Financial Times 16,600 by GURNEY

13 comments on “Financial Times 16,600 by GURNEY”

1. What seemed opaque at first proved to be sure and steady until 12a, my LOI. Had ‘spaniel’ uppermost in my mind but had to check ‘hobble’ online to find SPANCEL – one to add to the memory bank.
   I liked the ambiguity of 7d and admired 9a, 24a, and, above all, 26a.
   Thanks, Gurney, for the workout and Grant for the write-up.

2. Thanks for a great blog, Grant. I agree entirely with your alliterative summary.

   I also share Diane’s favourites, with the addition of 21ac and the story-telling 3dn. (I’m not a football fan but I’ve done a bit of research and i think there’s a Sunderland connection: I know Gurney’s a supporter. 😉  )

   SPANCEL was new for me, too, but I was chuffed to work it out with the help of the crossers and the meticulous cluing.

   Many thanks to Gurney for a really enjoyable puzzle.

3. Eileen @2,
   Intriguing comment re 24ac. I assumed Leo Messi – ‘not good initially’ – merely excellent!

4. Diane @3 – I was commenting on 3dn: apparently Will Grigg plays for  Sunderland – I couldn’t find a Leo, though!

5. Oh, I see!

6. Gurney at his best I thought. Same as most others it seems, SPANCEL was new to me but could be worked out from the wordplay. I also learnt the name of a new ‘port’ (might come in handy for future crosswords) at 20d.

   The defs for STATISTICIAN and STIRRED were my picks for the day.

   Thanks to Gurney and Grant

7. Crossword in-joke: in 2d (ALIMENT) I confused myself by typing ‘+ LIT’, then going back to amend it to ‘&lit’ before realising that in this case ‘&lit’ was meaningless rhubarb.

8. Thanks Gurney and Grant

   A really pleasant solve which presented enough challenge to keep one on one’s toes but able to proceed from start to finish without any real hold ups – well until coming to the new SPANCEL at the end.

   Agree with Wordplodder@6’s favourite definitions, both bringing a wry smile. Also enjoyed entangling the anagram of THE OAKS and putting together the charades for 26a and 10d.

   Grant, oh … the traps for the intrepid blogger !!  You left out your customary . in the LI.T where your inserted MEN would go.

9. Thanks Gurney for just enough of a challenge to make me linger at the breakfast table. PREPOSTEROUS held me up because I was using “absurd” as the anagrind instead of “to change.” Needed a reference for SPANCEL and Grant to explain SLEDGER and BLARNEY for me. 2d made me think of “Bad ALIMENT causes illness!” Favourite clue was the simple EAGLE.

10. All very straightforward and enjoyable.  SPANCEL was new to us, too, and we also had a moment’s hesitation as to which was the definition and which the anagrind in 7dn.

    Thanks, Gurney and Grant.

11. Thank you Gurney for an enjoyable late afternoon solve and to Grant for the explanations. I had to look up both SPANCEL and BLARNEY as I had heard of neither in those uses. For fun, I looked up the port too. i see my spell checker does not like the first of them either.

12. I’ve used the Stranraer – Larne ferry crossing to Northern Ireland a number of times, years ago and I loved the way Gurney incorporated LARNE in a clue for BLARNEY. 😉

13. Many thanks, Grant, for the excellent blog and thanks to all for their comments.     While the football surfaces of INTESTATE and SIGNING were intentional, they were not written with either Will Grigg or Messi in mind.    Will Grigg has not quite set Wearside on fire yet after his signing but one always hopes that will change with better fortune.    He’d have a bit to go to catch the club’s leading all-time scorer in all competitions with 228 goals, Bobby Gurney.    A star of the 1930s team, the last to win the English League title for the club (1936) – their sixth title – and which the following year (1937) at last won the FA Cup for the first time, when he scored the first Sunderland goal in the 3-1 win against Preston in the final at Wembley.

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