Comments on: Financial Times 14,152 / Dogberry

By: Pete Maclean

Pete Maclean — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:49:23 +0000

Bamberger, Thank you for commenting. I was unaware of NAPPE and acknowledge that that was a difficult one because, without crossing letters, I would have been hard-pressed to solve it too. Likewise, 18A was truly a difficult one. Sometimes I wonder how I know so many words but, in this case, I did know all the others, even TUMBREL.

By: Bamberger

Bamberger — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:26:11 +0000

I know that crosswordland is very unforgiving of not knowing a word because the answer is always obvious from the wordplay.
Anyway I hadn’t come across nappe,imbrogolio, tumbrel and egregrious and the wordplay didn’t help me.
I would have been here forever trying to solve 18a & 21a.
Too hard for me I’m afraid.

By: Pete Maclean

Pete Maclean — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:23:35 +0000

Hi Sil. Well, a pangram strictly speaking is a sentence, is it not? But I see what you mean and I do think that is a notable characteristic so thanks for pointing it out. I wonder if it was at all intentional.

Bob, I must have heard and maybe even sung that line but I may not have ever seen it in writing because if you’d asked me to fill in the blank in “_____ the ancient Yuletide carol”, I would have failed!

By: Bob Cumbow

Bob Cumbow — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 01:48:01 +0000

You wrote that 5a was hard for you “because I did not know that ‘troll’ could mean to sing.” The only common familiar usage of this I can think of is the line “Troll the ancient Yuletide carol” in “Deck the Halls” (which will soon become ubiquitous for about five weeks).

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 00:09:34 +0000

And, whoopee, it’s a pangram!

Thanks Pete, and Dogberry for a welcome change.