Financial Times 14,866 by BRADMAN

by

A reunion with the Don this Friday. A very pleasant challenge with some clues that were just out of reach (annoyingly so) as a direct solve. I had to resort to looking up Google for confirming the parsing for a couple of clues.

I think the setter has a special corner for DIGITALIS. 27ac stood out for its surface. 4d was an iffy clue for me due to the construction.

FF: 8 DD : 8

 

completed grid
Across
1 RECOLLECTED
Thought again about beliefs leader expressed about prayer (11)

cREED (beliefs, leader expressed) about COLLECT (prayer)
7 HOP
It’s bound to be hard work (3)

H (Hard) OP (work)
9 ALARM
Leader of US gang, member creating panic (5)

AL (Capone, Leader of US gang) ARM (member)
10 ENIGMATIC
When troubled, I get manic, hard to understand (9)

Anagram of I GET MANIC
11 SIDETRACK
Divert footpath? (9)

Double def
12 NOOSE
Loop with knots daughter’s got rid of (5)

NOdOSE (with knots, without ‘D’)
13 GREASED
A society beset by avarice given more freedom of action? (7)

GREED (avarice) around [ A S (society) ]
15 TACK
Course of inferior food? (4)

Double def
18 HAUL
Swag from big room reportedly (4)

Sounds like HALL
20 COLOMBO
Look to get into musical band in capital city (7)

LO (look) in COMBO (musical band)
23 ORANG
Primate’s holy book, apart from the introduction, good (5)

kORAN (holy book, minus the first letter) G (good)
24 FIREPROOF
Female agent keeping one top position in some way indestructible (9)

 [ F (female) REP (agent) keeping I (one) ] ROOF (top position)
26 UNDERMINE
Beneath bomb is wreck (9)

UNDER (beneath) MINE (bomb)
27 NEHRU
Former PM showing hunger for reform, head of government missed (5)

Anagram of HUNgER (missing ‘g’, head of Government)
28 TAR
Man in boat in unnamed lake (3)

TARn (lake, without ‘n’. This is a new word for me).
29 DIGITALISED
Maybe one meets crazy ladies under the influence of drug (11)

DIGIT (one, maybe) anagram of LADIES
Down
1 REASSIGN
In period of rule fool is set aside afresh (8)

ASS (fool) in REIGN (period of rule)
2 CHANDLER
Writer who may have something to offer in dark times (8)

Cryptic clue – Chandler is an old word for someone who makes candles. And of course, Raymond Chandler.
3 LIMIT
Boundary must be illuminated – this person’s brought in (5)

I’M (this person’s, self referential to the setter) in LIT (illuminated)
4 EMERALD
Journalist eating lunch maybe – right inside stone is found (7)

ED (journalist) containing [ MEAL (lunch) with R (right) inside ]
5 THICKET
Growth of vegetation is just what you want outside hospital (7)

TICKET (what you want) outside H (hospital)
6 DOMINICAL
The Lord’s Day’s calm – I repeatedly nod off (9)

Anagram of CALM I I (repeatedly) NOD
7 HOT DOG
Setter maybe going after much- approved food (3,3)

HOT (much-approved) DOG (setter, may be)
8 PICKET
Watch choice film (6)

PICK (choice) E.T (film)
14 STAGGERED
Surprised but not all at once (9)

Double definition
16 SMOOCHES
She, putting the fellow off, hangs around and behaves amorously (8)

S (She without ‘he’, putting fellow off) MOOCHES (hangs around)
17 CONFOUND
Puzzle’s trick discovered (8)

CON (trick) FOUND (discovered)
19 LIFTING
Picking up one paper for Heather to collect (7)

LING (Heather) containing [ I (one) FT (paper) ]
20 CURRENT
Contemporary baddie torn apart (7)

CUR (baddie) RENT (torn apart)
21 ROBUST
Sturdy old boy in game on street (6)

[ OB (old boy) in RU (game, Rugby Union) ] on ST (street)
22 BALDER
A Norse god less hairy (6)

Double def.
25 PANEL
Piece of glass left to form part of door? (5)

PANE (piece of glass) L (left)
*anagram

3 comments on “Financial Times 14,866 by BRADMAN”

  1. Thanks Turbolegs. I came here intending to quibble on 6D where the answer is an adjective which I though had been clued with a noun, but then I saw that you had also underlined the apostrophe and the ‘s’ as part of the clue which then made sense.

    I did not know about nodose – just need to find an opportunity to use it. Also failed to parse RECOLLECTED (I had the collect bit being a prayer but thought “beliefs leader expressed” meant “sounds like a cleric”). Otherwise, very smooth and enjoyable – thanks Bradman.

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