Financial Times 17,889 by MUDD

24 comments on “Financial Times 17,889 by MUDD”

1. I’d only vaguely heard of SLOANE RANGER, but it was all that fitted. The king of Mercia was new to me. And thank you, Turbolegs, for clearing up why “tool” equals “play” — I’ve never heard of Joe Orton.

   Everything else fell into place without too much trouble, and this was an enjoyable experience.

2. Enjoyed this, okay yah (11d)! My favourite was the smooth ‘pad thai’ (17a), along with FRILLY and VEGETABLE OIL.
   Some might quibble over the repetition of late/recently but, on the whole, I found this fun.
   Confidently wrote in GLOSSY (21d) with ‘miss’ cluing ‘loss’ on my paper version but when I checked the mobile version, it was ‘g(lass)y’.
   Close but no cigar.
   Thanks to Mudd and Turbolegs.

3. [Joe Orton also wrote Entertaining Mr SLOANE (1964).] Thanks M&T

4. Geoff,
   Offa’s Dyke Path is a wonderful set of walking trails along the border of England and Wales. The section starting at Hergest Ridge is especially lovely.

5. Could someone explain how SONG AND DANCE = meal made?

6. SONG AND DANCE
   I think it’s an allusion to the idiom ‘to make a meal of’.

7. KVa@6: Thanks, but I am still not understanding that either? Those do not seem remotely synonymous?

8. I’d agree with KVa with re ‘make a meal of’. Bit loose, maybe. For me, make a meal of something is to make it more complicated than it needs to be where make a song and dance is to make a fuss (negative) but perhaps both have the sense of exaggerating.

9. 23A was unknown to me as a play. Other than that, it wasn’t too hard. Thank you all.

10. Thanks Mudd and Turbolegs

    5dn: Chambers 2016 gives:
    p 946 make a meal of to treat or perform in an unnecessarily laborious or meticulous way;
    p 1485 make a song (and dance) about to make overmuch of; to make an unnecessary fuss about.

    Collins 2023 and ODE 2010 have similar, if slightly less direct, equivalences in their definitions. This supports Diane@8 in terms of the “sense of exaggerating”, and perhaps this comment illustrates both expressions.

11. I don’t have a problem with ‘make a meal’ of = ‘make a song and dance’ about.
    I’m with Diane@2 re 21d GLOSSY. I did think at the time that glossy and clear are not really synonymous. I should have spent a few more seconds thinking about it.
    Thanks Mudd and Turbolegs.

12. 21dn: I too had GLOSSY here, with some misgivings over the definition. I cannot find support for this in any of the dictionaries I cited earlier, but I found clear defined as “lustrous, having a shiny surface” in SOED 2007 (p 426). Perhaps we can consider GLOSSY as a valid alternative answer here.

13. SLOANE RANGERs were a thing when Diana was being wooed by Prince Charles, except she was a S’only, from SW1(1) (SW1 is the postcode for Sloane Square, SW11 is Battersea. There was a very sarky Evening Standard article that stuck in the mind as I was living in Battersea at the time.)

    I knew OFFA from the Dyke and path too. It’s on my bucket list, but I’m not sure how I’ll manage it. I also knew of Joe Orton’s LOOT, although it’s not a play I’ve seen.

    Don’t make a meal/SONG AND DANCE of it are equivalent in my mind

    Thank you to Mudd and Turbolegs

14. Well it would suit me to think so, Pelham 😉

15. I think of GLASSY as having the smooth and reflective properties of glass, rather than the clarity, but I don’t want to make either a song and dance or a meal of it. NATIONAL DISH was my favourite.

16. I thought this was a great puzzle, with Mudd at his best

    I had ticks agains FRILLY, TAGINE, ELGAR, BOXER, and PSALM, but for me the clear winner was SLOAN RANGER

    I am another who was mystified by LOOT, and do not regard MAAM as a royal title – or any title at all. Otherwise, I found this very smooth solving, with only a couple of clues at the bottom needing time.

    Thanks Mudd and Turbolegs

17. I too put GLOSSY at first.

    Took me quite a while to get going on this but the three long anagrams and the hidden clues helped me get started.

    Liked: IMPOLITE, BOXER, TAGINE, YEOMANRY

    Thanks Mudd and Turbolegs

18. I’m so glad to see everyone else makes the same kind of mistakes. This crossword was the first cryptic I ever finished – except that I’d got that one letter in “glassy” wrong! Next time, FT, I’ll get you next time…

19. All solved without help, although we were uncertain about GLASSY/GLOSSY. Not sure, though, how many younger solvers would know of SLOANE RANGER (a coinage of the 1970s) or the work of Joe Orton (d 1967). As for MA’AM being a title, the clue does have a question matk.
    Thanks Mudd and Turbolegs.

20. When there are two possible answers, I always seem to pick the wrong one. I guess I was lucky with GLASSY, immediately thinking miss = lass, and writing it in without a second thought.

21. Thanks Mudd. Except for revealing the nho SLOANE RANGER I found this rather gentle, maybe because there were more anagrams and hidden clues than I’m normally used to seeing. My favourites were AU PAIR, HALF, NATIONAL DISH, OF LATE, and BOXER. Thanks Turbolegs for the blog.

22. Am I the only person to have an issue with 6 down? I got the correct answer from the second half but Veg out? Really?

23. 6dn: I took this on trust when solving. Collins 2023 p 2203 has veg out “slang to relax in an inert passive way”, which matches loll “to lie, lean, or lounge in a lazy or relaxed manner” (p 1155).

24. I laughed out loud at LOLL, first in for me. Glad I’m not alone in entering G.LOSS.Y while thinking the ‘glossy = clear’ was a bit of a stretch. The use of ‘miss’ for ‘lass’ was very classy.
    +1 for NATIONAL DISH, a fine clue. I rather liked NOT AT ALL, too. Neat.
    Thanks to Mudd and Turbolegs.

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