Comments on: Financial Times 13773 Armonie

By: Lenny

Lenny — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 19:02:12 +0000

Thanks scchua. Sorry my comment was a bit garbled since I looked up oracle and noted that one definition was the Jewish sanctuary. Chambers only has oracle, in this sense, as the place where revelations are given so hardly a shrine. However, you are quite right in pointing out that Collins, for example, specifically defines oracle as a shrine.

By: Pelham Barton

Pelham Barton — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 18:43:16 +0000

Correction to 4: “is preferable because it allows”

By: Pelham Barton

Pelham Barton — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 18:38:18 +0000

scchua @3: I entirely agree with you about the excellent surface in 25ac. There is room for disagreement on how much a good surface should override principles of economy of construction.

One could also comment on 11dn. I am fairly sure that the likes of Afrit, Ximenes, and (in the modern era) Azed would not accept the capital Y on yank. Here there is a possible remedy, which is to turn the clue round so that it reads

Yank many poke fun at (4)

To me this has only a slightly inferior surface and is preferable because is allows the word “yank” to have a natural capital. However I repeat that I have no quarrel with those whose preferences differ from mine. I even have no quarrel with those who regard misleading punctuation as a positive virtue in a clue, as long as they recognise that this is a matter of personal taste.

Lenny @2: you are too kind to me. I had not heard of the word and failed to construct it from the subsidiary indication.

By: scchua

scchua — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 17:21:11 +0000

Hi Pelham, I think that in 25A “which the” contributes largely to the surface. There are clubs at which in order to get in you’ll need some form of inside info (a “password”), a connection, or sometimes a fiver or a tenner.

Hi Lenny, the dictionaries give “oracle” also as the shrine (the word in the pdf online version, not “sanctuary”), the place where the oracle makes its pronouncements.

By: Lenny

Lenny — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 16:29:09 +0000

Thanks scchua. This was an enjoyable pre-dinner solve from Armonie. I particularly liked the clues for Glasses and Sales Talk. I thought Oracle was a bit tenuous for sanctuary. I originally had Drain at 24, which also fits the wordplay but, unfortunately, not the checking letters.

My last in was Romaine. As scchua suggests, dictionaries regard this as a US usage but all UK supermarkets now use it because it sounds posher than cos. Maybe that was why Pelham and I struggled with the over-helpful definition.

By: Pelham Barton

Pelham Barton — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:42:22 +0000

Thanks Armonie and scchua.

I was held up in the northeast corner by putting the inferior (but technically valid) answer DISCOVER instead of DISCLOSE at 8dn.

I gave up without solving 21dn: a missed opportunity to indicate that the answer was an anagram of the setter’s monicker? (Maybe it has been used before.)

In 25ac, the words “which the” appear to be redundant. My preference is that hidden clues should avoid redundant words altogether, but I have no quarrel with those whose tastes differ from mine.