Financial Times 16,793 by SLORMGORM

15 comments on “Financial Times 16,793 by SLORMGORM”

1. I am sorry but I do not understand 25A. Yes, long = ache, I get that. “Moustache” is facial hair and “shaven off at front” would seem to imply that the first letter, or maybe two would be removed. Your explanation seems to imply that “tache” is a word, but it isn’t, so where was the instruction to remove “moust”? “Tache” is not really a word, is it?

   I am a transplanted Englishman living in Australia but I do not believe that “tache” is a word.

2. Sorry Peter, but “tache” is a word, obviously a shortened form of moustache, but exists even without an initial apostrophe.

3. I can understand Peter’s gripe re the lack of instruction perhaps for ‘tache’ but as Hovis says, it is a word and in common parlance enough that the rather lovely surface makes it clear.
   Good puzzle, anyway, with MACABRE as a favourite. BALLADIST wouldn’t fall for me as kept thinking of ‘barb’ and ‘barbershop’ which, of course, wouldn’t fit.
   Thanks to Slormgorm and Teacow.

4. Thanks to Slormgorm and Teacow. Enjoyable. I knew TACHE from previous puzzles but had never before come across EPIC FAIL and had trouble piecing out ANTEATER.

5. Thanks to Slormgorm for an admirable puzzle. When I did 1a and 4a instantly I thought it was going to be very Mondayish, but then slowed down considerably…Got there in the end though with an unparsed EPEE – thanks, Teacow, for the elucidation. I was a bit reluctant to put in ADDICTION, as well, until I had all the crossers, because I thought it was a bit vague. But lots to enjoy: ANTEATER had a beautifully constructed clue and I had ticks for 21a and 1d, too, for the way I originally let myself be misdirected.

6. We have to say we weren’t overly impressed with this one. Most of the clues were sound enough (no problems with [t]ACHE – it’s in Chambers, noted as ‘informal’) but we didn’t think ADDICTION was particularly cryptic and we may be a bit thick but we don’t understand how ANTEATER is an &lit. We can’t see, either, how ‘drawn by’ is an inclusion indicator in 20dn, and we think there should have been some indication that ODEON was a definition by example.
   On the other hand, there were a few nice touches – we liked SINISTER, CLASSIFY and BINGES.
   Thanks, though, Slormgorm and Teacow.

7. allan_c@6 – I thought it was an &lit because both a worker (ant) and a queen (ant) would be quite reasonably worried about an ANTEATER. I wasn’t very enamoured of “drawn by”, either.

8. Heh! I had BALLADIER.. which obvs didn’t parse.. but not heard of BALLADIST.. all that rather ruined ANTEATER.. oh well..
   Thanks SLORMGORM n Teacow

9. Many thanks to all who solved and commented.

   Ah, AllanC@6, perhaps I can put your issues to bed with the following answers to the things you didn’t understand.

   1 – In a puzzle, especially an easier end puzzle, a setter might like to help a solver with an easier CD such as ADDICTION where the crossers help out and there is only one part of it that needs to be read in a different way. It is still cryptic because its surface leads to being unable to get off Madeira perhaps due to a lockdown etc. Of course, I can’t help it if you know and enjoy me and puzzles so much that the secondary meaning is the one you read first.

   ii) Technically, this is a semi&lit for me as not all the surface contributes to the wordplay in my reading (though I think an argument can be made for it doing so, too). Perplexus@7 has the intended meaning.

   C) Drawn by/Inhaled by is, IIRC, the way this works. However, I recall thinking the first draft of ‘Horse-drawn taxi’ worked too, but solvers would likely prefer the ‘by’ in the alt construction for ease of understanding, and might also have discovered other ways in which Drawn by works, too.

   Four) I think you are getting confused here – and that is easily done as I done confused myself thinking about it wot wiv the sun being way past the yard arm in Slormgorm Towers, but hopefully this will help: Cinema is to Odeon as Restaurant is to Cafe Rouge whereas Odeon? is to Cinema as Cafe Rouge? is to restaurant. Basically, the former set are types of the defining head word and the latter set are definitions by example of the head word.

   Cheers to Teacow for the usual good blog (I miss the Queen!).

10. BTW – Hoskins@9 is me, Slormgorm, but without putting in the right name!

11. Thank you teacow, and thanks to Slormgorm for dropping by. I appreciate the explanations.

12. Thanks for the blog and everyone for their comments especially the setter.
    I will be bold enough to disagree with the setter for ANTEATER, it is an &lit and a really splendid clue.

13. “Baffles” and “describing” as inclusion indicators? Hmmm …

    That’s a new term for “drunk” for me.

14. Thankyou Hoskins/Slormgorm @9/@10.
    I always feel honoured when the setter adds their comments to the blog.
    Sadly the Queen got lost in the new (and improved) 15 squared format!

15. Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow
    Actually did this last week but caught up with things (getting used to our 4th lockdown in Melbourne and working from home again) and only checked it off tonight.
    Wasn’t quite Mondayish, but was close, getting through it in nearly half the average time. Enjoyed it though – thought that ANTEATER was a gem ! Was only half aware of SCRUM HALF, but straightforward enough with the word play.
    Finished in the SW corner with IN ONE’S CUPS, BINGES and with the well-constructed SINISTER.

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