Financial Times 17,647 by SLORMGORM

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SLORMGORM starts off this Monday…

Great clues and surfaces, as one expects from this setter. I particularly liked 6d.

Thanks SLORMGORM|

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1. Effects of drinks: time off for bit of rest (7)
RIPPLES

TIPPLES (drinks, T (time) off for R[est] (bit of))

5. Sack found in hansom by back of The Savoy? (7)
CABBAGE

BAG (sack) found in (CAB (hansom) by [th]E (back of))

9. A person in charge at the front (5)
AHEAD

A + HEAD (person in charge)

10. A theologian featuring in local story (9)
NARRATIVE

( A + RR (theologian)) featuring in NATIVE (local)

11. Fun-seekers fellow placed in bank jobs (9)
HEDONISTS

DON (fellow) placed in HEISTS (bank jobs)

12. Row of offset tools (3-2)
SET-TO

[off]SET TO[ools] (of)

13. Italian leader touring north’s an idiot (5)
DUNCE

DUCE (Italian leader) touring N (north)

15. Those none represented precisely (2,3,4)
ON THE NOSE

(THOSE NONE)* (*represented)

18. Contest concerning NHS department or unit? (9)
COMPONENT

COMP (contest) + ON (concerning) + ENT (NHS department)

19. Old Bill given the greenlight to be strict (5)
EXACT

EX (old) + ACT (bill given the greenlight)

21. Ship possibly carrying dangerous beast (5)
HIPPO

[s]HIP PO[ssibly] (carrying)

23. Looking fierce enthrals Catholic husband (9)
SEARCHING

SEARING (fierce) enthrals (C (Catholic) + H (husband))

25. Lawyer right to go after dodgy arbiters (9)
BARRISTER

R (right) to go after (ARBITERS)* (*dodgy)

26. Group books film about Casablanca’s lead (5)
OCTET

(OT (books) + ET (film)) about C[asablanca] (lead)

27. Room where doctor opens case in house (7)
THEATRE

Double (cryptic) definition

28. Complain about drunken outburst in High Barnet (7)
MOHICAN

MOAN (complain) about HIC (drunken outburst)

Barnet = Barnet fair = hair

DOWN
1. Long to tuck into wine? Got to! (7)
REACHED

ACHE (long) to tuck into RED (wine)

2. PM you send in error for Slormgorm? (9)
PSEUDONYM

(PM YOU SEND)* (*in error)

3. Drop of liquor with port gets you loaded (5)
LADEN

L[iquor] (drop of) with ADEN (port)

4. Rock bands finally meeting with R. Wood? (9)
SANDSTONE

[band]S (finally) meeting AND (with) + STONE (R. Wood?)

5. Nags and fish (5)
CARPS

Double definition

6. Cup-holder is more insolent close to game (9)
BRASSIERE

BRASSIER (more insolent) + [gam]E (close to)

7. A composer’s not unknown in this (1-4)
A-LIST

A + LIS[z]T (composer, not Z (unknown, algebra)) &lit

8. Something very ugly I saw broadcast (7)
EYESORE

"I saw" = EYESORE ("broadcast")

14. It’s a job and it comes with no rubbish (9)
ECONOMIST

(IT COMES with NO)* (*rubbish)

16. Offensive kid gets hit for four-letter word (9)
TETRAGRAM

TET (offensive, Tet Offensive being part of the Vietnam War) + RAG (kid) gets RAM (hit)

17. Self-serving sanction I sorted out (9)
ONANISTIC

(SANCTION I)* (*sorted out)

18. Share digs about old nun’s clothing (7)
COHABIT

C (about, circa) + O (old) + HABIT (nun's clothing)

20. Game hard tenor and nurse make more strict (7)
TIGHTEN

TIG (game) + H (hard) + T (tenor) + EN (nurse, Enrolled Nurse)

22. Intrinsically, a short group (3,2)
PER SE

PER (a) + SE[t] (group, short)

23. Barman posed with half-cut Okie (5)
SATIE

SAT (posed) with [ok]IE (half-cut)

Erik Satie

24. Hard to give support to fool in clergy (5)
CLOTH

H (hard) to give support to CLOT (fool)

15 comments on “Financial Times 17,647 by SLORMGORM”

  1. Shanne
    @1 - February 5, 2024 at 12:50 pm

    I did wonder how the poor blogger was going to deal with ONANISTIC as I solved this, and I’m amused by Teacow’s sliding past the issue.

