Comments on: Financial Times 14,209 by Mudd

By: Pete Maclean

Pete Maclean — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 23:33:27 +0000

Yes, good point. Thank you, Wil. When it is a single letter I think it hardly makes a difference but nevertheless I do like to be accurate.

By: Wil Ransome

Wil Ransome — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 18:23:22 +0000

Strictly speaking, Pete, 6dn is I in the anagram. But not a big deal.

By: Pete Maclean

Pete Maclean — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 20:02:35 +0000

I took a long time to get 6d!

By: Bamberger

Bamberger — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 19:54:16 +0000

Failed on 6d, 9d & 21a. They don’t look too hard now.

By: Pete Maclean

Pete Maclean — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 10:32:34 +0000

Hi John, As I remarked, I think that the BARKING MAD clue is a weak one in general but I do not see a problem with the definition per se. I was unsure about the CLARET definition but have just now looked up the word in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary and found that it is given as a slang term for ‘blood’ from the 17th century. So, technically it may be passable but, if that is the only justification, then I have to agree that the combination of its being slang and that archaic makes it more obscure than I like to see.

By: John Newman

John Newman — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 09:17:24 +0000

Thanks Pete.
An enjoyable puzzle. But I thought the definitions for three clues were a bit suspect. Crossbar you have mentioned. Barking MAD and CLARET.