Comments on: Financial Times 13,268 / Cinephile

By: Sylvia

Sylvia — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:18:55 +0000

Ha ha! I AM available! Our names seem intertwined at least! But with all these crosswords wouldn’t have time.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 22:51:53 +0000

Yes, that Alberich site is a joy, indeed.
I think, he is such a nice person.

In my list of setters I forgot an important one; Cincinnus = Orlando.
Sylvia, you are hooked? So, will you marry me?

By: Sylvia

Sylvia — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:58:39 +0000

Sil,
Many thanks for the information – I am hooked! Now completed the last 6 Cinephiles and Mudds, and love the Alberich site. His articles are a joy to read. Look forward to a Neo.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:23:09 +0000

Sylvia, re #5, if you are new to the FT, be aware that:

Cinephile = Araucaria
Dante = Rufus
Mudd = Paul
IO = Enigmatist
Bradman = Pasquale
Dogberry = Shed
Armonie = Chifonie

and please, give a warm welcome to the friendly Neo and the brilliant Alberich !!
See also: http://www.alberichcrosswords.com/index.html

By: Sylvia

Sylvia — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 22:52:57 +0000

A few more for the sake of completing a list? -
Rangoon – Myanmar; St.John’s – Antigua/Barbuda; Nouakchott – Mauritania; Tokyo – Japan; Ouagadougou – Burkina Faso; Koror – Palau; Sana’a – Yemen; Banjul – Zambia; Kigali – Rwanda; Lusaka – Zambia; Taipei – Taiwan.
And thanks to Sil for introducing me to FT!

By: Pete Maclean

Pete Maclean — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 04:28:25 +0000

It took me several days to finish this puzzle — just what the doctor ordered for the Christmas break.

I agree that 52ac looks faulty. I missed 10dn — suspected it was Ottawa but could not convince myself. And I also had to look up “seeing pink elephants”.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:34:23 +0000

Well, maybe an idea for Mr Graham.
BTW, a bit sneaky of him to put SYRIA in the grid as well (26d).
First I thought that’s one too, perhaps Amman being the capital – but then I got it all wrong: Syria and Damascus make a perfect pair as do Jordan and Amman.
Of course, Cinephile was absolutely fair: the definition (‘Land’) was in the clue, so it couldn’t be one of ‘them’. But even so.

By: smiffy

smiffy — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 20:02:16 +0000

Hi Sil,

Thanks for clarifying the rubric – and confirming that the sample set is pretty large.
While solving, I couldn’t help but notice that there are several American states that also fit the bill. Perhaps fodder for a regular grid-sized thematic in the future?

Apols for the omissions at 1 & 30, which I’ll correct pronto.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:03:41 +0000

Thank you, Smiffy, for your fine blog.
Another one of The Rev’s Capital Crosswords, but this one was even more challenging then the previous ones (in the FT and The Guardian), I thought.
I was a bit confused by the information at the start. Just like you, I thought there must be more than 15 countries in the world like that (you mentioned some already, but there’s also Serbia/Zagreb, Ghana/Accra, Tibet/Llasa, to name a few).
In THIS crossword there were 8 pairs, 6 just capitals (in the grid) and 1 lonely country (Poland) – which makes it 15 altogether. That’s what Cinephile meant.
While solving I wasn’t sure either whether there were 9 countries in the clues or in the grid. The same for the capitals.
Anyway, I got there in the end.
Splendid puzzle.

I can’t help you with 52ac: the K seems to be in the wrong place. Maybe we have to read it as the ‘in charge of Ireland’-king, like a kind of adjective.
I am not convinced that ‘white’ is enough as a definition for SHEET in 26ac.

In 1d there is, of course, also the reference to council tax Band A.
And in 30d you forgot the explanation of CAIRO, which is: the sculptor Anthony CARO around I.

There are too many good clues to mention (too many clues anyway), but I especially liked the r/w naughtiness of 27,41.

Satisfying crossword.