Financial Times 15,064 by Dogberry

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Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of October 17, 2015

My clue of the week, with a great anagram find by Dogberry, is 13d (HOCUS POCUS).  Other favourites are 10a (INNATE), 11a (MONOTONY), 24a (TRIVIA) and 19d (ELVISH).

Across
1 LEMONADE
Pop’s shelter sheltering ultimate unit (8)

MONAD (ultimate unit) in LEE (shelter)
5 WHACKS
Thrashes depilatory treatment soundly? (6)

Homophone (“wax”)
9 PART-TIME
Shave, holding glove back, on and off (4-4)

MITT (glove) backwards in PARE (shave)
10 INNATE
Had grub after pub – that’s natural (6)

INN (pub) + ATE (had grub)
11 MONOTONE
Nothing’s out of order in compiler’s uninspiring delivery (8)

O (nothing) + NOT ON (out of order) together in ME (compiler).  I originally blogged the answer to this clue as MONOTONY but the published solution revealed it to be MONOTONE.  Seems to me that the two are equally justifiable.
12 ASYLUM
Refuge for some greasy lumberjacks (6)

Hidden word
14 DEROGATION
Disparagement of toad in trouble, holding blood and guts back (10)

GORE (blood and guts) backwards in anagram of TOAD IN
18 PANJANDRUM
God given month to beat VIP (10)

PAN (god) + JAN (month) + DRUM (beat).  While familiar with the existence of the word PANJUNDRUM, I had little idea of what it means.  One dictionary tells me it refers to an important or influential (and often overbearing) person.
22 RARELY
Early bird’s third to be stirred? Not often (6)

Anagram of EARLY [bi]R[d]
23 SPILLAGE
Liquid lost through skinhead’s aggressive behaviour (8)

S[kinhead] + PILLAGE (aggressive behaviour)
24 TRIVIA
Matters that don’t? (6)

Cryptic definition?
25 ACHILLES
Experts concealing mound from Greek hero (8)

HILL (mound) in ACES (experts)
26 ANSELM
Saint’s solution to tree (6)

ANS (solution) + ELM (tree)
27 ASPHODEL
Bloomer: unfortunate lapse involving builder’s tool (8)

HOD (builder’s tool) in anagram of LAPSE
Down
1 LIPOMA
River interrupting capital growth (6)

PO (river) in LIMA (capital).  I don’t recall if I have come across this word before but it certainly sounds right for a growth of fatty tissue (which is what it means).
2 MARINE
Soldier encountering resistance in state (6)

R (resistance) in MAINE (state)
3 NOTATE
Indicate how to play number to gallery (6)

NO (number) + TATE (gallery)
4 DIMINUENDO
Losing volume of stupid smutty jokes, reportedly (10)

DIM (stupid) + INUENDO (homophone “INNUENDO”)
6 HUNTSMAN
Revised maths with nun, one into bloodsports (8)

Anagram of MATHS NUN
7 CHAPLAIN
Minister to bloke getting stretched out (8)

CHAP (bloke) + LAIN (stretched out)
8 STEAMING
Rejoice about 11 getting drunk (8)

TEAM (11) in SING (rejoice)
13 HOCUS POCUS
Couscous with HP sauce? Magic! (5-5)

Anagram of COUSCOUS HP
15 OPERETTA
Gondoliers maybe reshaping a treetop (8)

Anagram of A TREETOP.  The operetta referred to is Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Gondoliers” (alternatively titled, as I just learned, “The King of Barataria”).
16 ENTRAILS
Necessarily involves devouring last of father’s guts (8)

[fathe]R in ENTAILS (necessarily involves)
17 CALL-GIRL
Man introducing students and soldier to sex worker (4- 4)

LL (students) + GI (soldier) in CARL (man)
19 ELVISH
Fairy King getting hot (6)

ELVIS (King) + H (hot)
20 PALLID
Washed-out friend taking cover (6)

PAL (friend) + LID (cover)
21 VESSEL
Container for egos with upper half lowered (6)

