Financial Times 18176 by STEERPIKE

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Steerpike is today's setter in the FT.

This was on the tougher side of the Steerpike specturm in my opinion, although that may be because I struggled to parse a few answers. I think I got there in the end, but some solutions (eg. FREELANCER) took a while to work out.

Thanks, Steerpike.

ACROSS
1 EYELID
Lens cover English priest found in yard (6)

E (English) + ELI (Biblical "priest") found in yd. (yard)
4/14 TOP GUN
Flipping fanatic screening old PG movie (3,3)

[flipping] NUT ("fanatic") screening O (old) + PG
6 OBOE
Stripped android with electronic instrument (4)

[stripped] (r)OBO(t) ("android") with E (electronic, as in e-mail)
10 COPYCAT
Plagiarist reticent about origin of published article in court (7)

COY ("reticent") about [origin of] P(ublished) + A ("article") in Ct. (court)
11 TABLEAU
Some notable Australian actors still on the stage? (7)

Hidden in [some] "noTABLE AUstralians"
13 FREELANCER
Contractor from country bordering Spain regularly deals with king (10)

FRANCE ("country") bordering E (IVR code for "Spain") + [regularly] (d)E(a)L(s) with R (Rex, so "king"), thus FR(E-EL)ANCE-R
16 EARBUD
United supporter set about breaking journalist’s listening device (6)

<= (U (united) + BRA ("supporter"), set about) breaking Ed. (editor, so "journalist")
17 FACTOTUM
Frisky tomcat patrols university stalking female? He does all sorts! (8)

*(tomcat) [anag:frisky] patrols U (university) stalking (i.e. following) F (female)
19 PROTOCOL
Expert Charlie introduced to implement standard practice (8)

PRO ("expert") + C (Charlie, in the NATO phonetic alphabet) introduced to TOOL ("implement")
21 AFLOAT
On the surface, note is filled with love (6)

A FLAT ("note") is filled with O ("love", as in tennis)
24/30 THE FLU
Infection husband caught in Tenerife on vacation was airborne, reportedly (3,3)

H (husband) caught in T(enerif)E [on vacation] + homophone [reportedly] of FLEW ("was airborne")
25 SENTIMENTS
Feelings transmitted by knight in troubled times (10)

SENT ("transmitted") by N (knight, in chess notation) in *(times) [anag:troubled]
27 ANALYSE
Obsessively orderly youths emptied Earl’s study (7)

ANAL ("obsessively orderly") + Y(outh)S [emptied] + E (earl)
28 EPICURE
Saga tours are essentially end of line for hedonist (7)

EPIC ("saga") + (to)U(rs) (a)R(e) [essentially] + [end of] (lin)E
29 EELS
Slippery characters shelter retired soprano (4)

<=LEE ("shelter", retired) + S (soprano)
31 OGRESS
Giant move forward doesn’t include Puerto Rico (6)

(pr)OGRESS ("move forward") doesn't include PR (Puerto Rico)
DOWN
1 ETCH
Carve eminent theologian’s initials on church (4)

E(minent) T(heologian) ['s initials] on Ch. (church)
2 EMPEROR
Agent infiltrating capital upset powerful figure (7)

<=(REP ("agent") infiltrating ROME ("capital"), upset)
3 INCREDULOUSLY
Your uncle slid off in a suspicious manner (13)

*(your uncle slid) [anag:off]
5 OPTICIAN
Choose to join housing agency? It’s a job! (8)

OPT IN ("choose to join") housing CIA (Central Intelligence "Agency")
7 BEER GUT
Drink on completely empty stomach? (4,3)

BEER ("drink") on GUT ("empty completely")
8 EQUANIMITY
Serenity of India encapsulated by my antique bust (10)

I (India, in the NATO phonetic alphabet) encapuslated by *(my antique) [anag:bust]
9 STOAT
Staunch Unionist ousted by a predatory beast (5)

STOUT ("staunch") with U (Unionist) ousted by A becomes STO(A)T
12 BURNT OFFERING
Bishop prepared fit gunner for sacrifice (5,8)

B (bishop) + *(fit gunner for) [anag:prepared]
15 PERPETUATE
Maintain state enclosing favourite area ultimately spoilt atmosphere (10)

PERU ("state") enclosing PET ("favourite") + A (area) + [ultimatley] (spoil)T (atmospher)E
18 CORNMEAL
Company setting new mark in genuine food (8)

Co. (company) setting N (new) + M (mark) in REAL ("genuine")
20 OVERALL
Partially quell a revolutionary uprising for general (7)

Hidden backwards in [partially… uprising] "queLL A REVOlutionary"
22 OBTRUDE
Odd parts of orbit around Earth become noticeable (7)

[odd parts of] O(r)B(i)T (a)R(o)U(n)D + E (earth)
23 LIKEN
Compare primitive plant-like species on the radio (5)

Homophone/pun/aural wordplay [on the radio] of LICHEN ("primitive plant-like species")
26 SETS
What Steerpike does gets harder (4)

Double definition

7 comments on “Financial Times 18176 by STEERPIKE”

  1. From hairy little thing to lens cover, the eyelid is very useful. You could also have passage to the unconscious, aisle id, or ego cover, or even ego deal (a lid = a deal of dope — Tracy Ullman did a great skit about it). Dont mind me, just riffing. Found this went down pretty quick, smooth and digestible, thanks Steerpike and loona.

  2. A rare occasion when I have no “Huh?” list and no quibbles. And furthermore, no NHOs. I’d even heard of FACTOTUM, a word that I occasionally throw into conversations.

    Good fun today.

  4. Thanks Steerpike for a very good crossword. I enjoyed many of the clues including EYELID, COPYCAT, PROTOCOL, AFLOAT, EMPEROR, BURNT OFFERING, and OVERALL. I couldn’t parse OPTICIAN, thanks loonapick for the help.

  5. Enjoyed the puzzle—thanks Steerpike! My favorites were PERPETUATE (nice to see the inclusion of our South American neighbor) and LIKEN (Lichens do not get enough love). Great blog by Loonapick too!

  6. I always pronounced it “liken” and assumed that when anyone rhymed it with “kitchen” they were wrong. But I heard Sir David Attenborough say it this way once, so I assumed it was a lesser-used alternative. I just checked it in Collins on-line and they do have the alternative some way down the page in phonetics. But click on the accompanying audio icon and you still hear “liken” — apparently an error with their site.

  7. Liken was my loi; stared at its crossers dumbly then groaned aloud when it finally emerged from the primeval neural swamp.

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