Financial Times 18392 by MUDD

by

A fun and witty challenge from MUDD this Friday.

FF: 9 DD: 8

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1 STUNNING
Divine use of taser? (8)

cryptic def; debated a bit on whether this counts as a double def

5 SPIRIT
Backbone in ghost? (6)

double def
10 ASSAM
Service withdrawn by a state in India (5)

A [ reverse of MASS ( service ) ]
11 RIVERBANK
Brave swimming in something icy, land found out of the water (9)

RINK ( something icy ) containing [ BRAVE ]*
12 ON THE BALL
Bright, looking to pass, perhaps? (2,3,4)

cryptic def
13 GAMMA
Reviewed in the morning journal, character of Greece (5)

reverse of AM ( morning ) MAG ( journal )
14 CLOCHE
Hat he put on counter, briefly (6)

CLOCk ( counter, briefly ) HE
15 EPISTLE
Letter in pile set to be sorted (7)

[ PILE SET ]*
18 REDOUBT
Fortification on reservation (7)

RE ( on ) DOUBT ( reservation )
20 BEETLE
Insect let loose, coleopteran (6)

BEE ( insect ) [ LET ]*
22 CIVIC
City centre in Recife has cut crime (5)

CI ( reCIfe, centre of ) VICe ( crime, without its last letter ) ; the dictionary def says the def should be relating to a city?
24 RIGMAROLE
Awfully grim, a part in pantomime (9)

[ GRIM ]* A ROLE ( part )
25 IMPLICATE
Incriminate little devil, prowler wrapped up in deceit (9)

IMP ( little devil ) [ CAT ( prowler ) in LIE ( deceit ) ]
26 CEDAR
Partially knocked over, poplar, a deciduous tree (5)

hidden reversed in "..poplaR A DECiduous.."
27 GARAGE
Wrath at shortage of gas in petrol station (6)

GAs ( ~shortage i.e. without last letter ) RAGE ( wrath )
28 FRONT ROW
King in town for dancing — best place to watch? (5,3)

R ( king ) in [ TOWN FOR ]*
DOWN
1 SHADOW
Outline included in broadcast (6)

HAD ( included ) in SOW (~ broadcast )
2 UNSETTLED
Anxious — as bill still to pay? (9)

cryptic def
3 NUMBER-CRUNCHING
Processing of data that’s less sensitive breaking down (6-9)

NUMBER ( less sensitive ) CRUNCHING ( breaking down )
4 NARRATE
Tell when rodent is in trap, lifting lid (7)

RAT ( rodent ) in sNARE ( trap, without first letter )
6 PEREGRINE FALCON
Winger replacing ref, one proving incompetent (9,6)

[ REPLACING REF ONE ]*
7 REALM
Americans’ very male kingdom (5)

REAL ( very, american ) M ( male )
8 TAKE A PEW
Sit awake, pet barking (4,1,3)

[ AWAKE PET ]*
9 EVOLVE
Mature Valentine gutted after sweetheart stood up (6)

EVOL ( sweetheart = LOVE, reversed ) VE ( ValentinE, gutted i.e. without inner letters )
16 TALL ORDER
Big ask for a big ask! (4,5)

TALL ( big ) ORDER ( ask )
17 CRACKING
Dynamite creating a fissure? (8)

double def
19 THROAT
Passage which is lined with gold, running vertically (6)

RO ( gold = OR, reversed ) in THAT
20 BUGBEAR
After illness, large omnivore imagined threat (7)

BUG ( illness ) BEAR ( large omnivore )
21 REDRAW
Design again coloured green (6)

RED ( coloured ) RAW ( green )
23 VIPER
Number of boxed eggs, perhaps, for each snake (5)

VI ( number of boxed eggs perhaps, 6 ) PER ( for each )

8 comments on “Financial Times 18392 by MUDD”

  1. Moly
    #1 - Fri 5th Jun 26, 14:22

    I enjoyed this one, and also have never been the first person to comment😳😳. I’m sure I’m not the first solver to finish.

    Thank you for explaining Shadow and I confess to using dictionary to look up Coleopteran. Particularly enjoyed Viper and Cloche

    Thanks to all.

  2. Sourdough
    #2 - Fri 5th Jun 26, 14:40

    I also enjoyed this and I also failed to parade SHADOW. I think ‘had’ = ‘include’ is a bit vague/loose, but maybe that’s just because I didn’t get it.
    Thanks to Mudd and to Turbolegs.

  3. Sourdough
    #3 - Fri 5th Jun 26, 14:41

    Failed to parse…..

  4. Hovis
    #4 - Fri 5th Jun 26, 14:47

    Re: civic. I felt that “city” could be an adjective (as in “city centre”) though my Chambers doesn’t list it as such.

  5. Tony Santucci
    #5 - Fri 5th Jun 26, 15:52

    Thanks Mudd for the fun. STUNNING, FRONT ROW, and VIPER were my top picks. I saw STUNNING as a double definition. I failed to parse SHADOW, probably because I didn’t think long enough about the clue. Thanks Turbolegs for the blog.

  6. Martyn
    #6 - Fri 5th Jun 26, 16:34

    Another very enjoyable puzzle. The FT is on a roll. I found it very approachable too and made my way steadily anti-clockwise around the grid, starting in the NE corner.

    My first clue ASSAM got a tick and several followed, with PEREGRINE FALCON a stand-out. I parsed everything, even SHADOW. So saying, I did not think 16 works particularly well.

    Thanks Mudd and Turbolegs

  7. Not so Newbie
    #7 - Fri 5th Jun 26, 18:31

    I agree with Martyn. The last 3 puzzles have been very approachable and enjoyable for someone who has been doing crosswords for a year or two. I found them all of similar difficulty so was surprised this got an 8DD while yesterday’s was considered for beginners. 16d was my favourite. I thought the setter was being generous in not leaving it simply as Big Ask & lit. Thanks to Mudd and Turbolegs.

  8. Martin
    #8 - Fri 5th Jun 26, 18:35

    This was good. I didn’t find it that straightforward but progress was steady. I see there’s a little CERN nina, for the benefit of a regular?

    I liked PEREGRINE FALCON, RIGMAROLE and IMPLICATE.

    Thanks MUDD and Turbolegs.

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