Financial Times 14,117 – Falcon

[If you’re attending York S&B please see comments 32&33] - here

Monday Prize Crossword/Sep 24

Not C- or D-day this time, but an elegantly clued crossword by Falcon which can be found  here. Very enjoyable, but also very easy. There are people visiting this site who think these two cannot go together. I am not one of them.

Sorry that the blog doesn’t look as neat as it normally does.  I am experimenting with PeeDee’s blogging utility but I haven’t got round it completely/sufficiently.

Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate

 

Across
1     Dock worker, one having lost a few pounds? (10)
       LIGHTERMAN                   LIGHTER MAN (one having lost a few pounds)

7    Exaggerated the military life (4)
       CAMP                                        Double definition

9    Excursion to ancient Sumerian city (4)
      TOUR                                          TO + UR (ancient Sumerian city)

10 Tailor is called to Spanish region (3,7)
      OLD CASTILE                      (IS CALLED TO)*

11 Stick plug in this place (6)
     ADHERE                                   AD (plug) + HERE (in this place)

12 A centre in the French ball game (8)
     LACROSSE                               A CROSS (a centre) inside LE (the, in French)

13 Unfaithful daughter of priest is scared, shaken (8)
      CRESSIDA                              (IS SCARED)*

15 Forward’s second goal (4)
       SEND                                         S (second) + END (goal)

17 Hit wood on Birkdale’s first (4)
      BASH                                          ASH (wood) after B[irkdale]

19 I can show how it’s done – on next EP, possibly (8)
      EXPONENT                            (ON NEXT EP)*

22 Packed, needing to stay for a period in America (4,4)
      FULL STOP                             FULL (packed) + STOP ((to) stay)

23 Source of power in English home close to Seascale (6)
      ENGINE                                     ENG (English) + IN (home) + [Seascal]E

25 Certain trees always found on parts of golf courses (10)
      EVERGREENS                        EVER (always) + GREENS (parts of golf courses)

26 Joy requires shelter following onset of gale (4)
      GLEE                                            LEE (shelter) following G[lee]

27 Stick around to speak about head of the lodge (4)
      STAY                                             SAY (to speak) around T[he]

28 Thinks date, abused, was extremely upset (3,7)
      HAD KITTENS                       (THINKS DATE)*

Down
2   Fitting one after another (2,5)
      IN ORDER                                 Double definition

3   Huge crowd in store, reportedly (5)
      HORDE                                        Homophone of HOARD (store)

4   Mysterious coteries formed (8)
      ESOTERIC                                (COTERIES)*

5   Fat appearing in eg a dad’s prime – led astray? (6-3,6)
     MIDDLE-AGE SPREAD    (EG A DAD S PRIME LED)*

6   Sister outside a church in shade (6)
     NUANCE                                     {NUN (sister) around A} + CE (church)

7  Famous English golfer’s directed towards twigs (7,2)
     COTTONS ON                          COTTON (famous English golfer) + ‘S + ON (directed towards)

8   Curse male accompanied by girl (7)
     MALISON                                   M (male) + ALISON (girl)

14 Academic knowing about arrest, say (9)
      SCHOLARLY                           SLY (knowing) around CHOLAR (homophone of COLLAR (arrest))

16 A crowd beginning to knock one activity at Klosters? (5-3)
      APRES-SKI                                A + PRESS (crowd) + K[nock]

18 Adult left to get hold of a very strong drink (7)
      AQUAVIT                                  A (adult) + {QUIT (left) around A V (very)}

20 Gran cutting cotton cloth (7)
      NANKEEN                                 NAN (gran) + KEEN (cutting)

21 Child supporting celebrity becomes stiff (6)
      STARCH                                     STAR (celebrity) + CH (child)

24 Soldier acquired a leg of mutton (5)
      GIGOT                                         GI (soldier) + GOT (acquired)

9 comments on “Financial Times 14,117 – Falcon”

  1. Thanks Sil and Falcon.
    As you say both easy and enjoyable. I do have a question about the significance of “lodge” in 27ac. Am I missing something?

  2. After further consideration, I have an answer to my own question, though not I’m totally sure. Could it be that “lodge” is the containment indicator, and not “about” as I originally thought, and “say”=”to speak about”?

  3. sschua, just like you I was (and still am) puzzled by ‘lodge’ too.
    Because I was too much fiddling about with PeeDee’s software, I didn’t include personal comments this time.

  4. Very easy? I suppose it depends how good you are. I could take you down a ski slope that would be very easy for me but you might freeze in panic half way down.
    Anyway after an eternity I gave up still needing 7a,8d & 13a . I’d never heard of 8d or 13a so would never have got them.

  5. Stick around and lodge could simply be a double definition albeit with the subsidiay part in the middle.
    to lodge = to stay

  6. re 27a
    Stick around and lodge could simply be a double definition albeit with the subsidiay part in the middle.
    to lodge = to stay

  7. Well, ernie, I am happy to underline ‘lodge’ too, but it’s still not very satisfying. Falcon is, IMHO, too precise (perhaps even, er, Ximenean) to follow your idea.
    It would be nice if Falcon joined in to explain what’s going on here (like he sometimes does in the Observer wearing his Everyman dress).

    Oh, and sorry, Bamberger, I really found this very easy.
    And believe me (which some don’t) I am really just an average solver.
    Re CRESSIDA, in the early 70s I had two albums (LPs as they used to call them then) by a band with that name, a band that I really liked. I still have them!

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