Financial Times 15,197 by AARDVARK

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A tough, but generally fair workout.

I say “generally fair” as I have a couple of quibbles (see 4ac and 9ac).

Other than these two examples, however, this was an enjoyable solve, with some very clever surfaces.  I particularly liked 16dn, which is the best clue I’ve come across for a while.

No NINA or theme that I could spot, but my apologies if I’ve missed either.

Across
1 SEDATE Dignified lawyer close to court in York, say (6)
  D.A. + (cour)T in SEE
4 SWIMWEAR Writer in extremely shallow English river, wearing this? (8)
  I think the parsing is

I’M in S(hallo)W + WEAR (“English river”)

but if it is, it doesn’t work, because “writer” would indicate I, not I’M.
9 REALM Metal detected during drowsy phase in field (5)
  Al (Aluminium) in R.E.M.

I’m no expert, but I don’t think that R.E.M. and “drowsy phase” are synonymous, as R.E.M. is associated with deep sleep, whereas “drowsy” is more like “half asleep”.
10 MUSSOLINI Passed Italian car, with poor souls crammed inside (9)
  *(souls) in MINI
11 PROCTOR University official supporting college rock (7)
  PRO (“supporting”) + C(ollege) + TOR (“rock”)
12 SCEPTRE Odd characters in secret exercises concerning staff (7)
  SeCrEt + P.T. (“exercises”) + RE (“concerning”)
13 EDEN Excited donee, not old, is promised land (4)
  *(dnee) – “donee” without O (“old”)
14 HEADGEAR Perhaps boater’s cape beginning to get attention (8)
  HEAD (“cape”) + G(et) + EAR (“attention”)
17 SPATLESE Row sheltered from wind includes vines ultimately producing this? (8)
  SPAT (“row”) + LEE including (vine)S

Spatlese is a term for late autumn German wine.
19 EBRO Current Iberian globe rotated, showing Spain at front (4)
  E (“Spain”) + <=ORB

The Ebro is the second longest river in the Iberian, rising in Cantabria, passing through Zaragoza, and flowing into the Mediterranean Sea.
22 AGAINST Adjacent to cooker, tins melted (7)
  AGA(“cooker”) + *(tins)
24 ORLANDO US city joiner wears gold watch (7)
  AND (“joiner”) in OR LO (“gold watch”)
25 BRIDLEWAY Brother with lazy manner leaving trail of jumpers? (9)
  Br. + IDLE WAY

A bridleway is a path suitable for horses.
26 MAORI Ramble contrarily, having only one language abroad (5)
  <=ROAM + 1
27 TINCTURE Small tipple can remedy stifling time (8)
  TIN (“can”) + CURE “stifling” T
28 SELDOM Rarely hose cold room – never front half (6)
  hoSE coLD roOM – taking away the first half of each word
Down
1 SHRAPNEL War hero may contain this silent strike by opponents on left (8)
  SH + RAP + N + E + L

N and E are North and East, opponents in bridge.
2 DEACONESS Dave’s outside with Charlie obtaining ice-cream for sister? (9)
  D(av)E + ASS (“Charlie”) acquiring CONE (“ice cream”)
3 TOMATO Infant covers mother with old fruit (6)
  (TOT covers MA) + O
5 WEST SIDE STORY Musical districts on the left and on the right? (4,4,5)
  WEST SIDES (“districts on the left”) + TORY (“on the right”)
6 MIOCENE Olympic officials probing guys taking drug for a very long period (7)
  I.O.C. (“International Olympic Committee”) in MEN + E (“drug”)

The Miocene was a geological epoch which lasted 18 million years, so a very long period.
7 EDICT Command police force during the vacuous rising (5)
  <= T(CID)E, with TE being “the vacuous” (ie T(h)E)
8 RUINED Ancient letter about Independence Day’s damaged (6)
  (RUNE about I) + D
10 MARTELLO TOWER Circular building’s telephone line over after damage by haulage vehicle? (8,5)
  (TEL + L + O after MAR) + TOWER (“haulage vehicle” – that which tows)
15 ROBIN HOOD Serial criminal cross about spike up on house (5,4)
  ROOD about (<=NIB) + Ho.
16 POLONIUM Jersey – part of UK? I’m not sure it’s an element (8)
  POLO (“jersey”) + N.I. (Northern Ireland = “part of UK”) = UM (“I’m not sure”)
18 ANNULET Gold enveloping knights allowed as heraldic emblem (7)
  AU enveloping NN (“knights” in chess) + LET

An annulet is a small ring in heraldry.
20 GAMBIT Initial strategy to take over journal had an impact (6)
  <=MAG (“journal”) + BIT (“had an impact”)
21 FLAMBE Way of cooking fat captivates male trainee at the back (6)
  M in FLAB + (traine)E
23 ALIEN Knocking back some wine I labelled “exotic” (5)
  Hidden backwards in “wiNE I LAbelled”

*anagram

6 comments on “Financial Times 15,197 by AARDVARK”

  1. Thank you loonapick, I share your doubts about 4 & 9ac (perhaps the latter should have read “The writer’s”). I wasn’t too happy with the repetition of “wear” also.

    Quibbles apart I enjoyed the puzzle, thank you AARDVARK.

  2. 9ac Wikipedia says REM sleep is the most awake phase of sleep, so no quarrels from me with drowsy phase

  4. Thanks for the blog, Loonapick.

    I got just over half of this, and thought it pretty poor.
    The CID isn’t a police force, it’s a department – that’s what the D stands for!
    Is Eden the promised land? I thought the promised land was Israel…

    Surely an initial strategy is an opening gambit – a gambit is just a strategy – or even just a tactic?

  5. Thanks Aardvark and loonapick

    Found this a challenge on the last day of the Easter break with all clues holding out till the last. Agree that there were a few clues with question marks over the absolute accuracy – 4a, 9a and 13a (more so for me) – but none of them stopped me from getting the correct answer !

    Didn’t parse the second part of POLONIUM which meant that I couldn’t share the appreciation of a cracker clue until coming here.

    Finished in SW corner with TINCTURE (which was a hard clue – fairly loose definition and a devious word play) and GAMBIT (which took ages to guess the solution – really needed that last T – and just as long to work out what was going on with the word play).

    Hard but ultimately, enjoyable !!

  6. Thanks Aardvark and loonapick.

    I found this a middling difficulty puzzle. Yes, I agree with the minor quibbles but as Bruce says – nothing to prevent me from arriving at the correct solutions.

    Not being a great one for German wines, SPATLESE was new to me but readily deriveable.

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