Financial Times 17,029 by Mudd

16 comments on “Financial Times 17,029 by Mudd”

1. I remember enjoying this very much. I did manage NARGHILE but it was my last one and I needed all the crossers to get it, probably because I was slow to see ‘doctor’ as the anagrind.
   I also liked the repetition of ‘big’ and ‘shot’ in 1a/1d/12a but now Pete mentions it, I see the problem. I knew ‘head’ was the nautical term for the ‘loo’ but I think I’d heard ‘heads’ and so entered it without question.
   I also admired BIGSHOT, EYE STRAIN and TWIN for their subtle definitions.
   Thanks to Mudd and to Pete, especially for clearing up SUNBEAM and my half-parsed TENNYSON.

2. Pete, I was hoping you would explain HEADSHOT – I had similar notes about the stray S as you.

   My favourites were EYESTRAIN, TENNYSON, IN CALF, and BIG SHOT

   My notes have “double definition???” for DEEP FRY. Nice to see Pete’s confirmation, but I am not sure I fully understand it yet.

   As you stated, a nice mix of approachable and challenging with some nice clues along the way

   Thanks Pete and thanks Mudd

3. I had always regarded the term for a ship’s toilet as the HEADS (similar to gents / ladies) – it seems that some references call it that and others just the singular. As such it didn’t present a problem to me at the time.

4. Martyn,
   I took this to mean a. deep-fry (cook), say, fish and chips and b. fish (fry) from the ocean (deep) may be called ‘deep fry’.

5. Thanks for the blog, Chambers gives HEAD but adds ” often in plural ” so agree with Bruce for this.
   NARGHILE is one of those words used in puzzles when the grid is awkward, it is often in Azed. Chambers alone has SEVEN different spellings so it is flexible as well.
   My favourites mentioned by Diane and Martyn, I will just add THREESCORE .

6. The resident mariner and his chums use both ‘head/heads’ so I agree with Bruce and Roz.

7. Thanks Mudd and Pete. I took 21dn the same way as Diane@4. I would draw attention to the question mark at the end of the clue, strongly suggesting that for the second indication, DEEP FRY is a made up phrase.

8. Exactly, Pelham.

9. Thanks Pelham and Diane – so more of a cryptic clue than a double definition, I guess.

   I need to pay more attention those meaningful question marks

10. Thanks Mudd for the usual fun. I liked TENNYSON, SALAD CREAM, BIG SHOT, ROMANCE, and DEVILISH; I needed a word finder to solve RETAINER. Thanks Pete for the blog.

11. I have changed the explanation of DEEP FRY to “Double/cryptic definition”.

12. Thanks Mudd and Pete.
    My problem was 23a where I was working with MAIN for sea as MARINE is “of” the sea, rather than sea itself. Let’s just say I am not convinced by this clue.
    But the rest – all good fun.

13. Mystogre, Thanks for commenting. I wondered about ‘sea’ cluing MARINE but decided it was okay because one can speak, for example, of “sea life” or “marine life”.

14. Thanks Pete – I eventually came to much the same conclusion. There are a number of businesses in this little town with “marine” as part of their name and all mean “sea” in that context.

15. 23ac: Chambers 2014 actually gives sea adj marine. This follows a few lines of definitions of sea as a noun.

16. Thanks Mudd and Pete
    Completed this one a while ago but only really completed the final once over of it this morning. There seemed a lot more charade type clues in the puzzle than normal I thought for this setter and found it at the easier end of his difficulty spectrum – easier at the top than the bottom.
    Hadn’t seen that second definition of RETAINER before, but it made a sensible meaning when reading the description of it. NARGHILE was also a word that I hadn’t seen for a long time – it was in the later entries needing most of the crossers and the anagram fodder.
    Needed TAMARIN and ROMANCE to finish off.

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