SLORMGORM kicks off the week…
A fun puzzle with some great surfaces.
Thanks SLORMGORM!
ACROSS
7. Stake or pole stuck in unopened turnstile? (4)
ANTE
N (pole) stuck in [g]ATE (turnstile, unopened)
8. What one on deck will do with fish food (10)
SKATEBOARD
SKATE (fish) + BOARD (food)
10. Pot that’s hot given to one for a snack (6)
PANINI
PAN (pot) + IN (hot) given to I (one)
11. Senior around uni needing to retire, say (3-5)
OLD-TIMER
OLD (senior) + (RE (around) + MIT (uni))< (<needing to retire) &lit
12. Prisoner on Greek island gets physical (8)
CONCRETE
CON (prisoner) on CRETE (Greek island)
13. Dope, heroin and ecstasy habit (6)
CLOTHE
CLOT (dope) + H (heroin) and E (ecstasy)
15. New index nice peer muddled up (13)
INEXPERIENCED
(INDEX NICE PEER)* (*muddled up)
18. A former state or a former state without mass (6)
PERSIA
PER (a) + SIA[m] (former state, without M (mass))
20. Mess with pint spilt? Must be wasted! (8)
MISSPENT
(MESS with PINT)* (*spilt)
22. Leggy type seen in red-hot video ultimately (8)
FLAMINGO
FLAMING (red-hot) + [vide]O (ultimately)
24. To get going, a Dodge needs oxygen injection (6)
AROUSE
(A + RUSE (dodge)) needs O (oxygen) injection
25. Caustic row in a department of the NHS (10)
ASTRINGENT
STRING (row) in (A + ENT (department of the NHS))
26. One breaking ladder causes havoc (4)
RUIN
I (one) breaking RUN (ladder)
DOWN
1. Estonian at sea rounds area with good wind up (10)
ANTAGONISE
(ESTONIAN)* (*at sea) rounds (A (area) with G (good))
2. Second-rate physician screening old engineers (8)
MEDIOCRE
MEDIC (physician) screening O (old) + RE (engineers)
3. A father filled with quiet hope (6)
ASPIRE
(A + SIRE (father)) filled with P (quiet)
4. What might prevent IT boss getting hurt (8)
HEADACHE
HEAD (boss) getting ACHE (hurt)
5. One spotted falling over themselves in a run? (6)
DOMINO
6. Suitors essentially regret being faithful (4)
TRUE
[sui]T[ors] (essentially) + RUE (regret)
9. Where one’s comfortably in even though one’s out? (1,4,4,4)
A HOME FROM HOME
14. Ethics don I led astray purely for fun (10)
HEDONISTIC
(ETHICS DON I)* (*led astray)
16. Organisation looking for gold outside of Lima (8)
PLANNING
PANNING (looking for gold) outside of L (Lima)
17. Cabinet committee to support Catholic on trial (8)
CUPBOARD
BOARD (committee) to support (C (catholic) + UP (on trial))
19. Sad about Britain? Just a little! (6)
SOMBRE
about BR (Britain), SOME (just a little)
21. Old city district in South Africa (6)
SPARTA
PART (district) in SA (South Africa)
23. Sumptuous boozer (4)
LUSH
Thanks Slormgrom and Teacow.
1dn: Note the use of the anagram to force the -ISE spelling with the unchecked S.
A few in the northeast defeated me. The IT in the clue for HEADACHE — do I assume that capitalised it’s the word for sex that I’ve only encountered in Crossword Land? Sheesh!
I used to be able to download the interactive version of the crosswords on to my laptop up to and including Friday – been doing it for over a year.
On Saturday it was no longer possible, same on Sunday and today. (Although I can still download the interactive versions of puzzles before Saturday.)
I can download the puzzle in a format suitable to print out but I don’t have a printer.
Is this a policy of the FT – seems strange – or is it a glitch – does anyone know.
Since I have no intention of buying a printer looks like I will no longer be able to do the FT puzzles – which is a loss as several of my favourite setters are FT setters including of course Rosa Klebb
@Fiona – I am having precisely the same problem. Is this a glitch with the FT app or a new policy? Does anyone know?
Fiona @3 and diagacht @4. Same problem here. I am a subscriber, so I don’t think the online version has been moved behind a paywall. Problems with online access have happened before and the current inaccessibility is probably just a glitch. Let’s hope so.
I have queried the change with FT customer services and am awaiting a response.
I take a screenshot from the website and send it my e-writer (Kindle Scribe). Yes, it’s another device (or two – one at home, one in the office, synched) , but I’m using it/them anyway.
Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow – completed painfully using a pdf annotator on my laptop!
For 11ac I had “older” = “senior” around <MIT as otherwise there is no inclusion indicator, but otherwise everything parsed nicely.Just getting back into the FT after a couple of weeks away on the island in 12ac, so that came readily to mind! I am finding the app glitch to be annoying though.
11ac: After some thought, I agree with Jack@8 on this one. The structure suggested by Teacow does not require an inclusion indicator, but I cannot find dictionary support for re to mean “around”. If the clue had said “about” instead of “around”, then either parsing would work.
11ac revisited: In comment 9, and in particular in the last sentence, I was only thinking of the cryptic reading. I do not think “about” would work for the literal reading.
diagacht @ 4 and RoginDC @ 5
The puzzles for Sunday and Monday are now available in interactive form.
Here’s hoping that the problem has been fixed
I usually like Slormgorm’s puzzles but didn’t particularly enjoy this one.
Fiona @3, I have alerted FT twice to this issue in the recent past. They have acknowledged, but clearly done little about it. I didn’t bother contacting them this time.
GDF @ 13
Seems to be working now thankfully
Fiona et al. I also let them know. I later uninstalled and reinstalled the app and the missing puzzles were there. Solution or merely timing? I don’t know.
Anyway, this was going swimmingly, then it turned into a real battle. Last two in SOMBRE and PERSIA.
Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow.