Financial Times 16,534 by FLIMSY

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A swift and pleasing Tuesday solve.

Not quite a write-in – some subtle parsing required – but a brisk start to the day. One or two quibbles but nothing to spoil the fun. Thanks to Flimsy.

image of grid
ACROSS
1 SUITCASE What unlucky traveller may lose two legal actions? (8)
 

SUIT + CASE, both 'legal actions'.
5 FORGOT Pro golfer’s first round – tee left behind (6)
 

FOR ('pro') + 1st of G{olfer} + O ('round') + the letter 'T[ee],'
9 MECHANIC Miles before chicane, broken down – one’s help’s required (8)
 

M[iles] + anagram ('broken down') of CHICANE. Spot of double duty here, but fair enough.
10 PHRASE Couch wears out, we’re told (6)
 

Homophone of 'frays' ('wears out'). To 'phrase' as verb, if I may couch it in those terms.
12 ERROR Dread removing top, revealing boob (5)
 

tERROR ('dread') without 1st letter. Seems rather familiar…
13 REPORTERS Sign of hesitation over drinks for journalists (9)
 

ER ('sign of hesitation'), reversed ('over') + PORTERS ('drinks'). Subtle.
14 LEASED Let student calm down, initially (6)
 

L[earner] ('student') + EASE (to 'calm') + 1st of 'D{own}'.
16 NEITHER One squeezing bottom? On the contrary – not at all! (7)
 

NE.THER ('bottom') includes ('squeezes') 1, (and not 'one includes bottom').
19 RETREAT Again cure Den? (7)
 

I.e. 're-treat'.
21 UNEASY Worried, used any manoeuvres to remove Democrat (6)
 

Anagram ('manoeuvres') of USEd ANY without D[emocrat]..
23 SCRAP BOOK Clippings go in this garbage bag (5-4)
 

SCRAP + BOOK (to reserve, to 'bag').

25 TOTAL Little child with a large sum (5)
 

TOT + A + L[arge].
26 UPDIKE In an excited state, ditch novelist (6)
 

UP ('in an excited state') + DIKE. John Updike, of course, creator of the Rabbit series.
27 DOMESTIC Before it’s turned cold, head home (8)
 

DOME ('head') precedes reversal of IT + C[old].
28 ENDING Being inclined to ignore leader’s conclusion (6)
 

tENDING ('being inclined') without 1st letter.
29 INTENDED At home, looked after fiancée (8)
 

IN + TENDED.
DOWN
1 SIMPER Smirk from MP is upsetting the Queen (6)
 

IS, reversed, + MP + ER. Something odd about the word-order here, I think.
2 INCORRECT Wrong corner – it bends around college (9)
 

Anagram ('bends') of CORNER IT around C[ollege].
3 CHAIR Look under church pew (5)
 

CH[urch] + AIR (appearance, 'look').
4 STIRRED Hot drink might have been moved (7)
 

Double definition. H'm.
6 OTHERWISE Tories we ordered to capture hearts – or else! (9)
 

Anagram ('ordered') of TORIES WE includes H[earts].
7 GRACE People supporting good breeding (5)
 

G[ood] + RACE. 'Grace' & 'breeding' both meaning just 'good manners', I suppose.
8 TREASURE Adore fund manager? Not quite (8)
 

TREASUREr, shortened.
11 OPEN Frank regularly seen after work (4)
 

OP[us] + alternate letters of 'sE'eN'.
15 SHEEPSKIN Hide from Jacob? (9)
 

Cryptic def, 'Jacob' being a breed of piebald sheep.
17 HESITATED Delayed hospital diets and ate nuts (9)
 

H[ospital] + anagram ('nuts') of DIETS + ATE.
18 PRESSURE Stress certain to follow Trump, shortly? (8)
 

SURE after PRES[ident].
20 TOOT Blast up and down? (4)
 

Palindromic 'blast' of a horn.
21 UNKNOWN Trunk now needs locks concealed (7)
 

Inlcluded ('locked') in 'trUNK NOW Needs'.
22 PLACID Peaceful mountain climbing by detectives (6)
 

Reversal of ALP + CID (police 'detectives').
24 REDID Embarrassed I had again finished (5)
 

RED ('embarrassed') + I'D.
25 THEME Argument from the setter of this crossword (5)
 

THE + ME (Flimsy, today).

