved in *(trials) [anag:sham]

DOWN
1 INPUT
Contribution from leader at home being promoted (5)

PUTIN ("leader") with IN ("at home") promoted, i.e. moved up, becomes IN-PUT

2 LAP DANCER
Performer friend spun atop reindeer (3,6)

<=PAL ("friend", spun) atop DANCER (Santa's "reindeer")

3 MIDAS TOUCH
Nearly too much said about knack for making money (5,5)

*(to much said) [anag:about] where TO is [nearly] TO(o)

4 BEELINE
Direct route from empty birdcage cat initially avoided (7)

[empty] B(irdcag)E + (f)ELINE

5 DEPRIVE
Strip of road holding record that lasts a while (7)

DRIVE ("road") holding EP (extended play "record", so "record that lasts a while")

6 PIAF
Singer with Indian accompaniment hasn’t left (4)

PI(l)AF ("Indian accompaniment") hasn't L (left)

7 LEAVE
Desert pasture extremely valuable (5)

LEA ("pasture") + [extremely] V(aluabl)E

8 PHENOMENA
Events assistant fixes female on sign (9)

PA (personal "assistant") fixes HEN ("female") on OMEN ("sign")

13 GOLDFINGER
Aged fellow punches red-headed man with the 3 (10)

OLD ("aged") + F (fellow) punches GINGER ("red-headed")

In the theme song for the Bond movie, Goldfinger, Goldfinger is described as "the man with the Midas touch" (the answer to 3)

14 SLUGGARDS
Idle bunch hit security personnel leaving university (9)

SLUG ("hit") + G(u)ARDS ("security personnel" leaving U (university))

16 APATHETIC
Uninterested adult on course recalled quote (9)

A (adult) on PATH ("course") + <=CITE ("quote", recalled)

18 THESEUS
Old Greek wine is finally imported by America (7)

(win)E (i)S [finally] imported by THE US ("America")

Theseus was a mythological king who killed the Minotaur.

19, 24 INK-BLOT TEST
Ten bolt kits faulty, evaluation on the cards? (3-4,4)

*(ten bolt kits) [anag:faulty]

21 ADIEU
Acceptable to support Kate on Radio 4 for so long (5)

U ("acceptable") to support (Kate) ADIE ("Kate on Radio 4")

23 SHOAL
Raised hard in country school (5)

[raised] <=(H (hard) in LAOS ("country"))

24
See 19

13 comments on “Financial Times 16,940 by LEONIDAS”

  1. Always need my thinking cap on with Leonidas so was delighted to finish this puzzle unaided – or maybe it was just a little easier than usual?
    I did have a few unparsed/half-parsed however (9, 26, 28, 1d) so came here seeking answers.
    13d was my favourite today among an exceptionally good crop of clues.
    Also liked 1a, 2 and 12 (cheeky); 6, 23, 27 (neat) and excellent wordplay in so many: 25, 8, 13, 14d, 16 and 21 for a well disguised definition.
    Much appreciation to Leonidas and Loonapick.

  2. This took me a long time to eventually fill the grid correctly, though I couldn’t parse the clever DEPRIVE, being stuck on ‘Strip of road’ = DRIVE. Very enjoyable though, and plenty to choose from for the highlights. I liked the ESPLANADE reverse hidden, the ‘sex cryptically!’ wordplay for my last in, LEGO, the appearance of Harrison ‘Ford’ in the wordplay for INDIANA and Edith PIAF at 6d. Another ‘Singer’, Shirley Bassey, instantly sprang to mind for 13d.

    Thanks to Leonidas and loonapick

  3. A while ago I said about a Leonidas puzzle that it was ‘my kind of crossword’.
    I could say the same thing again today.
    There’s hardly anything too obvious here, so it was a slow cooker.
    A crossword in which the average solver has to walk the extra mile (which I like but some will be less happy about that).
    I couldn’t finish because of 23dn and 27ac – totally my ‘fault’ but in hindsight these were not the best clues of the set, I think.
    Splendid crossword, and – important to me – very precise.
    Many thanks to Loonapick (for the blog) and Leonidas (for today’s quality offering).

  4. I had the same thought as you, Wordplodder, regarding ‘drive’ but in the end, I doubted that ‘strip’ was performing a double duty and thought of Rodeo Drive which is more than just a strip for parking your car.
    And I think the precision Sil mentions is why I was able to finish this.

  5. I don’t do the FT every day, but I always look out for certain setters, and Leonidas is one of them.
    Got 1d and 2d immediately, but thankfully the solving slowed down and made it more enjoyable.
    Didn’t need to come here for any help in the parsing, just wanted to thank NH for number 12 (the clue as well as the puzzle).

  6. It was a nice touch to include the POPPY in today’s (Armistice Day) cluing. A good workout but just failed on LEGO. I’m not prudish though! Thanks both.

  7. Some great clues in this puzzle, especially 19a, 5d, and 13d. But I’d never seen that definition of SHOAL before. And even with the blog, it took me a minute to see why 27a is a (very clever) double definition.

    Thanks Leonidas and Loonapick.

  8. Fun puzzle with some nicely disguised definitions and imaginative constructions.

    MIDAS TOUCH is a splendid anagram clue and the link to 13dn is well done (thank you DSB). The three clues referencing politicians are excellent and LEGO is pleasantly smirkworthy.

    One little quibble: PILAF to me is more Persian/Turkish – the Indian version is more usually ‘pilau’.

    Thanks to S&B

  9. This took some figuring out but we got all the answers even if we couldn’t parse them all. SLUGGARDS and PHENOMENA were last ones in – we were on the point of using a wordfinder for them when we not only saw the answers but parsed them too. Favourite was MIDAS TOUCH.
    Thanks, Leonidas and loonapick.

  10. A very wide ranging puzzle, which I only finished with my breakfast coffee this morning. But it was all so gettable, even if more thinking was required.
    Thanks for that exercise Leonidas and explaining the bits I couldn’t Loonapick.

  11. Once again stumped by LEONIDAS with LEGO, STUNT, and SHOAL impossible for me to solve but clues like UTRECHT, ESPLANADE, WEEKNIGHTS, INPUT, BEELINE, and SLUGGARDS will always have me returning for more crosswords by this setter. Thanks loonapick for explaining the wordplay.

  12. Thanks Leonidas and loonapick
    Started this one last night, making very little progress in the first half hour or so. Returned to it today taking a number of more sessions to slowly work my way through the rest of it. Having completed and fully parsed it all, must rate it as one of the most satisfying and enjoyable crosswords that have been served up in the FT for the year.
    There was not a weak clue amongst them and the cleverness in the misdirection, carefully disguised definitions and some really interesting devices (the risqué LEGO one and ISLAMABAD (although I reckon that I’ve seen it before in hindsight)) made for a very slow-burning solve.
    Ended up with that LEGO, RAISE HELL and THESEUS the last few in.

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