Comments on: Financial Times 14,224 by Monk

By: PeeDee

PeeDee — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:19:57 +0000

Monk: Thank you for dropping by with these explanations, and sorry to hear about you losing your Jack Russel.

I had completely forgotten to look for a Nina in this puzzle. I guess that for once there isn’t one?

By: Monk

Monk — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 09:28:19 +0000

Many thanks PeeDee for super blog, and to all others for comments, on which specific replies are: (i) 10ac is simply an opportunity to inject Viz-style humour; (ii) at 5dn, fat cats can be of any political leaning ... and I didn't envisage that the experimental anagrind (thanks, Editor!) would be in the standard references; (iii) 16dn was known to me as a child, but I now wonder how and why; (iv) 20dn IMHO, the west/east clue indication for a down answer simply gives the setter a little more freedom if the horizontality of the printed clue can be invoked even when the answer is written vertically; provided, of course, that no ambiguity is introduced. Incidentally, this puzzle was in memory of my 5dn JRT 4dn who, until recently, was (this) 1ac, and for whom I had great 15dn until 25ac :(.

By: PeeDee

PeeDee — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 08:30:15 +0000

What I find a little distracting on the across/down orientation issue is that when writing up the blog all the solutions are being written left-right in one long list, so it is easy to slip into the wrong mindset when annotating the down clues.

I don’t have any great objecion to left-right constructions in down clues, just prefer it when they are avoided. What swings it in this case is that there is no need to interpret that way as a literal reading of east/west in the clue works just fine.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 22:59:45 +0000

But then Monk should have said “north of the capital”, which also doesn’t feel completely right to me. When writing, er, down the word “London” it is really the left part of it (as we write from left to right). I do see the objections, but I find Monk’s choice acceptable.

Very good crossword, which I did not find extremely hard – perhaps a temporary wavelength thing.

When I entered LYSOL (20d), I was almost certain that I saw a similar thing recently (for the same word) – don’t know where though.

Thanks PeeDee, for the blog & explaining 16d to me (ah, those cds).

12ac (ASININE) I found one of the very best today.
Together with the Rob Roy one and 5d (FANTASTIC).

A bit surprised to see ‘Good’ to be part of the solution and the clue in 25ac. Technically speaking, nothing wrong with it, but.
And I had a similar feeling about ‘man’ in 1ac.
As I said, not really a problem but perhaps I expect a (highly respected) setter like Monk to avoid this.

Great stuff.
Accessibility meets Quality.

By: PeeDee

PeeDee — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 19:57:18 +0000

Ferret, I agree about the ‘left of’ not being appropriate in a down clue. I have changed the blog.

By: Pelham Barton

Pelham Barton — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:43:27 +0000

Now that I have got home and had a chance to check my copy of Chambers 2011, I can confirm a piece of unsurprising news: the (fully valid) anagram lead in 5dn does not appear in the long list in A Wordgame Companion. Ferret @5: I read 2dn the same way as you. I would have no problem with either reading in an across clue, but I think our reading sits more comfortably in a down clue. Having said that, there is a lot to be said for the view that answers can be formed horizontally and then entered vertically into the grid.

By: Ferret

Ferret — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:50:09 +0000

I read 2d in a different way…..I saw the ‘west” indicating the left hand side of London. Thanks to setter and blogger.

Ferret BSc (Mathematics)

By: EdM

EdM — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:12:20 +0000

16a could also be bunk (bed) + (Roy) O(rbison) = bunko (rob)

By: PeeDee

PeeDee — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 16:48:03 +0000

Thanks Pelham. Latin is not my strong point.

By: MikeC

MikeC — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:31:07 +0000

Thanks Monk and PeeDee. VG puzzle. 16a got me – I’d never heard of the correct answer, and an anagram of “on bed” fitted the crossers. One down to the lazy solver!