    Thank you to Teacow and Slormgorm for an entertaining puzzle.

  2. SM
    @2 - February 5, 2024 at 1:08 pm

    I agree with Shanne@1 about the quality of the puzzle and blog. The delicate way Teacow treated 17d was perhaps inevitable.

    Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow for the fun.

  3. Diane
    @3 - February 5, 2024 at 1:31 pm

    Good fun as always from Slormgorm. I liked ‘Got to’ as 1d’s definition, 4d’s ‘R.Wood’, CABBAGE, SEARCHING, MOHICAN and CLOTH.
    Thanks both.

  4. Ong'ara in Kenya
    @4 - February 5, 2024 at 1:53 pm

    Oh dear, ONANISTIC! Well …

  5. KVa
    @5 - February 5, 2024 at 2:50 pm

    Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow!
    Liked EXACT, MOHICAN, SANDSTONE and COHABIT.

  6. Perplexus
    @6 - February 5, 2024 at 3:20 pm

    I always thought the plural of carp was carp, but it didn’t detract from an entertaining , rather than taxing, puzzle, so thanks to Slormgorm and to Teacow for the (tactful) blog.

  7. Pelham Barton
    @7 - February 5, 2024 at 4:05 pm

    Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow

    5dn: We had some discussion about plurals of fish in a Monk puzzle in early December 2023 when Monk had HADDOCKS at 1ac
    https://www.fifteensquared.net/2023/12/06/financial-times-17593-by-monk/#more-179150
    For carp, ODE 2010 says “(pl. same)”, Chambers 2016 says nothing specific, and Collins 2023 says explicitly “pl carp or carps“. Noting particularly Monk’s comment number 27 from the link above, Slormgorm is entitled under FT policy to say CARPS, but readers are equally entitled to use “carp” as the plural.

  8. Perplexus
    @8 - February 5, 2024 at 4:20 pm

    PB@7 is of course absolutely right and as I said it didn’t really bother me. Just for my own edification I delved into the full OED (which I possess in a “compact”, photographically reduced edition with magnifying glass included!). That gives the plural as “carp, formerly carps”.

  9. Martyn
    @9 - February 5, 2024 at 6:10 pm

    I agree this was entertaining, although there were a few places where the setter appeared to have run out of time. I liked CARPS (whether correct or not) for the way it hid the plural. OED may say one thing, Perplexus@8, but I bet Chambers says another. I agree that there were many great surfaces, and I especially liked those of SATIE and ECONOMIST.

    Never heard of TETRAGRAPH, High Barnet or ONANISTIC, but I managed to get those clues in the end. I could not work out the meaning of bill in EXACT – thanks for the explanation

    Thanks to Slormgorm and Teacow

  10. Cellomaniac
    @10 - February 5, 2024 at 6:42 pm

    Nice one Slormgorm, including 2d, where the self-reference didn’t lead to I, my, me, or mine.

    I failed to parse three clues, two of which were obvious, once I read Teacow’s excellent blog. The third I still don’t understand – could someone explain the R. Wood in 4d SANDSTONE? (Google didn’t help.)

    I liked the delicate definition for 17d ONANISM. Do stores that announce “please use our self-checkout service” know how naughtily suggestive they are being?

  11. Roz
    @11 - February 5, 2024 at 6:47 pm

    Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones .

  12. Roz
    @12 - February 5, 2024 at 6:53 pm

    Thanks for the blog, very enjoyable puzzle , MOHICAN my favourite clue and my favourite hairstyle for one week per year.

  13. Tony Santucci
    @13 - February 5, 2024 at 9:06 pm

    Thanks Slormgorm for your usual humour. My top picks were REACHED, CABBAGE, PSEUDONYM, and TETRAGRAM. Thanks Teacow for the blog.

  14. Moly
    @14 - February 5, 2024 at 10:33 pm

    Back from a couple of weeks away.

    I enjoyed this one, even though it had the ugly plural of Carp as Carps. This brought a groan and memories of the Haddocks debate – thanks To Pelham B @7 for the link. My views remain unchanged – it’s wrong, despite what some dictionaries say. 🙂 🙂

    Thanks for the blog.

  15. cellomaniac
    @15 - February 6, 2024 at 5:52 am

    Thanks, Roz. Jagger, Richards and Watts is the extent of my knowledge. Now I fully appreciate the excellent surface of the 4d SANDSTONE clue.

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