Financial Times 17,965 by MOO

by

MOO kicks off the week…

A nice gentle and enjoyable Monday morning puzzle.

Thanks MOO!

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1. Just a little of papa’s tutelage will make you wise (6)
ASTUTE

[pap]AS TUTE[lage] (just a little of)

4. Monarch repeatedly finds himself in trouble (6)
CRISIS

CR (monarch) + IS IS (finds himself, repeatedly)

8. Italian gent shrugs off son being sent to front (7)
SIGNORE

IGNORES (shrugs off, S (son) being sent to the front)

9. Ham done to a turn (7)
OVERACT

OVER (done) + ACT (turn)

11. Startled Danes shot off round island (10)
ASTONISHED

(DANES SHOT)* (*off) round I (island)

12. This girl’s a bit of a looker (4)
IRIS

Double (cryptic) definition

13. Carrier’s letter to Aristophanes? (5)
DELTA

Double (cryptic) definition

14. Best idea to cure this condition? (8)
DIABETES

(BEST IDEA)* (*to cure)

16. Sleep with Trotsky, concealing love for emperor (8)
NAPOLEON

(NAP (sleep) with LEON (Trotsky)) concealing O (love)

18. Black sword changing hands (5)
SABLE

SABRE (sword, changing hands, i.e., R (right) to L (left))

20. Beast from which Moo will escape? (4)
CALF

Cryptic definition

21. Bringing back one small piece of furniture that’s unique (10)
INIMITABLE

(I (one) + MINI (small))< (<bringing back) + TABLE (piece of furniture)

23. Charming behind? Far from it (7)
WINNING

Double (cryptic) definition

24. Somewhat distressed, might one say, after visit here? (7)
BARBERS

Cryptic definition

dis-tressed

25. Politician accepting some bloke’s proposal (6)
THEORY

TORY (politician) accepting HE (some bloke)

26. Wait on American minister nursing temperature (6)
ATTEND

A (American) + TEND (minister) nursing T (temperature)

DOWN
1. Sign of tooth decay absent at first (5)
ARIES

[c]ARIES (tooth decay, absent at first)

2. Popular female in Labour obtaining this protection? (7)
TINFOIL

(IN (popular) + F (female)) in TOIL (labour)

3. Finish session worried about hip (9)
TERMINATE

(TERM (session) + ATE (worried)) about IN (hip)

5. Cardinal grabbing Bible was delirious (5)
RAVED

RED (cardinal) grabbing AV (Bible, Authorised Version)

6. Army perhaps beginning to rally (7)
SERVICE

Double (cryptic) definition

Referring to tennis

7. Grace’s lie condemned as heresy (9)
SACRILEGE

(GRACES LIE)* (*condemned)

10. Puzzling story for which doctor is responsible, I hear (9)
WHODUNNIT

"Who done it" = WHODUNNIT (for which doctor (Who) is responsible, "I hear")

13. One such as Sophocles admits art needs a shake-up (9)
DRAMATIST

(ADMITS ART)* (*needs a shake-up)

15. Alsatians let loose? One might attack you (9)
ASSAILANT

(ALSATIANS)* (*let loose)

17. Crime of person selling stolen goods (7)
OFFENCE

OF + FENCE (person selling stolen goods)

19. British king on promenade: a prickly customer (7)
BRAMBLE

B (British) + R (king) on AMBLE (promenade)

21. Evildoer having head chopped off in secret (5)
INNER

[s]INNER (evildoer, having head chopped off)

22. Sensational old city papers found at bottom of lake (5)
LURID

(UR (old city) + ID (papers)) found at bottom of L (lake)

9 comments on “Financial Times 17,965 by MOO”

  1. As Teacow said,a gentle puzzle.
    The Wanderer puzzle for Saturday had a similar clue for 8ac but in reverse with the answer IGNORES.

    A good start to the week so thanks to MOO and TEACOW.

  3. Heather@2, “find … P.5. a1646– how do you find yourself?: how are you? Now humorous.
    [Compare French comment vous trouvez vous (mid 17th cent. or earlier), German wie befinden sie sich?]”
    {Join your local (not just the UK – Ireland, Australia, Canada, & the US, too) library and get free access to oed.com}

  4. I was defeated by Winning but a very enjoyable puzzle
    Thanks Teacow and Moo
    Heather @2 perhaps one’s = is

  5. Gentle overall, but I needed a bit more time for the NE corner.

    I ticked IRIS and CRISIS

    Thanks Moo and Teacow

  6. A striking coincidence as SM @ 1, SIGNORE and IGNORES both at 8 ac, although Saturdays offer was a repeat from December 2020 in tribute to Wanderer.
    Almost as Fearsome @4 WINNING was my LOI.

  7. ‘Gentle and enjoyable’ just about sums it up, although a few clues took a bit more thought. We liked TERMINATE, NAPOLEON and INIMITABLE.
    Thanks, Moo and Teacow.

  8. FrankieG@3: d’oh! Staring me right in the face. But I’m so glad I asked, because I did not know about the OED library access. My North Yorkshire Libraries card did the trick, so many thanks to you!

  9. Thanks Moo for a good set of clues with IRIS, INIMITABLE, TERMINATE, RAVED, and DRAMATIST among my favourites. I missed WINNING and couldn’t parse SERVICE, both DD’s as it turns out. Thanks Teacow for the blog.

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