Comments on: Financial Times 13,532 / Neo

By: Neo

Neo — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 23:11:23 +0000

I went straight for Big Nora, I’m afraid! After I’d remembered an old one by someone else (‘Unaware Ringo upset a six-footer’) that I was seeking to avoid.

Thanks to Sil for the recent comments about precision (we aim to please), to the other contributors, and to ’0′ for the excellent bloggery.

Cheers
P, N, T etc.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 22:01:50 +0000

Hi Agentzero, “a quick solve from Neo today”?
And “nothing commentworthy”.
You must have been in a special mood today.

This puzzle was on the FT site last night even before midnight [what happened there?], so I took it to bed to see whether I could make a start.
First impression: a harder Neo than usual.
Probably I was too tired at that stage, so when I looked at it again during my lunch break [read: the break in which I have lunch] a lot of words fell very quickly in place, indeed.

In another place I emphasised the fact that I have great admiration for Neo because of him being extremely precise and providing us with good surfaces – IMO, the two most important things for a setter – and today was no exception.

Admit, I thought IGNORA was [s]IGNORA too, until Eileen made it all clear – and if you think about it, it is all the more misdirecting from Neo given the fact that he probably thought about this too [or not, of course, and then you can throw this in the dustbin].

I especially liked WASHINGTON [different, I thought], MOLYBDENUM [great surface], ROOKIE [fine construction] and above all IDEA [fantastic device (although I have seen Neo using this before)] – surely my Clue of the Day.

By: bamberger

bamberger — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 17:58:49 +0000

Got about half out.
Didn’t get and have never heard of agouti,molybdenum, mako, anil or ex cathedra so that didn’t help with checking letters elsewhere.
1d too tough for me.
As someone commented a few weeks ago the Saturday and Monday prize puzzles seem easier that the Tues-Fri puzzles.

By: Agentzero

Agentzero — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 14:35:11 +0000

Eileen: Ha! I’m sure you’re right. Once I saw “signora” in the clue I couldn’t un-see it. Thanks!

By: walruss

walruss — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 11:47:25 +0000

Another very good puzzle, though you don’t always get ‘em in the FT. Agree with Eileen, and many very tight clues.

By: walruss

walruss — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 09:07:53 +0000

Funny one! I shall steal the office copy.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 08:19:13 +0000

Thanks, Agentzero.

Re 1dn: I like your ‘signora’ – but she’s not necessarily large, is she? I think it’s [b]IG NORA.

I’d never heard of MOLYBDENUM but it’s a great anagram.

An enjoyable puzzle all round. Thanks, Neo.