Comments on: Financial Times 13,021 / Dante

By: Agentzero

Agentzero — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:07:26 +0000

Thank you, Eileen. I liked 3dn as well. I forgot to mention that I thought 22dn, while fairly easy, was also a good clue, aided by the fact that in a reference to nuns, “superior” could mean, specifically, a Mother Superior.

By: Agentzero

Agentzero — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:01:10 +0000

Rishi, thanks for your gentle hint! I have secured the use of a Chambers for future blogging.

I should have been clearer in my comment on 27a. I had no problem with the surface reading. My comment had to do with the cryptic reading: I would have defined a STICKER as something that “stays on,” rather than something that “keeps on” — and, as you note, that would have worked with the surface sense as well.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:52:59 +0000

Congratulations on your first blog, Agentzero!

As you say, very straightforward, though I share your reservations about 23ac and 19dn. Like you, I really liked 1ac and I thought the surface of 3dn was very clever.

I learned ‘mean = near’ from crosswords – and, interestingly, ‘close’ means the same.

I wouldn’t say 17dn was a double definition, although I’m sure it’s meant to be – I’m not questioning your interpretation! None of my dictionaries gives two distinct meanings; I think ‘spontaneous’ is inferred from ‘received or known by simple inspection and direct apprehension’ [Chambers] or ‘that consists in immediate apprehension, without the intervention of any reasoning process’ [SOED]

By: C.G. Rishikesh

C.G. Rishikesh — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:05:32 +0000

… take ‘watch’ as a noun meaning “watchman” – in the surface reading, of course. In wordplay it gives ‘ticker’.

By: C.G. Rishikesh

C.G. Rishikesh — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 08:54:53 +0000

27a: I would think “keep on” is OK. Only, we would say “keep on watching” not “keep on watch”. Your suggestion ‘stay on’ seems to fix this prob.
Come to think of it, “keep on watch” itself is OK if we understand that “keep on” means “to continue to remind someone to do something” and take ‘watch’ as a noun meaning “watchman”.

By: C.G. Rishikesh

C.G. Rishikesh — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 08:39:58 +0000

Re 19a: Chambers, “the crossword addict’s favourite tool” as proclaimed in the preface to an edition, has
chew the fat to keep on arguing the point

By: C.G. Rishikesh

C.G. Rishikesh — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 08:36:45 +0000

Re 25a: Yes, “near” does have the meaning “mean”. Noted in COD as archaic.
Chambers too has it but the meanings given are “thriftily, parsimoniously” (marked archaic).