Comments on: Financial Times 13,759 by Cinephile, Dogberry and Io

By: Pete Maclean

Pete Maclean — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 11:14:35 +0000

Wil, That’s a good point about the HIPPY clue — one that I think is weak anyway. And an even better one about SO in 16D. I Cannot make any satisfactory guess as to how to interpret it and think I was remiss in not pointing it out.

By: Wil Ransome

Wil Ransome — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 23:49:16 +0000

Only one criticism, which comes perhaps from none of the setters being the right age: a hippy and a beatnik were two very different beings.

What is the ‘so’ doing in the clue for 16dn? (Lust, perhaps, so sadly admitted by one entering place of iniquity: DEADLY SIN.) Is it there because there is no other anagram indicator for ‘sadly’, ‘perhaps’ being used to stop ‘Lust’ from being a definition by example? If so is it adequate? Or is it just repeating the ‘perhaps’ so that it can be used again?

By: Bryan

Bryan — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 07:19:04 +0000

Many thanks Pete but, even with the extra help provided, I found this too tough for me.

Accordingly, I didn’t keep my notes but, having now seen your superb analysis, I have discovered words I never knew or even wished to know.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 23:59:18 +0000

I hope I am not offending anyone, but I liked this one more than I did the Guardian tribute (which wasn’t bad at all, I hasten to say).

Even though, the instruction given by the FT did spoil it a bit for me.
I would have enjoyed to find it out for myself.
That said, I can imagine that most FT readers/solvers are only familiar with Mudd and not with his alter egos. Unlike me and others at 15^2.

Very nice that Taline is there almost as many times as John.
And whoever wrote the clue of 25d, well, er, ….