Comments on: Financial Times 13,361 / Viking

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 12:55:49 +0000

Many thanks, shuchi, for your blog.
Only in 5ac (AGHAST) it should read “H in AGAS T”, of course.

What a coincidence to see GUERRILLA for the second day in a row, after yesterday’s majestic Alberich which also used the word ‘irregular’ but only once. Although I like the sunniness of Viking’s version too, I prefer the Alberich one [ because of the more political surface].

I found this a crossword with the emphasis clearly on construction (sometimes ingenious), while still a lot of clues had fine surface reading as well.
Like my Clue of the Day (and a favourite of yours as well): HEROINES (27ac).
With 1ac (COURTING) as a splendid runner-up.

Finally, I was wondering why Viking did use ‘Medico’ for ‘Doctor’ [which is alright, of course, and makes a nice combination with 'dropping round'] when he could have used just ‘Medic’.

By: Uncle Yap

Uncle Yap — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 10:23:48 +0000

What a remarkable co-incidence that two puzzles on the same day would feature the American spelling of ODOUR. Over at the Guardian today, Brendan clued
Old roses oddly lacking in scent in New York (8)

By: shuchi

shuchi — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 09:34:42 +0000

Hi Gaufrid

Thanks. I like your parsing your 11D better too. Will update.

By: Gaufrid

Gaufrid — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 09:28:54 +0000

Hi Shuchi
I had a different parsing for 11dn – [a]ITCH
25dn is SHOAL – H (hotel) in LAOS (Asian country) reversed