SELVES (egos) with upper half (SEL) lowered
*anagram

13 comments on “Financial Times 15,064 by Dogberry”

  1. I solved about a third of this . I was rather hoping/expecting that you would say that this was on the hard side.
    1a How does monad =ultimate unit, please? http://www.thefreedictionary.com/monad indicates a unit, but why ultimate?
    9a I struggle to equate part time with on and off. A part time worker works less than a full time worker but not when they feell like it. An indicator goes on and off but is not part time.
    18a Not only unknown but I think drum (the verb) = beat.
    26 &27a Unknown
    1d Unknown
    4d May have heard of but did not what it meant.
    8d An obscure word fro drunk in my book
    21d Difficult.

    It will be interesting to see how others got on

  2. I thought that there was also a case to have ‘monotone’ as the answer for 11a.

    Thanks to Pete and Dogberry

  3. I struggled with this as there are so many unusual words whose meanings I have never heard of! I found I was finding an answer and then having to look up the meaning. Never heard of monad, so got lemonade as it was the only pop that fitted with the down clues I had! 8d friends I was travelling with at the time of attempting to do this had never heard the word used in this context, so again it was the only word that fitted. Managed to complete it, but found I needed plenty of help from various sources. Thanks Pete for how the answers were supposed to be solved.

  4. This puzzle was perhaps a bit more challenging than most for me but presented no real problem. A hard one for me was last weekend’s Gaff.

    Bamberger:

    How does MONAD = ultimate unit? I am unsure. On one hand, one could read “ultimate” as narrowing the meaning of unit to a synonym as opposed, say, to meaning a unit of some measure. On the other hand, MONAD may mean an ultimate unit in some way I am unaware of.

    In the context of work, “on and off” does not equate well to part-time, I agree. In other contexts though, I think it works. Thinking of something like, “This watch works on and off”.

    STEAMING is an odd word for drunk in my book too. But I am used to compilers scraping the bottom of the barrel for words meaning drunk.

    ernie:

    Yes, my first idea for 11a was MONOTONE.

  5. Hi Pete
    Perhaps the following definitions will help with ‘ultimate unit’ = MONAD:

    “an ultimate unit of being, material and psychical” (Chambers)

    “(in the philosophy of Leibniz) an indivisible and hence ultimately simple entity, such as an atom or a person” (Oxford)

  6. Thanks Dogberry and Pete

    Found this a puzzle in the middle of FT difficulty range with a middle of the road enjoyment factor. This setter does like to build the answers up from component bits – charades – with a majority of the clues constructed like that here.
    It seems that MONAD is from the world of metaphysics, as per Gaufrid’s examples. Thought of PART TIME more in the context of a bowler in cricket, where a recognised batsman might be asked to bowl on and off by his captain.
    Flicked ‘on and off’ between MONOTONE and MONOTONY before settling on the latter – think that the ownership factor in ‘compiler’s’ swings it that way.
    Thought that the surface reading of 17d was quite amusing. Last one in for me was MARINE.

  7. Strange how different puzzles affect people differently. I never find FT crosswords easy but I did finish this without having heard of Lipoma or monad, but put in the correct answers in default of anything better. Liked panjandrum and asphodel. First met the latter in G&S’s Princess Ida.

  8. Thanks Pete and Dogberry.

    I too found this is the middle of the FT hardness range.

    The MONAD in 1ac was a new word for me but just needed a dictionary check to finish.

    I did enjoy DIMINUENDO and VESSEL for their clever construction and also the HOCUS POCUS anagram although thought TRIVIA a little weak.

    I went for MONOTONY but agree MONOTONE is just about as valid.

    But I remain full of respect for the compiler.

    So thanks.

  11. Thanks Dogberry and Pete Maclean

    I didn’t find this too dofficult, with no unknown words (though some unkonown definitions). Re 11, I think it’s quite clear: a boring delivery is a monotone, while monotony is simply tedious, not limited to a (verbal) delivery.

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