Financial Times 17,881 by BASILISK

by

Thanks to Basilisk for a very enjoyable challenge.

This started very smoothly for me and then slowed down considerably towards the south. But no complaints at all, as the penny drop moments were worth it.

 

Have you found the hidden word? It runs down the two outer verticals. Two letters are formed by the grid itself. (Love this!)

 

Many thanks to Basilisk and hope to see you again soon.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1. Lorry loaded with last of cargo of important vessel (6)
AORTIC

ARTIC (lorry, articulated) loaded with [carg]O (last of)

5. Message spread round following return of rent (8)
TELEGRAM

MARGE< (spread, <round) following LET< (rent, <return of)

9. Amend work of writer, including article about small change, in the main (4,4)
NEAP TIDE

(EDIT (amend) + PEN (work of writer) including A (article))< (<about)

The ‘main’ referring to the sea; PEN as a verb

10. Man working with animals developed a cough (6)
GAUCHO

(A COUGH)* (*developed)

11. Fruit containing seeds also contains protective covering (6)
TOMATO

TOO (also) contains MAT (protective covering)

12. Scramble and hence rip pants (8)
ENCIPHER

(HENCE RIP)* (*pants)

14. Skill of crew in two vessels (12)
CRAFTMANSHIP

MAN (crew) in CRAFT + SHIP (two vessels)

18. Material covering production related to play (12)
RECREATIONAL

REAL (material) covering CREATION (production)

22. Switch positions intermittently (3,3,2)
OFF AND ON

Double definition

Switch as a noun, e.g. light switch

25. Sign of popular author’s self-esteem abruptly returning (6)
GEMINI

(IN (popular) + I’M (author’s) + EG[o] (self-esteem, abruptly))< (<returning)

26. Discarded capital causing annoyance to auditor (6)
PEKING

“PEEKING” (causing annoyance, “to auditor”)

27. Support female headbanger? (8)
BUTTRESS

Cryptic definition

If a BUTTER is a headbanger (i.e. one that butts), then a BUTTRESS might be a female headbanger

28. Kiss of life’s beginning to cause hiccups (8)
OSCULATE

(L[ife]’s (beginning) + TO CAUSE)* (*hiccups)

29. Breach school doctrine (6)
SCHISM

SCH (school) + ISM (doctrine)

DOWN
2. Men, for example, supported by state (6)
OREGON

OR (men) + E.G. (for example) + ON (supported by)

3. Narrow screens can start to distress agitated performer (3,6)
TAP DANCER

TAPER (narrow) screens (CAN + D[istress] (start to))* (*agitated)

4. Tapioca cooked with skin of halal sausage (9)
CHIPOLATA

TAPIOCA* (*cooked) with H[ala]L (skin of)

5. Mother eats sandwiches in that place (7)
THEREAT

[mo]THER EAT[s] (sandwiches)

6. Record case of idiotic reasoning (5)
LOGIC

LOG (record) + I[dioti]C (case of)

7. Doctor admits odd individual with chronic complaints? (5)
GRUMP

GP (doctor) admits RUM (odd)

8. Strong line taken by man entering room (8)
ATHLETIC

(L (line) taken by HE (man)) entering ATTIC (room)

13. What conveys charge in bulb that’s not working? (3)
ION

[on]ION (bulb, not ON (not working))

15. Renounces name adopted by Abraham and Bill? (9)
ABNEGATES

N (name) adopted by ABE (Abraham) + GATES (Bill?)

16. Sailor spoils husband in flat by the sea? (4,5)
SALT MARSH

SALT (sailor) + MARS (spoils) + H (husband)

17. Santa primarily wanting helpers thinking of others (8)
SELFLESS

S[anta] (primarily) + ELFLESS (wanting helpers)

19. Great age of somebody bringing up the rear (3)
EON

ONE (somebody, bringing up the rear (onE > Eon))

20. Foreign Legion guards British base (7)
IGNOBLE

LEGION* (*foreign) guards B (British)

21. Half of chorus and hymn possibly raised spiritual awareness? (6)
GNOSIS
(SI[ng] (chorus, half of) + SONG (hymn, possibly))< (<raised)
I struggled with this one until I found ‘chorus’ as a verb in Chambers dictionary

23. Publicity that is acceptable for so long (5)
ADIEU

AD (publicity) + I.E. (that is) + U (acceptable)

U is for ‘universal’ as a category of films that is suitable/acceptable for all viewers

24. Individual producing litter perhaps is given conviction (5)
DOGMA

Cryptic definition

A DOG MA is one that may produce a litter of pups

30 comments on “Financial Times 17,881 by BASILISK”

  1. Enjoyed this. I believe 26ac is supposed to be a homophone of ‘piquing’. 21d was my last one in. Thanks setter and blogger.

