Financial Times 13,667 by Cinephile

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Yet another enjoyable puzzle from Cinephile, a nice mix of devices and a consistent level of difficulty across the puzzle. 

One or two clues, particularly a dodgy homophone raised an eyebrow, but not sufficiently ‘off piste’ to spoil the enjoyment for me.

Across
1 ORWELL OR (gold/golden) SPRING (well)
4 OFF PISTE sounds like “pissed off” with words inverted
9, 27 ENOUGH TO DO Energy NOUGHT (zero) dODO (decapitated dead creature)
10 BLACK ROD BLACK (boycott) and ROD (switch – flexible stick, whip)
12, 3 FORELEGS RELEGated (sector = part of) inside Foreign Office’S
13   See 18
14, 15 PEER GROUP PEER (look) and GROw UP (most of become adult)
17 OXFORD CIRCUS OXFORD University and CIRCUS (entertainers) – road and Underground Railway junction in London
20 PUBLIC SECTOR (CUTS ROB P’LICE)* – and a protest at the current round of public spending cuts?
23, 24, 25 TIME OUT OF MIND Definition and cryptic definition
28 TELEGRAM ELEGy (poetry mostly) inside TRAM
29   See 18
30 REINDEER sounds like “rain dear”
31 NOT YET TOY* inside NET
Down
1 OVERFLOW REVerend reversed inside OF with LOW (base)
2 WOODRUFF WOO (court) DR (doctor = physician) and start of UFFizi art gallery in Florence
3   See 12
5 FILM DIRECTOR (I ORDER Montgomery CLIFT)* &Lit
6, 26 PACKAGED ‘pack aged’ = ‘old wolves’
7   See 16
8 ENDURE East (point of the compass) UNDER*
11 MISCALCULATE (US ILL AT MECCA)*
15   See 14
16, 7 QUEER STREET ER’S (Elizabeth Regina’s) family TREE inside banQUET (ban=veto removed)
18, 29, 13 STRICTLY FOR THE BIRDS reference is to UK TV show Strictly Come Dancing
19 GRADIENT GRANT (permit) about DIE (expire)
21 STATER Ancient greek coin and ‘one making a statement’
22 AMALFI IF (providing) LAMA (buddhist leader) reversed – ‘Amalfi’ was also a solution last in Wednesday’s FT puzzle by Io.
26   See 6
27   See 9

*anagram

Hold mouse over clue number to see clue, click a solution to see its definition.

5 comments on “Financial Times 13,667 by Cinephile”

  1. Thanks PeeDee. I thought this was the Master in not quite top form. The linked clues sometimes made it quite tedious to work out. I liked the literal sufaces for Film Director and Public Sector although the latter was slightly marred by the clunky p’lice anagram. I also liked the mental image of the strictly dancing birds. There were a couple of things that only Rev Graham is allowed to get away with: releg for relegated sector and uff for opening of Florentine gallery. This made Woodruff quite tricky as I had never heard of it as a herb although it is quite familiar as a surname.

  2. Lenny

    This is the time of year for you to to try woodruff then. You let it wilt a little (it then smells like new-mown hay) and then infuse it in white wine (a drink sometimes called, confusingly ‘may wine’) and drink it out of doors. While you tackle a crossword, natch.

    It is also a fantastic low-growing ground-cover plant. Nothing grows through it and the leaves and flowers are very attractive.

  3. Thanks Conrad. It is only mentioned as a plant or a flower in Chambers so I googled it and came across the herbal and Wine references. I see it likes shade. Perfect for my garden.

  4. Sometimes I wonder why, when one would ask me to choose, I do like Cinephile more than Araucaria.
    Maybe it’s because the cheekiness is there (like in 4ac or 20ac), but the idiosynchrasy isn’t.

    Thanks PeeDee for what I thought was a great puzzle.

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