Comments on: Financial Times 13,762 by Monk

By: PeeDee

PeeDee — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 20:39:06 +0000

Monk, thank you very much for visiting the blog and enlightening us.

By: Monk

Monk — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 19:28:26 +0000

Rene @9 and PeeDee@10 (to whom thanks for meticulous blog): I must confess to taking Wikipedia’s opening few words “München is the capital city of Bavaria … ” without adequate post-checking and/or brain engagement. My apologies for what will legitimately be viewed by many as an error.

Walruss @5: thank you for your comments, and just to inform that the Nina was simply a result of using a (6,4,6) “seeding” phrase invited by the grid structure.

By: PeeDee

PeeDee — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 18:09:40 +0000

Rene @9 – good point, I didn’t spot that. I suppose Munich is the capital of Bavaria, so Monk gets away with it, but I wonder if that is what he intended.

By: Rene

Rene — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 17:42:16 +0000

I was surprised to see Munich referred to as a capital.

By: Wanderer

Wanderer — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 17:13:33 +0000

Thanks for clearing that up, Mike.

By: mike04

mike04 — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 17:00:12 +0000

Hi Wanderer

This is from Chambers Dictionary:
lap joint n a joint formed by overlapping edges.
Mike

By: Wanderer

Wanderer — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 16:19:01 +0000

Thanks PeeDee and Monk, very enjoyable but ultimately too tough for me. I went for GIN JOINT at 1, thinking of Bogart speaking of Bergman:
“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” Now that I see the correct answer, I’m afraid I still don’t understand it — I can see the seedy bar and the drink, but not the connection. Any help welcomed!

By: walruss

walruss — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 13:51:44 +0000

Yes, it is hard to see why the Nina is there. I really don’t know, but this was a good puzzle, very hard, but quality in the writing I thought. Thanks to the compiler and PD.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 13:46:39 +0000

This was hard, but I more or less finished it (albeit with a dictionary at hand).
More or less, because I couldn’t find 20d (which should have been CONVENE) due to the fact that I had the wrong answer at 22ac.
I was convinced it was STEELE, Sir Richard Steele (1672-1729) [mentioned in the ODE] being the writer and ‘steel’ meaning hard [according to Chambers it cán mean 'like steel'].

Funny to see, PeeDee, that the picks of the day you mention, were some of the easiest and relatively straightforward for me.
I particularly liked 13ac (SARDINE TIN) and 5d (TOOLKIT), but there was so much more to admire.
So much misdirection – very, very clever.

I have done now the last 4 Monks. The first one remained Greek to me and therefore I just ‘read’ the blog. The next one let Monk storm into my Top 10. The previous one, however, wasn’t my cup of tea at all (despite the clever Nina). But in this alternating system of mine, this one had to be on my wavelength again.
And it was – top-notch!

By: mike04

mike04 — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 13:21:42 +0000

Thanks PeeDee.
Another great crossword from Monk.

6dn had to be ROSINANTE but I needed your explanation.
I don’t think I’d have seen it, as the Spanish ‘jota sound’ is missing in “donkey oaty”.

In 24dn, I think “bill” (rather than “bill and coo”) is required for the definition.
COO is the non-emergency call from the bill of one dove!