  2. U for acceptable I think is a bit of a stretch (and we don’t have that classification here, as far as I know). And it took me a while to remember why you Brits call a truck an artic. (But I did remember the other Britishisms — OR for men and “pants” as an anagrind.) Haven’t heard of CRAFTMANSHIP (“craftsmanship” yes), OSCULATE, GNOSIS.

    If I wanted to say “so long” in France, I’d probably use “au revoir”. “Adieu” is more permanent, isn’t it?

    I agree with Steven re “piquing”.

  3. I thought the U in ADIEU was as in “U and non-U” (i.e. acceptable in Society) – it’s quite often used in this way. I agree with Steven @1 about “piquing”

  6. U and non-U is another of those things that live on in crosswords if not in society. It comes from the writing of Nancy Mitford (1904-1973) and was spoofed by John Betjeman in How to Get on in Society in 1958. The joke is that the named items in the poem are non-U.

    I’m here early as the Guardian is interesting this morning.

    Thank you to Oriel and Basilisk.

  7. Agree with Steven@1 on “piquing”, and Andrew@3 on “U”. [Strangely oed.com has an entry for non-U, but seems to have lost the corresponding one for “U”]

  8. Even with the cross letters, 1A stumped me.

    23D: the “AD” was obvious so I confidently wrote in “ADIOS”. It took me a while to realise my mistake.

    Thanks to all, as usual.

  9. Good challenge, for me. Didn’t spot the word down the edges, but that’s not unusual for me… I wonder if Basilisk had something in mind? Maybe us expecting Trump to take on human values? I failed to see the inclusion at 5d, so wasted some time and effort trying to make THERESA fit. Thus it was, disappointingly, pretty much LOI… I didn’t have an argument with ADIEU, I agree with Geoff Down Under@2 it’s pretty final, but I feel SO LONG is equally final, as in “So long, buddy. Been good to know you.”
    Loved BUTTRESS, I’ll not be able to walk past a cathedral again without picturing a lady goat…
    Thanks Basilisk n Oriel

  11. Needed the nina to get PEEKING (also parsed as “piquing”). Great test of the old grey matter. Always enjoy this setter.

  12. I shall hereafter try to remember that U might mean “acceptable”. It’s taken me a while to assimilate that it also might mean “posh”. Neither of these makes any sense to me, but then again a lot of things in Crossword Land don’t.

  13. Geoff, like you I live in Australia although it is not my country (or language) of birth but I learned long ago of the expressions “non-U” and “U”. Like you, I had no idea of the origin but I just did an internet search that revealed that the “U” means “upper-class”. Like all things on the internet, this may not be factual but it sort of does make sense.

    I have also learned “g’day mate” although I hesitate to use it, but I hope that you have a good day tomorrow.

  14. Loved the Nina and the way it was completed by the pattern of non-light squares on each side of the grid; Serpent/Basilisk has used this trick before. I was annoyed to miss the parsing of BUTTRESS – v. good.

    GDU @2 & 12 and Frieda @13: There was an article in The Times last week about U and non-U terms; surprise, surprise they don’t matter as much these days. Here’s an earlier (1994) article from The Independent including extracts from the original 1956 paper about U and non-U, written by Alan Ross, a Professor of Linguistics and (according to the article) only later popularised by Nancy Mitford.

    Thanks to Basilisk and Oriel

  15. Thank you Wordplodder et al. This will help me to get my head around the “posh” connection. The “acceptable” remains a mystery.

  17. Thanks Basilisk and Oriel. I spotted the Nina just in time to help with my last one in at 9ac. I was another with “piquing” at 26ac.

