Financial Times 17,906 by BOBCAT

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A toughie from Bobcat this morning.

I'm glad I started this one early as it took a while to complete and even longer to parse, assuming I have in fact parsed everything properly. As it's a Bobcat puzzle there will be a feline-themed nina somewhere but it's not obvious (at least to me) and I have to get ready for work now, so I've given up looking.

Thanks, Bobcat

ACROSS
9 APPELLATE
Designation of court application the Spanish delayed (9)

APP (application) + EL ("the" in "Spanish") + LATE ("delayed")
10 AWAKE
Some cheek a warder on returning to stir (5)

Hidden backwards in [some… on returning] "cheEK A WArder"
11 OUTVOTE
Overrule cryptic indication of veto (7)

*(veto) [anag:out] would be a "cryptic definition of VETO", so the solution required is OUTVOTE
12 SPECIES
Sort of glasses worn by Irene on vacation (7)

SPECS ("glasses") worn by I(ren)E [on vacation]
13 SUE
Girl should, on releasing hold, thrive at last (3)

S(ho)U(ld) releasing (the letters of) HOLD + (thriv)E [at last]
14 CUT-AND-PASTE
Most of CNN a tad upset about word processing facility (3-3-5)

*(cn a tad upset) [anag:about] where CN is [most of] CN(n)
17 DISCO
Dance company from hell? (5)

DIS ("hell") + Co. (company)
18 EBB
Channel swimmer’s not beginning to sink (3)

(Matthew) (w)EBB ("Channel swimmer", not beginning)

In 1875, Englishman Matthew Webb was the first person to swim across the English Channel.
19 DUCAT
Former cost of education? (5)

Hidden in [of] (e)DUCAT(ion)
21 FEATHER BEDS
Fresh debate could produce support for kippers (7,4)

*(fresh debate) [anag:could produce]
23 ARC
Listen to the audience in Hackney or Bow (3)

Homophone/pun/aural wordplay [to the audience] of 'ARK ("listen" in Hackney, i,e, HARK with a Hackney accent)
25 RHOMBUS
SHAPE runs unit moving leader east by public transport (7)

R (runs) + H-O-M ("unit" of resistance (ohm) with its leader moving east) by BUS ("public transport")
27 BARRIER
British haulier initially missing roadblock? (7)

B (British) + (c)ARRIER ("haulier", initially missing)
28 STAIR
Hollywood dancer’s boundless steps (5)

[boundless] (Fred) (a)STAIR(e) ("Hollywood dancer")
29 NYSTAGMUS
Nasty muggers (not German) suffering ocular defect (9)

*(nasty mugs) [anag;suffering] where MUGS is MUG(ger)S [not German]
DOWN
1 FAMOUS
Spooner’s springtime song and dance is renowned (6)

Spoonerism of MAY FUSS ("springtime song and dance")
2 SPOTLESS
Small, slim and chaste (8)

S (small) + POTLESS (missing a pot belly, so "slim")
3 FLOORCLOTH
WC in French hospital fascinates idiot cleaner (10)

LOO ("WC") in Fr. (French) + H (hospital) fascinates CLOT ("idiot")
4 HARE
Chairmen in prime positions progress rapidly (4)

(c)HA(i)R(m)E(n) [in prime positions] (i.e. the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th etc letters (prime numbers))
5 REASONABLE
Moderate willing to support betrayal after head’s departure (10)

ABLE ("willing") to support (t)REASON ("betrayal", after head's departure)
6 RAZE
Destroy one god and another when half-cut (4)

RA ("god") + ZE(us) ("another" (god) when half cut)
7 LADIES
Some of us lunch for our convenience (6)

LADIES WHO LUNCH are women of certain social or economic status who have enough free time to meet up for regular lunch appointments
8 REASSERT
Build up cropped hair from the back, causing further stress (8)

[build up] <=(TRESS "hair") + [cropped] (r)EAR ("from the back"))
15 THEORISING
Article on revolt curbs Oscar’s guessing (10)

THE ("article") on RISING ("revolt") curbs O (Oscar, in the NATO phonetic alphabet)
16 PEDESTRIAN
Pacemaker out of the running (10)

A PEDESTRIAN makes paces
17 DEFOREST
Make desert of? (8)

Cryptic(ish) definition
20 CHARISMA
Magnetism makes cleaner mum? (8)

CHAR ("cleaner") IS MA ("mother")
22 AROMAS
Flavours of recipes initially repressed by backward Pacific nation (6)

R(ecipes) [initially] repressed by [backward] <=SAMOA ("Pacific nation")
24 CARESS
Pat’s lacking wheels, as learner’s driven off (6)

CAR(l)ESS ("lacking wheels" with L (learner) driven off)
26 BARB
Pointed remark that’s wasted on doll (4)

i,e, ("that's") wasted on BARB(ie) ("doll")
27 BUSH
Shrub right out in the wild? (4)

R (right) out of B(r)USH ("shrub")

13 comments on “Financial Times 17,906 by BOBCAT”

  1. I found this mostly straightforward, except 4d, where I missed the obvious answer. I believe the feline reference is part of the answer to 19ac.

  2. The nina is the middle column.
    Failed to get Ducat & Pedestrian and couldn’t parse Ladies, so beaten somewhat this time.

  3. I originally had Ear (‘ear) instead of ARC which seemed to me to be a valid alternative until the crossers contradicted me.
    DEFOREST is not just a Cryptic Definition but a nice &lit with it being an anagram (makes) of “desert of”. It was one of my picks along with DISCO.

  4. I had PEDESTRIAN marked as double cryptic definition, with the second sense meaning that a person who is not running is walking, thus is a pedestrian.

  7. FrankieG @5 – thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt, but it wasn’t a typo, just a good old-fashioned mistake – note to self – proofread more!

  9. We found this quite straightforward and solved it all without help, though we couldn’t tell you off-hand what NYSTAGMUS is. Plenty to like, including RHOMBUS and SPOTLESS.
    Thanks, Bobcat and loonapick.

  10. 29ac: I took this on trust when solving as the only reasonable way of fitting the unchecked letters in. The last comment has prompted me to look the answer up.

    Collins 2023 p 1371 defines nystagmus as “involuntary movement of the eye comprising a smooth drift followed by a flick back, occurring in several situations, for example after the body has been rotated or in disorders of the cerebellum”. Shall we have a poll in a week’s time to see how many people remember this?

  11. Late start but fairly straightforward solve. I liked SPECIES and CUT AND PASTE for using usual anagram indicators for other purposes. Thanks Bobcat and Loonapick. Happy Thanksgiving to those who are celebrating the day!

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