Financial Times 17,885 by MOO

by

MOO kicks off the week…

An enjoyable puzzle with a nice mix of clues.

Thanks MOO!

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
9. Promiscuous teacher, one with arm round hooker? (5,4)
LOOSE HEAD

LOOSE (promiscuous) + HEAD (teacher)

Rugby term

10. Doorkeeper showing drug dealer quietly out (5)
USHER

[p]USHER (drug dealer, P (quietly) out)

11. Administrator right to relocate Republican (7)
PREFECT

PERFECT (right, to relocate R (republican))

12. Invented some fake news? Have a rest (3,4)
LIE DOWN

Double (cryptic) definition

13. Kitty best seen from the rear (3)
POT

(TOP)< (best, <seen from the rear)

14. Cleo dances wildly, beginning to enjoy her teenage years (11)
ADOLESCENCE

(CLEO DANCES)* (*wildly) + E[njoy] (beginning to)

17. Royal favourite participating in public orgies (5)
CORGI

[publi]C ORGI[es]

18. Article on Her Majesty’s age (3)
ERA

A (article) on ER (Her Majesty)

19. Soviet hostage displaying spirit (5)
ETHOS

[sovi]ET HOS[tage] (displaying)

21. Lenten music strangely radiant (11)
LUMINESCENT

(LENTEN MUSIC)* (*strangely)

23. Moo, funny chap without any clothes (3)
LOW

[c]LOW[n] (funny chap, without any clothes)

25. Cabinet member I ignored in church (7)
MINSTER

MIN[i]STER (cabinet member, I ignored)

27. Sentence that will leave you hanging? (3,4)
THE ROPE

Cryptic definition

28. Federer’s got it! (5)
ROGER

Double definition

29. Dine with Trump when stoned? That would be unwise (9)
IMPRUDENT

(DINE with TRUMP)* (*when stoned)

DOWN
1. Go wrong making lager thus? (4,2)
SLIP UP

(SLIP)< (<up) = PILS (lager)

2. European celebrity’s guiding light? (4,4)
POLE STAR

POLE (European) + STAR (celebrity)

3. Reno agent I arranged for production (10)
GENERATION

(RENO AGENT I)* (*arranged)

4. They carry one some distance (4)
FEET

Double definition

5. Cut charge for over-18s possessing ecstasy (10)
ADULTERATE

ADULT RATE (charge for over-18s) possessing E (ecstasy)

6. English banker not much good? (4)
OUSE

O USE (not much good)

7. Delivered the support king needs, did you say? (6)
THROWN

"throne" = THROWN (support king needs, "did you say")

8. Royal correspondents besieging popular courtesan at first (8)
PRINCESS

PRESS (correspondents) besieging (IN (popular) + C[ourtesan] (at first))

15. Tax too much on small school? (10)
OVERSTRAIN

OVER (on) + S (small) + TRAIN (school)

16. Think matters over, as farm resident might? (4,3,3)
CHEW THE CUD

Double (cryptic) definition

17. Swimmers once caught malaria, unfortunately (8)
CALAMARI

C (caught) + (MALARIA)* (*unfortunately)

20. Blessed everyone in house getting married (8)
HALLOWED

(ALL (everyone) in HO (house)) getting WED (married)

22. Wizard claiming space in household (6)
MENAGE

MAGE (wizard) claiming EN (space)

24. Crown’s anger about end of deference (6)
WREATH

WRATH (anger) about [deferenc]E (end of)

26. End of tipsy politician? (4)
TORY

T OR Y (either end of tipsy)

27. Drugs being used up, drink too much (4)
TOPE

(E POT)< (drugs, <being used up)

10 comments on “Financial Times 17,885 by MOO”

  1. The bovine one at his irreverent best. Some very fine surfaces today (24, 29, 4, 28 – yes, in spades!) of which 17a was wickedly good.
    Just 6d bemused me; (l)ouse?(n)o use?
    Thanks Moo, for the top notch diversion and Teacow for putting me straight on that parsing.

  4. Thanks Moo and Teaccow

    12ac: further to KVa@3, I read this as LIED (Invented some fake news) + OWN (Have) = LIE DOWN (a rest).

    6dn went in last as an unparsed guess, but, as soon as I had written it, I saw it as Widdersbel@2.

  7. Yes, Widdersbel. As soon as I saw Teacow’s blog, I realized what was meant, so simple really, but it had me stumped!
    I did, however, have the ‘lied own’ (own=have) parsing and like, Martin, liked the use of Moo in this instance.

  8. LIE DOWN
    Isn’t the noun form written as LIE-DOWN?
    Are we expected to ignore the ‘a’ and go for ‘rest’ as the def?

  9. KVa@8: I take your point, but I tend not to worry about hyphens unless absolutely necessary. My statement beginning “I read this as” is the literal truth, even if I may have been wrong to do so.

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