    4dn: I think this really has to be (TAPIOCA + HL)*, the anagram lead being “cooked with”. Trying to do it as H+L in (TAPIOCA)* would in my view require some indication that the two letters are inserted separately.

  18. Frieda, I’m reminded of a similar column a year or two ago by David Astle in The Sydney Morning Herald, where he compared standard and upper-class equivalents. “Glasses” and “spectacles” was one example that I happen to recall. I don’t think he used the terms U and non-U though. Methinks it might be a British thing that hasn’t penetrated the Antipodes.

  20. The poem by Betjeman I quote starts:

    Phone for the fish knives, Norman,
    As cook is a little unnerved,
    You kiddies have crumpled the serviettes,
    And I do like things daintily served.

    So phone was non-U for Betjeman/Mitford – it was telephone or call. Fish knives are very non-U, you don’t need additional fancy canteens, ordinary knives are fine. Unnerved is very declasse – someone trying to sound posh, but really it’s upset or annoyed. Other things are kiddies (children), serviettes (linen napkins, doncha know), daintily (really, no) and served (presented). I think the problem with cook is that you’d normally refer to Mrs Bun, or whatever, rather than depersonalise her.

  21. 23dn: Adieu has been an English word with an English pronunciation since the 14th or 15th Century, according to Collins 2023 p.23 and SOED 2007 p.27, and I am completely happy with “so long” as a valid way of cluing it.

  22. As above….

    …a nice puzzle with a disappointing number of British colloquialisms.

    Thanks Basilisk and Oriel

  23. A lovely puzzle with a superb nina. I’d like the crossworld to retire U and NONU myself, however handy they are for setters. But I can’t understand the view that it’s disappointing to see British terms, even several, in a British puzzle, whose solvership is presumably predominantly British.

  24. Great clues & Nina from one of the best in the business — thanks Basilisk. My top picks were RECREATIONAL, GEMINI, THEREAT, LOGIC, GRUMP, and SALT MARSH. Thanks Oriel for the blog & parsing the clever BUTTRESS.
    [Amoeba @23: British terms in a British puzzle? Will wonders ever cease?]

  25. Amoeba@23 and TS@24 – I do not view this as a British puzzle. It is a cryptic crossword puzzle in a global newspaper. FT publishes several versions across the world and the majority of FT readers are outside UK.

    It is a different story for something like the Guardian, which is written primarily for domestic UK consumption.

  26. Martyn @ 25 But the FT setters are (predominantly) British, and so reflect their knowledge and background

    As well as the UK edition, the Guardian publishes (online) US, Australian, European and International editions, so isn’t primarily for domestic consumption.

  27. On reflection it seems to me that the various print and online publications collectively known as the Financial Times cannot, with strict accuracy, be called either a British publication or a global publication. Rather, it can reasonably be considered some sort of hybrid between the two. As I have said in the past, he fact that the majority of FT readers may be outside the UK does not necessarily mean that the majority of those who attempt the crossword are outside the UK. Even then, a good proportion of those who are outside the UK now may be people who were raised in the UK, have gone away either temporarily or permanently, and welcome the crossword as a link with home. Among those who attempt the crossword but have never lived in the UK may be plenty who welcome a largely UK based puzzle anyway. It seems to me right and proper that the main series of puzzles with serial numbers currently approaching 18,000 should be considered to belong to the British newspaper part of the hybrid publication and it is clearly current editorial policy to accept puzzles that take that line.

  30. Thanks all for the discussion on global vs UK. I am obviously biased and I would love to have a cryptic that indicates an English colloquialism in the same way it indicates a US or Australian one. I understand that is a tall ask. As Simon S writes, most of the setters are English and are probably unaware that some of the words that they use are only used there.

    I cannot comment on PB’s theory that the majority of crossword solvers live in England. I do not have the data. But as someone who loves crosswords, would it not be great if there were equal proportions of solvers across the world? I hope the unsignalled colloquialisms are not a barrier.

    Finally, this is not a setter problem but something for the editors to solve. They seem to keep regional colloquialisms out of the articles, so they should be able to add England indicators as appropriate.

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