16 comments on “Financial Times 16,534 by FLIMSY”

  1. Didn’t know Jacob was a breed of sheep.

    Mostly very easy but needed to think a bit to get PHRASE.

    Yes, it is a shame that 12a is almost identical to one of Zamorca’s clues yesterday.

    For 1d, I just took it to be an anagram (upsetting) of MP IS followed by ER.

    For 4d, I took it to be hot = stirred (in an emotional sense) and “drink might have been moved” as a second, slightly oddly worded definition.

  2. I didn’t know about Jacob sheep either, guessing the ovine reference had something to do with Jacob in the Bible, which (no surprise) it turns out is the source of the name of the sheep breed. I felt UNEASY about my last in STIRRED, but now I quite like it, parsed as ‘moved’ as the def, and ‘Hot drink might have been’ as wordplay. I needed the crossers for UPDIKE, the first time I remember him as a crossword ‘novelist’.

    Favourite was the hidden for ‘concealed’.

    Thanks to Flimsy and Grant

  3. Solved sitting out in the sunshine which made it doubly enjoyable.  I did know the sheep, there are some down the road from us, and their connection to the Biblical Jacob

    Thanks to Flimsy and Grant

  4. Looking at 4d again, I reckon “moved” must be the definition (as WordPlodder says) with the split as in blog. Makes more sense than my remark @1.

  5. To Hovis & Wordplodder:
    Ther’s an outside chance that STIRRED might be a triple def: hot/drink might have been/moved, otherwise the ‘hot’ is a bit redundant (you can stir an ice-cold martini, despite what Bond prefers).

  6. My comments align largely with those above. Surprised to find ERROR, two days running but guess the faux pas lies not with the setter but the editor. I particularly enjoyed PHRASE, which was subtle indeed, along with MECHANIC, but took ages to discover TREASURER. Failed on TOOT. Good fun, though. Thanks to Flimsy and Grant.

  7. To Diane B @6:
    I’m not surprised you didn’t pop TOOT. In terms of motor-car horn deployment, to my ears a ‘toot’ is the polite opposite of an aggressive ‘blast’. Crosswords, eh?

  9. I had never heard of the sheep so, I too, thought 15d was a biblical clue. Jacob covered his arms with “a lamb’s skin” to decieve his blind father into  thinking that he was his “hairier” twin Esau. Thanks both for an enjoyable puzzle and explanation.

    parse.

  10. That’s why it’s a ‘Jacob’s Sheep.’ Plus it’s a bit of a chestnut, which is why I got it quickly. Thanks, team, for a good Tuesday.

  11. Despite enjoying clues such as REPORTERS, UPDIKE, and DOMESTIC I missed more of this crossword than I should have e.g. PHRASE (homophones can be a problem for me), SCRAP-BOOK (bag meaning book is a stretch), and SHEEPSKIN (Jacob being sheep too obscure.) Thanks to both.

  12. Many thanks to both for the entertainment and elucidation. I also had trouble equating BOOK with bag but it couldn’t be anything else. STIRRED was another I looked sideways at as I could not make up my mind from the clue.
    Um, Grant, 27a should be reversal of ITS,  it just IT.

  14. Having solved the Indy single-handed, this all went in very quickly with two of us on the case, and we thought at first it would make a good beginner’s puzzle – but one or two slightly trickier clues probably make it more suitable for improvers.  PHRASE and DOMESTIC were our favourites.

    Thanks, Flimsy and Grant.

  16. Thanks Flimsy and Grant

    Didn’t take too long on the day, but have only had a chance to check it off tonight at week end here.  Can remember being surprised at seeing the almost identical clue at 12a as the previous day – but it was a free hit early on !  There were no major hold ups along the way to getting it finished, although like others, had to check up on the Jacob sheep and bag / book afterwards.

    Finished in the SW corner with PRESSURE and UPDIKE the last couple in.

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