Comments on: Financial Times 13,892 by Monk

By: Monk

Monk — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:17:30 +0000

To PB @ 6 OK, to give credit where it’s due, you got there first! That “tripe” used a bespoke grid with an average word length (hereafter, “awl”) of ~6.2 This is a flipped-on-the-leading-diagonal version of an (MMC) “odd/even” Indy grid, from 2000, with an awl of ~7.3 and lots of helpful escape routes in the overhanging squares. I wonder if the “tripe” can be done, using acceptable vocab for a 15×15, on the more restrictive (?) “odd/odd” grid, with a larger (?) awl.

Finally, many thanks for the smashing blog, PeeDee; much appreciated.

By: Paul B

Paul B — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:45:39 +0000

Triple pangrams are done by good blokes, I say.

By: MikeC

MikeC — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:53:05 +0000

Thanks PeeDee and Monk. As others have said, a very impressive puzzle. For once I noticed the pangram(s) coming on, all three of them, which helped me with PAXO. I hadn’t seen this spelling of hijack before but Chambers says it’s OK. Good variety of clueing, sometimes ingenious.

By: PeeDee

PeeDee — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 13:23:10 +0000

Thanks very much Pelham. You are quite right about PAXO. I don’t have a TV, so I’m a little out of touch with TV presenters nicknames.

By: crypticsue

crypticsue — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 13:21:11 +0000

Great fun. As you say a mix of easy and difficult. I am with Pelham re PAXO. Mayo isn’t a stuffing in my view.

By: Pelham Barton

Pelham Barton — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:52:38 +0000

Further to 1: I had PAXO not MAYO at 24ac – otherwise you “only” get a double pangram.

By: Pelham Barton

Pelham Barton — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:47:45 +0000

Thanks Monk for an excellent crossword and PeeDee for the blog.

Working from top to bottom, I had almost completed a double pangram before entering my first B.

Completing the triple pangram helped me with 18ac, and the expectation of it helped with 15dn.

21ac and 18dn were new to me, but clear from the wordplay.

10ac: “two trios from” means two blocks of three successive letters.