Comments on: Financial Times 14,171 – Dante

By: TonyP

TonyP — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 07:24:33 +0000

Today’s paper gives ‘getting off’ as the answer to 14d.

Not Dante’s clearest clue.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 14:54:02 +0000

Many thanks, dear Rufus/Dante, for dropping by.
Especially given the fact that currently you have a lot of other things to worry about. But keep smiling!
In the end, I guess, Lanzarote is a more comfortable place to be than Shropshire this time of year.

So, 14d is from now on GETTING OFF.
And a plus for Peter Groves too ….

By: Rufous

Rufous — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 10:59:51 +0000

Apologies for delay. We are in Lanzarote having our villa rewired with everything going wrong! ( and we now hear our boiler at home needs replacing). Without a grid I would go for “getting off” , as a double definition. In haste!

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 01:25:44 +0000

Well, Gaufrid, if only my name would have been Ringo while being the drummer in a band …..
Thanks for giving your thoughts on 14d.
I think I’ll stick to LETTING OFF (sorry, Peter) but perhaps next Monday’s FT will prove me wrong.

By: Gaufrid

Gaufrid — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 08:14:08 +0000

Hi Sil
Sorry I thanked Ringo instead of yourself. I’ve had a very busy few days and my mind wasn’t as clear as it should have been. I thought I was adding a comment to yesterday’s FT. Doh!

I didn’t solve this puzzle so I don’t know the checked letters in 14dn. Chambers does give let=leave which would account for LETTING but then there’s no wordplay for the OFF.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 22:50:57 +0000

That makes sense, Gaufrid, so it’s more of a double definition.
Leaves me with 14d and the alternative that Peter Groves offers us.
What’s your opinion on that, Gaufrid?

By: Gaufrid

Gaufrid — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 19:21:28 +0000

Thanks Ringo
Here’s my take on 4ac, the clue needs to be split after ‘fine’.

To ‘meet [a] fine’ you would PAY [the] COURT and if you see an ‘attractive lady’ you might be given a reason to woo or PAY COURT to her.

By: Bamberger

Bamberger — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:52:57 +0000

I couldn’t get 4a across either Maybe Dante can enlighten us?

By: Rishi

Rishi — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 12:45:04 +0000

In the above message, please read “meet fine lady” instead of “meet, fine lady”. When we pay court to her, we must be visiting her frequently, I suppose.

PS: I made a mistake in the elementary arithmetic, but I was given a second chance, without my having to retype!

By: Rishi

Rishi — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 12:34:52 +0000

Re 4a PAY COURT: I too am unable to get a completely satisfactory explanation. “Pay court” we may derive from “meet, fine lady”. And if we “meet fine”, in a manner of speaking, we might “pay [the] court”. But the wording of the clue does not quite lead us through all this.