Comments on: Financial Times 13,843 by Cincinnus

By: Wanderer

Wanderer — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 11:46:25 +0000

Thank you for pointing this out, John. Such serendipity is what makes this site such fun. Hats off to Cincinnus.

By: John Newman

John Newman — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 07:41:19 +0000

Wanderer, I found your blog interesting because unlike you, once I had seen from the google search that there was an explorer named Speke I looked no further. So I missed the Nile connection. Doubly interesting for me as I am presently living in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I see though that Speke explored the source of the White Nile. Here in Ethiopia we have the source of the Blue Nile which is well worth a visit if you enjoy that feeling of awe one has when you are looking at something so significant.

As I write this I am struck once again by how much we learn by doing an enjoyable Cincinnus puzzle.

By: Pete Maclean

Pete Maclean — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 21:31:23 +0000

Bamberger, I found this harder than the average Cincinnus but not exceptionally so. I remember one particular Cincinnus puzzle that was much harder. The clues I had trouble with were, like you, 17D (APPLIANCE) along with 22D (TORSO) and 24D (ELFIN). GI is frequently used in cryptic clues and a valuable term to keep in mind. Typically it is clued by something a bit more precise than “serving man” though — “soldier” perhaps.

Chambers defines “fence” as a verb as “to guard”.

By: Bamberger

Bamberger — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 19:45:24 +0000

I couldn’t get 12a and had to google the answer. Ditto 23d.
26a I know a fence is a criminal but a guard?
17d Very hard -you have to get apple for fruit as well as anagramming
20d Would never had got serving man =gi.

Hardest Cincinnus I can remember -didn’t get much of rhs out -though did get inquorate and Yonkers.

By: Pete Maclean

Pete Maclean — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 19:35:24 +0000

Cincinnus, Thank you for contributing here.

Having lived in New York City for many years, in addition to the reason I cited in the blog, I thought I knew plenty about Yonkers. However I had not realized that it was the setting for Hello Dolly. I know the title song very well but have never seen the whole musical.

By: Cincinnus

Cincinnus — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:40:38 +0000

Thanks, Pete, for the excellent blog, as always. Thanks also to others who have commented.

You wonder, Pete, if many Brits have heard of Yonkers. I should think it’s fairly well known, if for no other reason, than as the setting for the musical Hello Dolly, and for being mentioned in the song from that show, Put On Your Sunday Clothes:
“Out there, There’s a world outside of Yonkers, Way out there beyond this hick town, Barnaby”

By: Pete Maclean

Pete Maclean — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:23:35 +0000

I don’t know if the FT or other papers have made official proclamations about this but Chambers does seem to be generally considered as the reference for British cryptics. I have a copy myself and often use it. Even so I missed the bird-lime thing which is in my edition. I also missed the connection between Speke and the Nile.

By: Wanderer

Wanderer — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:06:37 +0000

Thanks Pete and Cincinnus.

To my shame I had not heard of the explorer Speke, but the homophone was obvious. So I looked him up and found out that what he explored was the source of the Nile. Then when I got to 24, and needed to find a river to construct Elfin, I thought: nice touch.

By: John Newman

John Newman — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 06:55:41 +0000

Thanks again Pete.

As I was doing this crossword I thought to myself “Has Cincinnus contracted this one out?”. So there is something about it isn’t there? BIRD was beyond me. Why is it that Chambers always has an answer? Is there a new one printed every couple of months? If I am going to keep doing cryptic crosswords it seems I will have to buy myself one one day.
John

By: Pete Maclean

Pete Maclean — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 01:16:46 +0000

Ah, I am indebted to you once again, Sil. Thank you!

I do think this puzzle is uncharacteristic, one I would not confidently have recognized as a Cincinnus if it had been anonymous. It is certainly good enough to be a Cincinnus and I cannot say that any single clue stands out as being un-Cincinnus-like, but the style and tone seem a little different from the usual.