Financial Times 18,432 by MONK

Thanks to Monk for the challenge.

Great fun! A few new words for me today. We have both Toscanini and Puccini on opposite sides of the grid (they apparently had a tempestuous friendship), but I don’t see more to it. The grid contains a pangram which is always a nice touch. Many thanks to Monk!

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS

1. Understand, maybe, retiring wise guy on tense subjects (3,3,7)

GET THE MESSAGE

E.G.< (maybe, <retiring) + (SAGE (wise guy) on T (tense) + THEMES (subjects))

10. Moves against partner’s issue, but not one’s own (7)

STEPSON

STEPS ON (moves against)
‘Issue’ meaning child in this context

11. Solid object securing whole exhaust (7)

CONSUME

CONE (solid object) securing SUM (whole)

12. Illegally kill bat (3)

HIT

Double definition

13. Aberrant toxin data in Vitamin C? (11)

ANTIOXIDANT

(TOXIN DATA IN)* (*aberrant)

14. Influencer of a sort needs intro before quoting rubbish about English society (7,8)

LEADING QUESTION

LEAD IN (intro) before (QUOTING* (*rubbish) about E (English) + S (society))

17. American plant in ditch above which cloth may go (4-2-3-6)

JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT

JACK IN (ditch) + THE PULPIT (above which cloth may go)

20. Keep your spirits up at any time in a Disney complex (5,3,3)

NEVER SAY DIE

EVER (at any time) in (A DISNEY)* (*complex)

23. That’s odd — colourless, odourless gas expanded (3)

COO

CO2 (colourless, odourless gas) expanded

24. Venetian’s place to go around on New Zealand (7)

LORENZO

LOO (place to go) around (RE (on) + NZ (New Zealand))
A reference to Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice perhaps?

25. Opening section of soporific elegy (7)

ORIFICE

[sop]ORIFIC E[legy] (section of)

26. Cohabitee I instruct, somehow without settled principles (13)

OPPORTUNISTIC

OPPO (cohabitee) + (I INSTRUCT)* (*somehow)

DOWN

2. Choose artist’s female counterpart of Oedipus (7)

ELECTRA

ELECT (choose) + RA (artist)

3. Conductor of opera joining quartet of men in Iolanthe (9)

TOSCANINI

TOSCA (opera) joining [me]N IN I[olanthe] (quartet of)

4. Painter, rigorous, putting good man down (5)

ERNST

[st]ERN (rigorous, putting ST (good man, saint) down)

Max Ernst is a German artist of the Dada and Surrealist movements.

5. Compound rules once broken (9)

ENCLOSURE

(RULES ONCE)* (*broken)

6. Function on eg Claude’s source of tablets? (5)

SINAI

SIN (function) on AI (e.g. Claude)

Claude is one Artificial Intelligence application

Mount Sinai is biblical – the place where Moses received the ten commandments written on stone tablets

7. Good friend catching setter’s and solvers’ fish (7)

GOURAMI

G (good) + AMI (friend, from French) catching OUR (setter’s and solvers’)

8. Snake with lethal bent bites psychologist in city environment (7,6)

ASPHALT JUNGLE

ASP (snake) with (LETHAL* (*bent) bites JUNG (psychologist))

9. Tackle plain British cuisine (4,3,3,3)

MEAT AND TWO VEG

Double definition

The second definition is self-explanatory, and the first British slang for male genitalia

15. Is mobile stage shifted ahead of fight? (4,5)

GETS ABOUT

STAGE* (*shifted) ahead of BOUT (fight?)

16. Criminal is nervous — steals down under (9)

SOUVENIRS

(IS NERVOUS)* (*criminal)

Australian dialect uses the word ‘souvenir’ as a verb meaning to steal something – usually something small

18. Conceal several deliveries in container (5,2)

COVER UP

OVER (several deliveries, cricket) in CUP (container)

19. He scored in international clubs, trophy being lifted (7)

PUCCINI

(IN + I (international) + C (clubs) + CUP (trophy))< (<being lifted)

21. Nick almost keeps individual copy (5)

RONEO

RO[b] (nick, almost) keeps ONE (individual)

22. Inundate Republican wearing blue (5)

DROWN

R (Republican) wearing DOWN (blue)

Financial Times 18,432 by MONK

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