Comments on: Financial Times no.13,823 by MONK

By: Ringo

Ringo — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:20:44 +0000

Hi Keeper – I think “once” is there to differentiate the archaic sense of “freelance” (i.e. a soldier for hire, literally a “free lance”) from the sense in which we use the term today – some of us modern-day freelances might not like to think of ourselves as “mercenaries”! (although of course that’s what we are…)

By: Keeper

Keeper — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 07:36:42 +0000

Like others, I found this to be an enjoyable puzzle, though I completely missed the double letter motif. One potential quibble: What purpose does “once” serve in the clue for 10ac?

By: Alan Connor

Alan Connor — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 08:27:56 +0000

I reckon that, if the horse I rode around Normandy a few years ago had not been called Ivresse, I might have left this unfinished. Perhaps I would have alighted on Inverness as a help after staring for a few… years?

By: MikeC

MikeC — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:32:47 +0000

Thanks Monk, Ringo and others. Three excellent crosswords today (Nimrod, Paul and this one). All challenging but fair. I totally failed to spot the double-letter motif here, the ingenuity of which merely adds to my admiration of the setter!

By: Pelham Barton

Pelham Barton — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:28:22 +0000

Monk @6: Thank you for that comment. Now we know why you used “Inverness” in 17dn.

By: Monk

Monk — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:04:20 +0000

Thank you all for the blog and comments. Just to add that the double-letter motif extended to all clues too. Because of the theme, it was surprising how much active rejection of “difficult” words was required.

By: Ringo

Ringo — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 11:58:32 +0000

Hi Pelham and CrypticSue. Have to admit I didn’t spot the double-letter motif, either… and 26ac. is, of course, a CD, not a DD. Sigh. Not one of my more impressive mornings…

By: Pelham Barton

Pelham Barton — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 11:56:54 +0000

Thanks Monk for the crossword and Ringo for the blog.

I did not spot the device identified by crypticsue @3 and left 11ac incomplete.

Is 26ac a double definition or a cryptic definition?

By: crypticsue

crypticsue — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 11:37:14 +0000

Great fun, thank you Monk. I thought all those double letters were a brilliant device and I have to admit that realising each solution would have them did help me in one or two places but not with the dreaded 6d. Thanks to Ringo too.

By: Ringo

Ringo — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 09:54:49 +0000

Conrad, you’re a life-saver. Thank-you! Even my best efforts at cheating didn’t bring those up…