Financial Times 16,259 by WANDERER

12 comments on “Financial Times 16,259 by WANDERER”

1. Thanks, Turbolegs for a great blog of a stunningly good puzzle.

   Huge thanks, Wanderer – I absolutely loved it, especially THE TAMING OF THE SHREW [not least, again, for the consecutive entries], PETRUCHIO, KISMET, ELGAR and HEAR HEAR.

2. Apropos of not much, Howard Keel starred in both the films Kismet and Kiss Me Kate (but not, I think, in Gaslight).

   Enjoyed his one. Thanks setter and blogger.

3. Had to bung in SLY for 23a from wordplay. Not a Shakespeare fan, so I didn’t know this (but, at least, had heard of Petruchio).

   For 28a, I parsed it as an anagram (serving) of “gin” followed by an anagram (drunk) of “to”.

   Don’t recall seeing that meaning of gaslight before.

   Thanks to Wanderer and Turbolegs.

4. Being a Shakespeare fan made it more fun still.I do like Wanderer’s puzzles.hanks to him and tiurbolegs

5. Thanks to Wanderer and Turbolegs. Great fun. The bard hint in the preface along with the enumeration gave me the play title that helped a bit (e.g., with KISMET) but I needed all the crossers to get LOUNGE and struggled with SABOTEUR, my LOI. I like the idea that KATE and PETRUCHIO intersect in the grid.

6. A real challenge for me too. I had no idea about the definitions for my last three in – SLY, YARROW and GASLIGHT – which I bunged in from the wordplay and crossers so I was glad to see they turned out to be correct. I had just enough knowledge of the Bard to be able to get the other themed clues, but my Shakespeare could obviously do with a bit of brushing up. And they’ll all kow-tow – sure.

   Thanks to Wanderer and Turbolegs

7. Hard but finished correctly after several attempts and no doubt hours. Phew. Negligible knowledge of the Bard was a big hurdle and I’m surprised I got there. Thanks to all.

8. What a great puzzle. A bit on the hard side at first but everything fell smoothly into place. Thanks TL for parsing Ta-ta. Didn’t notice Wanderer’s very clever ‘expansion’ clues here but plenty of other clever tricks to keep me on my toes, ie the wide spacing in 18ac, which seemed reminiscent of Monk. Thanks S & B

9. Quite tough, but where is the indication of the plural Mousetraps in 15d?

10. Ken F @ 9

    There’s no plural indicator in GHOST TOWNS either, but in both cases it’s deducible from the parsing. I’m not aware of any crossword convention that says plural have to be indicated, it’s another tool in the setters’ box.

11. Ken F @9

    ? – I’m with Simon S.

12. Thanks to Turbolegs and Wanderer

    A very fine puzzle and blog. Wanderer is always fluid and inventive, but he is also a setter that newer solvers may find a little daunting, so if I may:

    9a Read contrary as “contrAIRy”

    11a It’s possible that Wanderer intends “royal” to stand for “ER”, but it is also possible that “M” is indicated by “Mail” as in Royal Mail, and “No 1 royal” indicates “ER”. Using one half of a standard abbreviation isn’t strictly kosher, but it is hardly unknown.

    23a Very nearly an astounding &lit ( considering the length of the entry). I think the whole clue works as a definition, with only the first two or three words not involved in the word play.

    25a Here the setter is instructing the solver to “cycle” i.e. rotate to whichever degree necessary “quare” and place the result around “to”. Of course an anagrind might have been employed, but “cycling to the Central Line”, provides a much better surface reading.

    29a You have to look out for words that really need to be split before being put to work in a clue. “Useless” here is a very mild example, but the device is spreading and developing – recently in the Guardian we were required to split “insular” into “in” “sular”, the first occasion I can recall of a split resulting in a non-word.

    2d Again I think the whole clue is the definition, with just “one that’s” not contributing to the wordplay, but if it is read in a very particular way it may even be an &lit.

    3d Here the setter is presented with a dilemma.  The very smooth wordplay has led to the definition needing to refer back to “Grand house” while also allowing for a plural answer. Although “nobody living IN THEM now” would be more natural, the form of words used is an acceptable compromise.

    15d Essentially the same as 3d “in which there might just be a catch” might refer to one or more traps.

    20d Possibly my only serious quibble with this crossword – what sort of insult isn’t disrespectful?

    22d “Tight” = Drunk

    HTH

Comments are closed.