Financial Times 16,733 by Mudd

12 comments on “Financial Times 16,733 by Mudd”

1. Possibly my fastest Mudd yet and certainly at the easier end of the spectrum. Only slowed with three to go in the SW corner since I couldn’t parse STUMPY.
   Still, it was a short and sweet solve with so many ticks for, among others, WET BLANKET, NECK AND NECK and SHORT SHARP SHOCK.
   3d was a typically adroit double definition if 4d seemed a little weak for the reason Pete mentions though, for once, I recognised ‘pants’ as the anagrind. (With ‘pants’, ‘breeches’, ‘knickers’ and ‘lederhosen’, I began to wonder if there was a theme!
   Needed Pete’s explanations for 19a and 27a.
   Light as a feather but no less enjoyable for that.
   Thanks to setter and blogger alike.

2. Thanks, Mudd and Pete. I also puzzled (no pun intended) over OLIGARCH, not quite an &lit. Favorite was SHORT SHARP SHOCK – now singing that as an earworm. [I’ve done the part on stage!] Had to look up TUM as “corporation” – the latter in the bodily sense. DEER was very cleverly constructed!

3. I managed to parse and understand all the clues this week. Like Diana, I sailed through the bulk, but then needed considerable brainpower and several dictionaries to complete the puzzle.

   I agree with Pete in liking TEA and DEER – both of which took some thought to parse. I also agree with Pete’s opinion on OLIGARCH

   It is pleasure to discover the odd, obscure usage for a word, but I found it a grind to deal with such large numbers in a single sitting. TUM, VEAL, SHTICK, and GRACIOUS are but a few words that required visits to 2-3 dictionaries to find the meanings ascribed by Mudd. Last weekend’s Artexlen puzzle is similar. I understand some of these words have become “crossword language”, but wouldn’t it be nice to leave the “colloq, obsol, M18” era and see some modern slang?

   Despite my grumblings, I did like REVEALED in the end, along with SHORT SHARP SHOCK, RIOJA and VINDALOO.

   Thanks to Mudd and, as always, thanks to Pete for the great commentary.

4. Martyn @3 — You raise a good point on ‘crossword language,’ but one thing I wonder is whether these puzzles’ devotion to Chambers would allow them to accommodate modern slang that might not yet have found its way into the setters’ main catalogue of terms. Solvers who have the book might have a better gauge of this than I do.

5. An easy jog.

   14a. I took it that in today’s world if you are corrupt, rich and perhaps Russian (Olga) you are an OLIGARCH. Hence the question mark.

   4d. I couldn’t make sense of this so I took “pants” as a misprint for “parts”.

   Like you my recollection od SHTICK was not of this meaning.

   Thank you both.

6. Must have been an easier Mudd as I finished it, and quickly for me. That makes it even more enjoyable for me.
   Thought “Deer” was the clue of the set, with the very misleading “does” . “Vindaloo” was a hard find, got there eventually, and I couldn’t parse “stumpy” though it had to be correct.

7. Thanks Mudd for the usual fun. I missed the SHARP part of 5d, (no prize for me) otherwise this crossword fell fairly easily. There was a lot to like — DEER, VINDALOO, AGENDA, KNICKERS ( funny surface), RIOJA (must be a challenge inventing new clues for this old red), and WHOLLY. Thanks Pete for the blog.

8. Thanks for the blog. The term oligarchs is rather loosely used these days to describe rich Russians living in London who may have got their wealth corruptly and use it partly to influence politics in this country.

9. Ah, I think you are onto something there, very likely what Mudd had in mind. I was aware of such Russians living in London but did not know that they were dubbed oligarchs. Thank you, Roz.

10. The sort of people who pay a lot of money for a game of tennis with our esteemed leaders.

11. Thanks Mudd and Pete. The usual gentle afternoon romp. I too found OLIGARCH a little perplexing. Maybe the idea is that the question mark stands for “and what do you get”. To me it was more a clue by statement than anything else.

12. Thanks Mudd and Pete
    Typical enjoyable puzzle from JH which I was able to do in a single session last weekend. OLIGARCH was actually my first one in, with the ‘rich post-Soviet Russian’ immediately coming to mind.
    Had to check up on Henry COOPER and not sure that I’d come across the phrase SHORT SHARP SHOCK as a punishment before – certainly didn’t know the Mikado song. Didn’t help things by writing in an unparsed NEAR AND DEAR initially at 13d. Like others DEER was my favourite after being taken in by the ‘does’ again.
    Finished with the long 5d clue and VINDALOO that only came with all of the crossers in.

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