Financial Times 14,967 by MAGWITCH

7 comments on “Financial Times 14,967 by MAGWITCH”

1. Thank you for the blog, Turbolegs – I feel the same about 3d. That apart, a pleasant solve; thanks to Magwitch.

2. A good, solid Magwitch crossword who has rightly become a household name.
   Not only here at the FT but also in the Guardian’s Quiptic series (as Provis).

   That said, in the past I did criticise her sometimes for, let’s say, rather unusual letter selections.
   In previous puzzles these seem to have died out, more or less.
   However, today there was one again: ‘starting to lessen’ for LE.
   Your question mark is mine too, Turbolegs (and JuneG).

   Furthermore, I am not sure about 11ac’s NOUVEAU.
   It’s probably a full anagram (as blogged) but it feels like (AVON U)* with EU in it, indicated by ‘with … input’.
   That, of course, doesn’t give us NOUVEAU – so, on second thoughts, I am happy with this clue.

   Many thanks Turbolegs (and especially for explaining the very good 6d which went beyond me).
   Also thanks to Magwitch for a crossword that was – at least for me – not as straightforward as the preamble suggests.

3. Thanks June@1 and Sil@2 ! Glad you too found this a pleasant solve.

   Sil@2 – I had the exact same thought for 11a before reconciling that ‘input’ could either mean a direct plug (so as to suggest ‘put in’) or just as an indication of anagram fodder (~more literal meaning perhaps).

   The other thing that I noticed is that there are no less than 16 seven letter answers in this grid. Unusually high, don’t you think?

   Cheers
   TL

4. TB, I normally cannot be bothered too much by the grid [because I (try to) solve anything that appears in front of me].
   But recently I had to think about a remark that Andrew (Guardian blogger) once made about the FT grids.
   He didn’t find them very exciting or the like.

   I think Guardian grids, for example, leave more space for long(er) words and are more nina-friendly.
   FT grids feel more dense, more ‘conservative’.
   If someone gave me today’s grid, not telling which newspaper it was, I would indeed have gone for the FT.
   Just intuition, no science involved.

   I think the Independent has a policy that setters can use any grid they want as long as the percentage of checked letters is all right.
   And, yes, why not?
   Setters submit their crosswords to the broadsheets using Crossword Compiler files which can be turned into printable versions without any problem.
   It’s on the one hand handy for the setters to not have too many restrictions, and nicer for solvers too as it gives more variation.

   To answer your question, TB, yes 16 is unusually high but it didn’t occur to me when solving.

5. A nice pleasant solve and some good clues, as already pointed out. Thank you, Turbolegs, for the blog and thank you, Magwitch, particularly for not using ‘Ulster’ to indicate NI in 25a.

6. Thanks Magwitch and Turbolegs

   Didn’t find this as straightforward as the preamble claimed either, although time-wise it was done well within the hour.

   Did myself no favours by writing in some incorrect answers:- at 15d (where I wrote in ALTERNATE initially) and before that at 15a where I tried to shoehorn in VIBRANCY – it was only when I got to the R and it turned pear-shaped. Also at 25a, it looked a certainty that it would be the IDA regular letters in the centre spots – had to backtrack and use the NI regular letters instead.

   Only had a minor hiccup with the LE in 3d. Needed help to find the focus OP letters at 6d.

7. Thanks Turbolega and Magwitch.

   A pleasant solve – as often with the FT it was 70% at bed time and finished off in the train in.

   I’ve seen start of used for more than one letter on a few occasions recently and have concluded that I’m OK with it. The only test should be if the answer is obvious and singular ( i.e. No alternatives) once you work out the parsing. And I think that 3dn satisfies that test.

   My only quibble had been ‘western borders’ in 10d. I’m OK with ‘O’ for open so the extra words seemed otiose and I feared I was missing something.

   Keep it up all.

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