Financial Times 17,673 BASILISK

A pleasure to see Basilisk in this morning’s slot.

A tightly composed and cleverly crafted puzzle with plenty to like, so many thanks to Basilisk!

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS

1. What may be less effective than pens in crossword-solving? (6)

SWORDS

[cros]SWORD-S[olving] (in)

Referring to the idiom “the pen is mightier than the sword”

4. State winner with naked prejudice (8)

VICTORIA

VICTOR (winner) with [b]IA[s] (prejudice, naked)

10. Stroppy understudy initially occupying number of small parts (9)

FRACTIOUS

U[nderstudy] (initially) occupying N (number) of FRACTIO[n]S (small parts)

11. Corrupt church on losing end of argument in tribunal (5)

BENCH

(BEN[t] (corrupt) + CH (church)) on losing [argumen]T (end of)

12. Studied indifference may irritate friend in the end (4)

EYED

[indifferenc]E [ma]Y [irritat]E [frien]D (in the end)

13. Alluded to Respect, putting Democrat last, behind Republican (10)

REFERENCED

DEFERENCE (respect) putting D (Democrat) last, behind R (Republican)

15. Look into fire brought about by explosive device (7)

EXAMINE

AXE< (fire, <brought about) by MINE (explosive device)

16. Sewer’s fixing running issue (6)

STITCH

Double definition

19. Electric vehicle went on the outside and drove round the bend (6)

PEEVED

EV (electric vehicle); PEED (went) on the outside

21. Person employed by company is part of the furniture (7)

DRESSER

Double definition

I take ‘company’ to refer to a theatre house or group of performers

23. Reindeer contaminated with TB reproduce to create new variants (10)

INTERBREED

(REINDEER + TB)* (*contaminated)

25. Bridge partners regularly play boards (4)

SPAN

SN (partners); P[l]A[y] (regularly) boards

S and N (south and north) are partners in the card game Bridge. ‘Bridge’ in the clue might allude to that, but it is to be taken as the definition.

27. Independent judge is infuriated (5)

IRATE

I (independent) + RATE (judge)

28. Quarantine could control and confine it potentially (9)

INFECTION

(CONFINE IT)* (*potentially) – semi &lit

Technically the whole clue is the definition, but not all of the clue is wordplay, hence semi &lit.

29. Barbaric immorality rejecting modus operandi of servicemen (8)

MILITARY

(IM[mo]RALITY)* (*barbaric, rejecting MO (modus operandi))

30. Check that is used to screen politician meeting journalist (6)

IMPEDE

I.E. (that is) used to screen (MP (politician) meeting ED (journalist))

DOWN

1. Subdued offspring half-heartedly eats a lot (8)

SOFTENED

SE[e]D (offspring, half-heartedly) eats OFTEN (a lot)

2. Display of the cross is behind round part of church typically (2,7)

ON AVERAGE

RAGE (display of the cross) is behind (O (round) + NAVE (part of church))

3. Daughter had court appointment (4)

DATE

D (daughter) ATE (had court)

5. Broadcasters take legal action to stop vacuous scandalmonger disrupting lives (7)

ISSUERS

(SUE (take legal action) to stop S[candalmonge]R (vacuous)) disrupting IS (lives)

6. Material protections applicable to consumers and board? (5,5)

TABLE LINEN

Cryptic definition

Definition could refer to napkins etc (material protection for consumers/eaters) or a table cloth (protection for the board/table)

7. University dons primarily researched contents of ancient letters (5)

RUNIC

UNI (university) done R[esearched] C[ontents] (primarily)

8. Part of honeytrap hid something from these suckers (6)

APHIDS

[honeytr]AP HID S[omething] (part of)

9. He wrote The Rape of the Lock and The Ancient Mariner (6)

POPEYE

POPE (he wrote The Rape of the Lock) + YE (the, ancient)

Alexander Pope, early 18th century poet

14. Animated evil sister with the palest complexion (10)

SILVERIEST

(EVIL SISTER)* (*animated)

17. Damage to retailer and rabid eurosceptic after leaving EU (4,5)

COST PRICE

([eu]ROSCEPTIC)* (*rabid, after leaving EU)

18. Regulation has one going great guns! (8)

ORDNANCE

ORD[i]NANCE (regulation, has I (one) going)

