Financial Times 16,716 by SLORMGORM

15 comments on “Financial Times 16,716 by SLORMGORM”

1. There’s a nina today. Correct me if I’m wrong but, surely, 17d should be MOULDIER. Isn’t this purely an American spelling? Favourite today was AMBULATE.

2. Is the nina ‘do you see me’?

3. Ong’ara: yes.

4. Lots to happy with… just confused by definition of 13dn.. bloomer= mistake, flower or…; cherry pie= Cockney rhyming for lie? Agree with Hovis@1 re MOULDIER.. nice Nina.. after the event obviously…
   Thanks SLORMGORM n Teacow

5. Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow

   Undrell@4 re 13dn: I had just put it in from the wordplay, but have now looked it up in Chambers (2014), which gives a second definition of cherry-pie as “the common garden heliotrope”.

6. By a weird coincidence, I watched today’s Countdown and the guy in dictionary tried “moldier” and Susie Dent said it wasn’t allowed since it was the US spelling.

7. 13a seems to be an example of what I deplore in many cryptic crosswords. The setter looks for the most arcane synonym of a word (found in Chambers) and puts it into the puzzle. My feeling is that you shouldn’t have to have a Chambers or Oxford dictionary on hand to work out the answer to a puzzle.

8. A pleasant enough solve with no real problems but we do have some niggles. As already pointed out, MOLDIER is the American spelling and should have been indicated as such. And 17ac is one of those ambiguous clues where the it’s not clear whether the homophone indicator refers to the word before it or the one after it and both are the same length; OK, in this case the final Y of 7dn settled the argument but that’s not always the case. Also in 5dn an MOT is a test or the certificate issued after it, not a service – although most owners will probably have their vehicle serviced prior to the test.
   But there was a lot to like. 23ac put us in mind of the old saying (definitely non-PC these days) that girls are like pianos – either grand or upright. Favourites were OBLITERATE, YEOMANRY and CATALYSTS.
   Thanks, Slormgorm and Teacow.

9. That was pleasant — thanks Slormgorm. I too was a bit confused by MOLDIER; generally clues that result in American (mis)spellings give some indication like “in US” or “across the pond.” YEOMANRY was new to me and I failed to see LET RIP which was literally right there in front of me. Favourites were AMBULATE and ERRANT. Thanks Teacow for the blog.

10. Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow
    Not too much to scare the horses here, although, as has been stated, 17d may have given the Clydesdales a minor eyebrow raise.
    Having worked down the lhs first, a nina did become apparent and by ‘seeing him’ did help with the rhs.
    Finished in the SW corner with FEBRILE (where FEB as the ‘hot month’, familiar enough down here, but not up there cause a minor delay until they were separated), SALVE and ANTAGONISM the last few in.

11. A steady solve with LOI Mouldier, for the reasons already enunciated. I’ve struggled with a couple of Slormgorm’s puzzles recently but this one seemed to be at the easier end of the spectrum.

    Thanks

    Ps. Bruce at 17, I think Febrile is “very hot”, with Feb being just the month.

12. Hi Moly
    Yep, got it in the end – when I separated them … needing ‘hot’ for the definition and FEB, as you say, just the ‘month’. 🙂

13. Cherry Pie = Bloomer?

14. Annie@13, see Pelham Barton@5.

15. An enjoyable solve, marred by MOLDIER, the MoT thing and the cherry pie. But thanks for the rest!

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