Fifteensquared

Never knowingly undersolved.

Financial Times 12,717 by Cincinnus

Posted by Pete Maclean on March 27th, 2008

Pete Maclean.

Some snazzy clues here but also one that I could not solve (11D)!

Across
1. SO CALLED - anagram of ALL CODES
5. SHAPES - S[tylis]H + APES (copies)
9. HESPERUS - HES (He’s) + PERU (land) + S[chooner]
10. IGNORE - anagram of REGION
12. ROLLS - double definition
13. DIRECTION - double definition
14. ISOBAR - IS (is) + O (round) + BAR (obstruction)
16. GRANITA - GR (Greek) + ANITA (girl)
18. RUN OVER - double definition
20. PAST IT - PAS (governors) + TIT (bird)
22. MAHARISHI - MA[ta] HARI (thankless spy) + anagram of HIS. Nice one!
23. TENOR - anagram of NOTE + R[ecital]
24. LUANDA - L (Lake) + U (superior) + AND (as well as) + A (a)
25. STYLISED - anagram of TIDY LESS
26. ISRAEL - LEAR + [lo]SI[ng] backwards
27. GRANDSON - GRAND (a lot of money) + [o]S[b]O[r]N[e]

Down
1. SAHARA - A (a) + RA (painter) + HAS (has) all backwards
2. CASTLES IN THE AIR - double definition
3. LEEDS - homophone
4. ECUADOR - anagram of ROAD by ECU (City University). Where does the E come from?
6. HIGH CLASS - HIGH (type of school) + CLASS (form)
7. PROHIBITIONISTS - anagram of BRITISH POSITION
8. STEINWAY - STEIN (Gertrude) + WAY (direction — from 13A)
11. TRUG - R (skipper’s last) in TUG (boat) — See comments below.
15. BEVERIDGE - EVE (female) in BRIDGE (bit of a fiddle — as in violin)
17. GRIMALDI - anagram of A DIM GIRL. Perhaps not the first Prince Albert one thinks of!
19. REST - double definition
20. PAINTER - A (a) in [Harold] PINTER
21. DRYDEN - RYDE (island resort) in D[eadly] N[ightshade]
23. TALON - hidden word

4 Responses to “Financial Times 12,717 by Cincinnus”

  1. C G Rishikesh Says:

    11 Skipper’s last seen in boat getting a basket (4)

    was among some three that I left unsolved.

    Now, going by the wordplay,

    Skipper’s last - R
    seen in- container/contained ind
    boat - TUG (tug-boat)
    getting - T(R)UG
    a basket - def?

    Reaching for Chambers, I find
    trug: a shallow wooden fruit-basket (Chambers)

    Not surprising that this unusual word not known to me in all my reading is marked ‘dialectical’

  2. Pete Maclean Says:

    Bravo, Rishi! And thanks.

  3. Gouldman Says:

    The Beveridge report (published during the second World War) proposed setting up the National Health service.

  4. Pete Maclean Says:

    Thanks, Gouldman. I did not comment on that myself because I was unsure if the Beveridge concerned was that one or a reporter in the media sense of the word whom I was unfamiliar with.

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