Comments on: Financial Times by Gozo 13,975

By: Keeper

Keeper — Sat, 12 May 2012 10:17:09 +0000

The Mobile/Montgomery error is pretty egregious, in my view. The editor shares culpability with Gozo.

Robi @13: Mobile was never the captial of the State of Louisiana.

By: Robi

Robi — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 20:50:11 +0000

I meant Louisiana state capital

By: PeeDee

PeeDee — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 19:51:02 +0000

Alabama didn’t come into existence as a state until 1819, so it couldn’t have a state capital before then?

By: Robi

Robi — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:35:55 +0000

According to Wiki: ‘Mobile, then known as Fort Louis de la Louisiane, started in 1702, at Twenty-seven Mile Bluff on the Mobile River, as the first capital of the French colony of Louisiana.’

By: Robi

Robi — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:36:16 +0000

Pandean @9; that sounds like the correct parsing.

By: Pandean

Pandean — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:09:22 +0000

Thanks for the blog PeeDee.

I thought Gozo may have included the word ‘first’ in the clue for 12ac because there are two birds hidden in ‘winter nest’: TERN and ERNE (the sea-eagle). TERN is the first one of the two.

By: PeeDee

PeeDee — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:04:13 +0000

HAWK, SMEE (and possibly TERN) get a definition, whereas the other across clues are undefined. I wondered why HAWK got the extra definition too. Smee was a pirate in Peter Pan.

By: Robi

Robi — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:59:49 +0000

…….. sorry, meant to thank PeeDee for the blog.

By: Robi

Robi — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:45:39 +0000

I am in awe at the ability of the setter to put so many birds in one grid. Excellent work!

I think the TERN in 12 might relate to: ‘a prize for drawing three winning numbers.’ [Chambers]

Not sure I understand Pelham Barton’s remark about 23; surely HAWK is thematic?…… or have I missed the point.

By: PeeDee

PeeDee — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:34:10 +0000

I don’t think Mobile has ever been the captal of Alabama. Montgomery has been the capital since 1846 and before that it was Tuscaloosa.