Financial Times 18,449 by MOO

Overall, the clues were very good, but I found this entry from Moo quite a struggle, for some reason.

I think that there might be an editing goof in 5A.

 picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1 GLAMOUR
Girl ignoring Irish lover’s allure (7)
G[IR]L minus (ignoring) IR. (Irish) + AMOUR (lover)
5 IRON AGE
I’m angry about old Harry for a time (4,3)
I think this parses as: IRE (I’m angry [should be: “anger”?]) around (about) {O (old) + NAG (harry)}, with a capitalization misdirection. I tried to make the first element “I RAGE,” but I cannot make the rest of the clue work from there. It is possible that this clue is a casualty of the editing process.
9 MEDIC
Bones of Italian family finally laid to rest (5)
MEDIC[I] (Italian family) minus last letter (finally laid to rest), with “Bones” being a cliché nickname for a doctor
10 MEDITATED
Admitted struggling with boundless Zen thought (9)
Anagram of (struggling) {ADMITTED + inside letter of (boundless) [Z]E[N]}
11 LOOSE ENDS
Ill-defined purposes, details not yet settled (5,4)
LOOSE (ill-defined) + ENDS (purposes)
12 ETHOS
Spirit of the people moving east (5)
I think this parses as: THOSE (the people) moving E (east) to the beginning
13 CENT
Only a little money dispatched, I hear (4)
Homophone of (I hear) SENT (dispatched)
15 STRIPPER
Performer whose act is taking off? (8)
Cryptic definition
18 LAY AN EGG
Flop in US, as Kiwi may do (3,2,3)
Double definition, with a capitalization misdirection, “kiwi” here referring to the bird
19 TOOT
Snort some coke, one way or another (4)
Cryptic (or arguably double) definition, with “one way or another” indicating a palindrome. I am not 100% persuaded that a “toot” and a “snort” are the same sound. “Toot” can mean both to consume cocaine and a dose of cocaine.
22 OBEYS
Heeds appeal to Turkish governors (5)
If one were making an appeal to Turkish governors, one might say, “O! BEYS!
24 DISPARAGE
Aged Parsi unfortunately run down (9)
Anagram of (unfortunately) AGED PARSI
26 SUPPORTER
Senior policeman arresting left’s advocate (9)
SUPER (senior policeman) around (arresting) PORT (left)
27 ALIGN
Coordinate a policy announcement (5)
A + homophone of (announcement) LINE (policy)
28 POTHEAD
P for puffer on a spliff? (7)
This is sort of a reverse clue and double definition combined. The first part is: the first letter of (head [of]) P[OT] = P
29 RED DEER
Creatures looking increasingly hot, conserving energy (3,4)
REDDER (looking increasingly hot) around (conserving) E (energy)
DOWN
1 GAMBLE
Bet ‘King of Hollywood’ is pocketing millions (6)
(Clark) GABLE (King of Hollywood) around (is pocketing) M (millions)
2 ANDROMEDA
Foreign man adored these stars (9)
Anagram of (foreign) MAN ADORED, referring perhaps either to the constellation or to the galaxy
3 ON CUE
Single copper intervening at just the right time (2,3)
CU (copper) inside (intervening) ONE (single)
4 REMINISCE
Talk about past crimes in extraordinary end to programme (9)
Anagram of (extraordinary) {CRIMES IN} + last letter of (end to) [PROGRAMM]E
5 INDUS
Runner in south of France keeling over (5)
IN + SUD (south of France, i.e., in French) inverted (keeling over)
6 ON THE SPOT
Immediately in a difficult position (2,3,4)
Double definition
7 AITCH
A longing that’s often unexpressed up north (5)
A + ITCH (longing), i.e., the letter “H” is unaspirated in dialect
8 ELDEST
First-born rescued from cruel destiny (6)
Hidden in (rescued from) [CRU]EL DEST[INY]
14 TRANSPOSE
Swap one’s parts around (9)
Anagram of (around) ONE’S PARTS, with the whole clue having an &lit quality
16 REGISTRAR
Hospital doctor who might marry you? (9)
Double definition
17 EVOCATIVE
Poignant conclusion to remarkable case (9)
Last letter of (conclusion to) [REMARKABL]E + VOCATIVE (case, in grammar)
20 GOSSIP
Gas is therefore being recalled, GP admits (6)
GP around (admits) {IS + SO (therefore)} both reversed (being recalled)
21 TENNER
Note return of Leicester constituent (6)
RENNET ([Red] Leicester constituent) inverted (return of)
23 EXPAT
Some Essex patriarch who lives overseas (5)
Hidden in (some) [ESS]EX PAT[RIARCH]
24 DATED
Saw theologian embracing unmarried friend (5)
DD (theologian) around (embracing) [M]ATE (friend) minus M (“un-married”)
25 AWARD
American child looked after allotment (5)
A (American) + WARD (child looked after)

1 comment on “Financial Times 18,449 by MOO”

  1. grantinfreo's avatar
    grantinfreo

    I guess you can say Dyu fancy a toot (or a snort), or some toot (or some coke) …

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