Financial Times 14,447 by Alberich

by

Some brilliant misdirections

 

 

 

 

Across

1 COMPLIES agrees

6 CUTTER sail and boat

9 STALLS creates delays ST (road) ALL (completely) S[mash]

10 OXBRIDGE privileged education UXBRIDGE (Hillingdon) O for U

11 CELEBRATES has party (ELECTE[d] R (right) B[allot] AS)*

12 GEEK PC fanatic – hidden backwards in [li]KE EG[otistical]

13 KITTEN grows into queen cat T[i]T[l]E in KIN (family)

15 EXULTANT really happy ULT (last month) in (N[ic]E TAX)*

18  MENSWEAR eg ties MEN (soldiers) SWEAR (vow)

20 PURDAH seclusion PUR[e] (modest, largely) HAD< (ate back)

21 SUED prosecuted – sounds like PSEUD (pretentious type)

23 IMPORTANCE moment (COMPUTER IN A)* minus U[sb]

25 ISHIGURO novelist (I HOURS I G)*

26 ARBOUR retreat HARBOUR (dock) H dropped

27 ATTEST give proof [f]ATTEST most stout

28 THE TROTS dd political Left and bowel movements

Down

2 ON THE SIDE dd

3 PULSE heart-throb UP< (excited about) LSE (university)

4 INSURANCE cover R (run) in (UNCEASIN[g])*

5 SCOTTIE dog COT (bed) in (ITS)* E[ventually]

6 CUBES some die (dice) E (drug) in CUBS (young animals)

7 TAILGATER dangerous driver

TAIL (sounds like TALE) RE TAG< (about mark reversed)

8 EAGLE bald eagle E[nter] L (50) in AGE (mature years)

14 TEST-DRIVE try out TEST (Ashes match) DRIVE (shot)

16 UPPER-CASE capital UP (raised) PER (for) CASE (lawsuit)

17 NO ACCOUNT unimportant – no access to bank

19 RAPPORT sympathy RAP (strike) PORT (Deal Kent)

22 UPSET caused grief UP (high) SET (club)

23 INUIT one from far north I (single) NUIT (night in French)

24 AMBER traffic light AMBLER one in no hurry minus L (learner)

( )* = anagram    [ ] = omit    dd = double definition    < = reverse

 

9 comments on “Financial Times 14,447 by Alberich”

  1. Thanks, Jed.

    Some wonderful misdirection, as you say – perhaps particularly ‘movements’, in an Alberich puzzle, not being musical!

    Re 10ac – there’s a bit more going on: Uxbridge is the home of Brunel University – a brilliant clue and my favourite, along with 28ac.

    Many thanks to Alberich for a most enjoyable puzzle.

  3. Thanks Jed and Alberich.

    I think COMPLIES is compile-s, with the “l” moving to a slightly earlier position.

    I wondered if CUTTER was a pun relating to sale and cut, but it’s not very convincing.

    I liked RAPPORT and THE TROTS a lot.

  4. Thanks Alberich and Jed.

    CUTTER
    I wonder if this may be a reference to the phrase ‘To sail into someone’: to attack, wound or cut them?

    COMPLIES
    I parsed this as COMPILE + S with the L moved forward.

  5. Thanks for the blog and encouraging comments. Mike is right with the parsing of 1 across.

    I’ll put you all out of your misery with 6 across – basically, I’ve goofed. I thought that a cutter was a type of sail, and in Chambers I found “a small vessel with one mast, a mainsail, a forestay-sail, and a jib set to bowsprit-end”. I didn’t read it properly and took mainsail etc. to be a separate definition. Many apologies.

  6. Many thanks for joining us, Alberich. I thoroughly enjoyed your puzzle today.

    I have often suspected clue errors where bloggers have struggled all day (or longer)
    to explain the inexplicable. Thank you very much for doing the right thing in No. 14,447!

    Mike

  8. Re 4d
    I took it that the ‘r’ (for run) was literally ‘in the centre of’ the jumbled letters, as it is – insu(r)ance rather than just inside. It makes no difference.
    Thanks to Jed and to Muffyword and Mike04 for fully parsing 1a.
    It is also a bonus when the setter drops in particularly when he/she has to own up to a cluing mistake.

  9. I agree with ernie @8 about 4d (INSURANCE) but, indeed, it doesn’t make any difference.
    Just like in 25ac: (in my opinion) the correct parsing should be I + {(HOURS)* around I G} but, here too, not really important.

    Thanks Jed for the blog.
    And Alberich for a relatively tough work-out.

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