20. Clear up row showing less regard for decency (7)

DIRTIER

RID< (clear, <up) + TIER (row)

21. Suffer rapid losses as fiefdom abruptly collapses (3,3)

DIE OFF

(FIEFDO[m])* (*collapses, abruptly (i.e. short))

22. Harm involving religious instruction upset prophetess (6)

MIRIAM

(MAIM (harm) involving RI (Religious Instruction))< (<upset)

24. Storyteller beginning to talk on backing track (5)

TRAIL

(LIAR (storyteller) + T[alk] (beginning to))< (<on backing)

26. Computers set up phishing attack? (4)

SCAM

MACS< (computers, <set up)

24 comments on “Financial Times 17,673 BASILISK”

Very enjoyable. I couldn’t work out how the clue for TABLE LINEN worked, but I was flogging a dead horse apparently. Not my favourite clue. On the other hand, the clues for POPEYE & ON AVERAGE brought a smile.

Basilisk didn’t really bare his fangs today but I found the parsing of a couple including SOFTENED (didn’t think of ‘seed’), a bit slippery!
Liked PEEVED, POPYE, and INFECTION.
Thanks to Basilisk for keeping me well entertained and Oriel for filling in the gaps.

DATE
Looks like wordplay+2 defs
had=ATE
Court=DATE

Loved INFECTION, ON AVERAGE and TABLE LINEN!
Thanks Basilisk and Oriel!

This one left me feeling very CROSS.

Were I to maintain a little black book of clues to remember for all time, the one for POPEYE would certainly find a place in it. What an absolutely cracking spot and such a natural surface. Just lovely. Mind you, it sat in amongst some worthy competition; I’d agree that I have faced tougher Basilisks in the past but this was still a solid challenge. And that makes it doubly nice to have completed most on my first pass through the grid; crossers were helpful. Favourites inc SWORDS, INTERBREED, ON AVERAGE, SILVERIEST and COST PRICE.

Thanks Basilisk and Oriel

Well spotted, Andrew. Admiration for setter and puzzle has just gone up yet another notch.

Great spot Andrew! Thanks.

I missed that, Andrew, but yes — terrific!

CROSS-BENCH in British English
noun. (usually plural) British. a seat in Parliament occupied by a neutral or independent member.
TILT

KVa @3, I think 3d is D for daughter and ATE for had, and the definition is court(ing) appointment…
Great puzzle, thanks Basilisk and Oriel

[Another 21a DRESSER appeared 5 days ago and Vicky (aka 4a VICTORIA?) pointed out that it was St David’s Day.]

AGN@10
I read it this way:
D+ATE (had)
(to) court=(to) DATE
appointment=DATE
WP+2 defs

25a SPAN – tilt: “boards” are a thing in “Bridge”.

AGN@10, that’s how I understood it.

Crucible in 2017 – “He wrote the Ancient Mariner (6)” – one of Eileen‘s favourite clues – ‘wonderful – a real laugh out loud moment.’ It’s certainly worth repeating.

Popped back in and found an added layer of flair. Well spotted, Andrew!

What a splendid themed crossword. My favourites are 1a and 9d

Thanks to Basilisk and Oriel

Andrew@4 – Nice one! 🙂
Lovely puzzle. Thanks B&O

What a triumph. Congrats to all . How clever of Andrew to spot the theme.
Thanks to Basilisk and to Oriel

Thanks for the blog and thanks to Andrew@4, good to see a puzzle where the theme does not spoil the clues . Lots of clever clues , the RAGE in ON AVERAGE is very neat .
If anyone tries to give you a parchment containing RUNIC symbols, do not accept it.

Thanks for the advice, Roz, as always. I am forever being pestered by touters of runic tat!

Thanks Basilisk. I thought this crossword was excellent without seeing the theme; now I think it’s superb. My top picks were PEEVED, SPAN, ON AVERAGE, DIRTIER, DIE OFF, MIRIAM, and SCAM. The only clue that left me unimpressed was INFECTION which hardly seemed cryptic.Thanks Oriel for the blog.

Many thanks to Oriel for the excellent blog, Andrew for pointing out the theme, and everyone who has been kind enough to leave a comment.

I can only add my compliments to all the above for another brilliant offering.
Today is a superb treat for cruciverbalists!

Comments are closed.