Financial Times 16,786 by Julius

11 comments on “Financial Times 16,786 by Julius”

1. Way hay and up she rises! As if the nautical theme spotted early on didn’t provide enough fun already, there was a treasure chest full of other gems like the splendid reverse hidden answer at 22a, 5d’s anagram and, like Pete’s, my overall favourite 16d, MOONBEAM.
   Hearty thanks to Julius and Pete for the blog, particularly the explanations for SKELETON and RAGAMUFFIN.

2. Thanks indeed to Pete for explaining some tricky clues. Julius sure uses a lot of words, doesn’t he?

   I started in the SW corner, and moved right. Then, once I got 5 down, many of the other clues fell into place.

   Always reliable, I am particularly impressed that Pete parsed RAGAMUFFIN and QUAY. Niff was new to me too, although I know Ocker well. SKELETON is a maniacal form of tobogganing, where the rider lies on his or her stomach and goes head-first down the bobsleigh course.

   I am used to our venerable setters using obsolete, ancient slang, but I wonder whether Julius’s view of Soho may be a bit dated. I do not think it has been “steamy” for a long time, has it?

   Thanks to Julius for an impressive puzzle and to Pete for equally-impressive explanations

3. Thanks Julius for a most enjoyable crossword. QUAY, RAGAMUFFIN, MOONBEAM, and DOCKER were among my favourites. There wasn’t a bad clue in the bunch. Thanks Pete for the blog.

4. Great blog thank you for a super crossword
   I like it when the theme just emerges instead of lots of references to different clue numbers.
   Was the ORINOCO the name of a ship ? Possibly in Conrad . Will think about it after my swim when my head is clear.

5. Marvellous fun. Thanks Julius.
   I am pleased you could decipher RAGAMUFFIN and QUAY Pete as I couldn’t. But they were clearly the answers. Took me ages to see the reverse inclusions too. Had a good smile at SEA NYMPH.

6. Super puzzle from Julius – and another treat from him as Knut in today’s Indy.

   I had ticks for both Pete’s and Diane’s favourites, plus 10ac SHEDS TEARS, for the surface – although there isn’t a dud surface to be seen.

   Many thanks to Julius for the fun and Pete for a great blog.

7. I do think that 12’s definition requires “skeletal” rather than “skeleton” – a skeleton is a very bony thing, not an appearance.

8. Like Peter Groves@7, my initial thought for 12 was “skeletal” and I agree that it fits the definition better. Otherwise very enjoyable, spotting the theme quite early and never really stuck on anything, though had to go back and parse one or two ( eg RAGAMUFFIN) at the end.

9. I think I should have mentioned this. The definition in 12 did strike me as a bit off the mark. Thank you Peter Groves and Perplexus for bringing up the matter. By the way I also have Peter to thank for revealing to me how 9ac (QUAY) works. Thank you!

10. Thanks Julius and Pete. I was quite happy with 12ac at the time, taking “appearance” to mean “a thing which appears”. Chambers 2014 gives “a naturally observable phenomenon”, which I think covers the necessary meaning for the clue.

11. Thanks Julius and Pete
    Finished this a little quicker than normal for a Julius puzzle, most likely helped along by the plethora of nautical things of the theme. Still a few new terms:- the Yorkshire river at 24d, NEWARK in England (only knew of the one in the US) and the toboggan at 12a.
    The reverse charade with RAGAMUFFIN and the reverse hidden with VIRTUOSO were the highlight clues for me. Many other good ones along the way as well.
    Finished with LAY IN and the lovely clued QUAY in the NW corner before finally seeing that reversed VIRTUOSO at 22a.

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