Financial Times 17,194 by MOO

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Moo returns to the Thursday slot.

A straightforward Moo puzzle which didn't hold me up for long although my LOI took a minute or two because I just couldn't see BROAD (such an outdated and probably now disrespectful word).

ACROSS
1 TELEGRAM
Message saying Mrs Simpson allowed to return (8)

<=(MARGE ("Mrs Simpson") + LET ("allowed")) [to return]
5 EGRESS
Degenerate runs off, finding way out (6)

R (runs) off (r)EGRESS ("degenerate")
10 ROAST
Criticise a society in decline (5)

A + S (society) in ROT ("decline")
11 ENIGMATIC
Mysterious giant mice all over the place (9)

*(giant mice) [anag:all over the place]
12 OVERNIGHT
Quickly recovered from affair with nobleman, you say? (9)

OVER KNIGHT ("recovered from affair with [homophone (you say) of] nobleman")
13 SALSA
Israelis occasionally leading one a dance (5)

(i)S(r)A(e)L(i)S [occasionally] leading A ("one")
14 DOSSER
Layabout actor entertaining guards (6)

DOER ("actor") entertaining SS (originally Hitler's "guard")
15 NUTCASE
Idiot in a helmet? (7)

Cryptic definition
18 REDHEAD
R for Rufus? (7)

R is the "head of" R(ed), and Rufus means REDHEAD
20 RANTED
Raged wildly, caught in flagrante delicto (6)

Hidden [caught] in "flaGRANTE Delicto"
22 ARMED
Cockney injured carrying a gun? (5)

'ARMED (harmed ("injured") to a "Cockney")
24 COLUMNIST
Doctor I consult about male agony aunt? (9)

*(I consult) [anag:doctor] about M (male)
25 ECONOMISE
Moo’s niece struggling to cut costs (9)

*(moos niece) [anag:struggling]
26 TRAIN
Teach gunmen to grab cash? The opposite (5)

RA (Royal Artillery, so "gunmen") in TIN ("cash"), rather than "the opposite" (i.e. RA grabbing TIN)
27 TRYING
Hard of hearing? (6)

Double definition
28 DETHRONE
Get rid of scrounger nicking the rum (8)

DRONE ("scrounger") nicking *(the) [anag:rum]
DOWN
1 TERROR
Blunder by scientist ultimately creating a monster (6)

ERROR ("blunder") by (scientis)T [ultimately]
2 LEASEHOLD
Property deal he almost lost somehow (9)

*(deal he los) [anag:somehow] where LOS is [almost] LOS(t)
3 GET ONE’S HEAD DOWN
Work hard – have a little snooze? (3,4,4,4)

Double definition
4 AVENGER
State imprisoning English vigilante (7)

AVER ("state") imprisoning ENG (English)
6 GAME SET AND MATCH
Is it all over for Emma Raducanu? (4,3,3,5)

Cryptic (ish) definition
7 EXTOL
Praise partner once confronting reactionary group (5)

EX ("partner once") confronting [revolutionary] LOT ("group")
8 SOCRATES
Thus judges must confine Tory thinker (8)

SO ("thus") + RATES ("judges") must confine C (Conservative)
9 HILTON
Top hotel in Paris? (6)

Double definition, the first referring to a hotel chain, the second to Paris HILTON, the media "personality" who is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton, who established the Hilton hotel empire.
16 AMERICANO
This coffee has surprisingly nice aroma (9)

*(nice aroma) [anag:surprisingly]
17 BROADEST
American woman in Nice is generous in the extreme (8)

BROAD (old-fashioned name for a "woman" in the US) + EST ("is" in French, so "in Nice")
19 DECEIT
Fraud? English drawn to it at end of year (6)

E (English) drawn to IT at DEC (December, so "end of year")
20 RELIEVE
A little quarrel I eventually break up (7)

hidden in [a little] "quarREL I EVEntually"
21 AT ONCE
Agreed to snort cocaine together (2,4)

AT ONE ("agreed") to snort C (cocaine)
23 MOODY
Irritable setter encountering delay on vacation (5)

MOO ("setter") encountering D(ela)Y [on vacation]

10 comments on “Financial Times 17,194 by MOO”

  1. Very enjoyable. I was unable to establish why RA were gunmen; the best I could do from Google was rheumatoid arthritis. Didn’t know Marge Simpson (never watched it), nor Emma Raducanu (not a tennis fan). After a bit of research I think I’ve worked out the historic reasons why Rufus is a redhead. I don’t like reducing “society” to its initial, but people have explained previously why this is legit, so I must reluctantly accept it.

    Plenty of nice clues; none stood out as a particular favourite.

  4. Loonapick’s is a fair appraisal of this grid, a welcome return from Moo.
    I, too, whipped through this like a dose of salts but took a long time to get my LOI, DETHRONE. I knew RA so bunged in TRAIN without remembering that ‘tin’ is cash.
    I liked 1a, 15a, 18a, 6d and 8d.
    Thanks to Moo and Loonapick.

  5. Steady progress but DNF as I didn’t see Hilton. (lots of laughter Emoji should follow). I was thrown by the Paris bit.

  6. Ps. The good news is I managed to make 6lbs of blackberry jelly this morning while failing to complete the crossword.

    Here in Monmouthshire we have a bumper year for blackberries. The best I have ever known. The hedgerows are groaning under their abundant weight.

  7. Moly,
    I’m reliably informed by my jam-making mother that such is also the case in Herefordshire. Decent damson pickings too. Would that I were there to consume them.

  8. I latched on to “Wallis” for ‘Mrs Simpson’ (probably as intended) at 1a so this held me up at the start. Had to go to another part of the grid and the answers then started going in steadily, only to be slowed again at the end by HILTON (D’Oh!) and my last in, NUTCASE.

    Favourite was the clever ‘R for Rufus?’

    Thanks to Moo and loonapick – hope you’re enjoying your hols in Morocco

  9. We too finished this quickly. 1ac was no problem as in Crosswordland we now automatically think ‘Homer’ = ‘Simpson’ and ‘Mrs Simpson = Marge’ (even though we don’t watch The Simpsons.
    Some lovely clues. We liked NUTCASE, REDHEAD and MOODY.
    Thanks, Moo and loonapick.

  10. Thanks Moo, that took me longer than it should have to complete. I used a word finder for BROADEST; like loonapick I just didn’t think of “broad” as an American woman. Merriam-Webster lists it as “slang, often offensive.” In any event there were some good clues here, TELEGRAM, ROAST, MOODY, and RANTED, the latter because it took me so long to see. Thanks to both.

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