Comments on: Financial Times 14,188 by Cinephile

By: Pete Maclean

Pete Maclean — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 14:39:51 +0000

Fearsome, Thank you for commenting. I was rather proud of myself for getting PHTHALATE. And, lest anyone derive a different impression, let me say that I am a fan of John Graham too and have been enjoying Cinephile puzzles for decades. All the same, I am not impressed by everything he does and I am a fan who is very ready to criticise.

By: fearsome

fearsome — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 13:57:00 +0000

Thanks Cinephile and Pete
I remember struggling with this crossword and think Phthalate was my last in – which annoyed me as I am a chemist so I should have got it earlier. As a fully paid up member of the Araucaria fan club (= I get 1 across magazine) I don’t complain about his liberties even when it means that the clue defeats me. I see it as the price to pay for when his imaginative cluing pays off with a wonderful clue.

By: Pete Maclean

Pete Maclean — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 11:56:16 +0000

Sil, Thank you for that explanation of DISMOUNT. I had missed that DIS is a name for the ruler of the underworld although I have come across that before. So it is a cleverer clue than I had imagined although still not totally clear.

By: Bamberger

Bamberger — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 08:28:05 +0000

I don’t like using aids but I decided that there was no point in trying a Cinephile without them. I got most of the answers but even then failed on 1d, 9a, 11a, 7d and 26a.

Enjoyment factor low, irritation factor high for the reasons that Pete has set out. No doubt the Araucaria fan club will dismiss them as the wily old devil taking liberties despite being criticising similar “liberties” in clues by other setters.

Thanks for the blog .

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 00:28:33 +0000

Thanks, Pete.
Unlike you, I liked this Cinephile very much – one coming close to his Guardian offerings (as Araucaria).

In 17,19 – for me – RP equals “standard speech”.

As to DISMOUNT (5,6d), I see it as follows. Erebus is not just a Mount, but also the Greek God of the Underworld (DIS) [or even DIS itself]. So Erebus could be a DIS MOUNT, then becoming DISMOUNT (“in a (ie one) word”). And there is a question mark at the end of the clue.