Comments on: Financial Times 13,645 / Styx

By: shuchi

shuchi — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 15:27:38 +0000

Hi mike04

Thanks for mentioning this, I hadn’t spotted the ambiguity when solving. With hindsight I agree with you and Sil that STOPS is the better answer but a fair case can be made for SPOTS too.

By: mike04

mike04 — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 14:41:07 +0000

Hi Sil

Yes, I also plumped for SPOTS, having considered both possibilities when solving.
Now, confronted with ‘The Solution’, I agree that STOPS is more likely.
I still can’t explain my sudden change of mind!

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 13:06:36 +0000

Thanks for pointing this out, mike04.
I had just like shuchi (and you?) SPOTS, but re-reading the clue (“result of outbreak, possibly, brought up arrests”) I must say that STOPS is probably more likely as the solution. It is more natural to connect ‘brought up’ with the first part of the clue than with ‘arrests’.
Ambiguous? I would say: yes.

By: mike04

mike04 — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 12:31:57 +0000

Hi shuchi
Have you seen the published solution to 26dn? Another example of an ambiguous clue?

By: Scarpia

Scarpia — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 23:41:42 +0000

Thanks shuchi.
A very good puzzle but I didn’t find it a gentle ride.It took me quite a while to make much headway but once a few check letters were in most of the rest fell quite quickly.The bottom half seemed a lot easier than the top with the NE being the last to complete.
CABOTAGE was new to me as well,derived from French I see and nothing to do with the 15th/16th century explorers!
17 down was my favourite clue.

By: Tony Welsh

Tony Welsh — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 21:45:51 +0000

I found this tough. Finished eventually, after looking at it on and off over a total of about 4 hours elapsed, but was guessing 24a. Still not sure I get why WAVE is outbreak.

Also, quite a few words I had to look up: cabotage, otoscope, and grabnel come to mind, and I note that this site’s spell checker shares my ignorance!

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 21:35:53 +0000

Yep, shuchi, that’s what I already thought.
But after reading the clue again and again I still had the feeling that there was something not completely right.
Maybe it is the fact that SMART is clued too (read: unnecessarily) wordy, although thinking about it again it is probably the use of both ‘is’ and ‘after opening’ that doesn’t feel clean enough.
When you read the clue as: MART is what you see in SMART after its opening, then it’s OK.
But in my opinion, one has too much to read around it.
I see the construction and in the end it can be justified, but I don’t like it.

By: shuchi

shuchi — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 17:06:46 +0000

Hi Sil van den Hoek,

After its “opening” i.e. its first letter, the word SMART gives MART. I’ll add that to the main post as well. Thanks!

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 16:53:27 +0000

Hi shuchi and thanks for the blog of a nice crossword, as we’ve come to expect from Styx.
My Pick of the Day would surely be 4d (GRAPNEL) with its fully appropriate surface.

But I have one question.
Maybe I am missing something or perhaps I have been staring too long at the clue of 20d (MART), but I cannot see why the S must be deleted (?) or otherwise.
I would be happy if someone could/would enlighten me.

By: shuchi

shuchi — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:40:45 +0000

@bamberger: About 5a, an abbreviation listed in a standard dictionary is fair game. SP could also be sine prole i.e. without issue.

@Thomas99: Missed that one while blogging. My apologies. Post updated.