Comments on: Financial Times 13,828 / Dogberry

By: PeeDee

PeeDee — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:26:35 +0000

Thank you for the blog today Gaufrid. Like you I found it mostly easy with a few much harder clues. Oddly enough I was reading about John Stuart Mill just yesterday, so no problem there, but ‘plant’ was a great red herring that sent me down the wrong track completely.

By: Bamberger

Bamberger — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:57:44 +0000

Failed on 16ac as well.
For 21a had marguerita which was, of course, the well known mita spider surrounding arguer. Pure coincidence that there is a drink of that name.
Enjoyable if tough for me

By: Brian Bollen

Brian Bollen — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:08:38 +0000

Maybe I’m one breast-fixated, but I have ‘mammary’ for 9ac.

By: Alan Connor

Alan Connor — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 14:57:34 +0000

Yes, I only got back to 16ac once I’d twigged that SAWMILL wasn’t *that* kind of plant.

By: Gaufrid

Gaufrid — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 11:49:57 +0000

Hi scchua
Chambers, Collins and COED all give UHT as an abbreviation for “ultra heat treated” so I think my comment is valid.

By: scchua

scchua — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 11:33:22 +0000

Hi Gaufrid, btw, UHT is the acronym for the process, ultra high temperature treatment or ultra heat treatment, so it can be synonymous with sterilisation.

By: scchua

scchua — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 11:26:52 +0000

Thanks Gaufrid and Dogberry.

Like you, 9A SAWMILL was my last one. In my case ignorance (of harmala) was bliss. Agree with you on your parsing.

I liked 1D DURER and 13A SHEEN for their unusual reversal indicators.

By: anax

anax — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 11:22:45 +0000

John Stuart Mill, of his own free will
On half a pint of shandy was particularly ill

So, thanks to Monty Python’s Philosophers song I knew of JSM!

By: Eileen

Eileen — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:41:03 +0000

Hi Gaufrid

I think you need have no qualms at all about thinker = MILL, who was a very influential philosoher. I would have a rather bigger question mark over CHESTNUT ['an old or stale joke'] = SAW ‘a wise saying’] – both Collins – but, as you say, nothing else seems to fit.