Comments on: Financial Times 12,925 by Viking

By: Gaufrid

Gaufrid — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:10:16 +0000

Hi Agentzero
Funnily enough, unlike both you and Nmsindy, 11d was one of the first to go in for me (I had a change today and did the down clues first).

I agree with your quibble about 6a and under normal circumstances I would probably have commented on it but as I already had _D_T, and the answer was obvious, I didn’t pay too much attention to the clue at the time (not helped by the fact that it was about 5:30am!).

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:32:09 +0000

Excellent puzzle, a little trickier than average FT. Re MARKET FORCES, you’re right that mostly is usually only one letter off, but it’s logical here (four out of six) and clear enough from the wordplay. Not sure if they’re what they used to be, those MARKET FORCES, tho. Kicking myself for not seeing the hidden ESTRANGEMENT for ages.

By: Agentzero

Agentzero — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:28:06 +0000

I liked a number of these clues, particularly 7d (21st century for “our age”).

Took me forever to figure out that 11d (“estrangement”) was a hidden, rather than an anagram of some set of words in the clue.

I didn’t like the use of “to” as an instruction in 6a (“promoting drug to try to lose weight is correct”). You are promoting the letter “E” *in* the word “DIET,” so wouldn’t the clue have been better as “promoting drug in attempt to lose weight is correct”?

By: Gaufrid

Gaufrid — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:47:03 +0000

A pre-breakfast blog today?”

No, I had my toast and coffee at about 5am so it is coming up to lunchtime now!

By: Octofem

Octofem — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:38:25 +0000

A pre-breakfast blog today? Quite a mixed bag, I agree. ‘Vanessa’ as a butterfly was new to me. I’m surprised she doesn’t appear in more puzzles. I was held up by 7d by trying to fit in ‘disconcert’. Also tried ‘trout’ for 4d but couldn’t make it work.