Financial Times 17,162 by HAMILTON

13 comments on “Financial Times 17,162 by HAMILTON”

1. Great blog, PeeDee, especially under the circumstances but 12A should be “D” (Deutscheland) rather than “G” for Germany.

   Re 21,A to be pedantic, a brace (tool) is not a bit. If I read the clue correctly, the last three letters ask us to compare the “bit” (tool) to another definition of “brace”. Otherwise where is the definition of “bit” Maybe I am overthinking this but I think that it’s similar to yesterday’s differentiation that a “bill” is not an “act”.

   14D was a great clue, in my opinion.

   Something that I have only noticed in the last year or so is the habit of setters spreading one word across two separate parts of the puzzle. Today there are four: 7,28 13,15 18,20 and 8,23. I accept that each section of the answer is a word in its own right, but I really hate it. I’ll think of a reason later! (With apologies to Lee Ann Womack).

2. Peter – thanks for spotting that, fixed now. Re 21ac: how do you know Hamilton is referring to a drilling tool here?

3. Fairly breezed through this puzzle, which was enjoyable relief after the struggles of the weekend and yesterday.

   Like Peter@1, I don’t get the parsing of 21 down. Where is Bit in the cryptic part of the clue?

   I know there is a tool called a “bit and brace”, but that doesn’t seem to help?

   I loved the definition of Flared. Very light…

   Re 1 across, while obviously an anagram, I had to find the answer, before I could work out exactly what letters went in. The presence of “to” In the mix causing my confusion. “To” does not mean “with” in my understanding but then I’m still a learner.

   Thanks

4. Hi Moly – my explanation for TWO-BIT is that a BIT is one of something: a coin, a piece, a binary digit, the number one. Two BITs would be two of something, a BRACE.

   Re 1 across: I take TO to mean next to, by, against, along with, in addition etc.

5. Re TWO-BIT – I have just spotted that I had mistakenly underlined BRACE as part of the definition. Sorry for any confusion caused, fixed now.

6. I found this hard and after a struggle I was rewarded with one incorrect answer, a lazily unparsed “log in” instead of the now obviously correct LOG ON. I had the same problem as Peter @1 & Moly @3 with 21d; I think of TWO-BIT as ‘cheap’, not ‘comparatively cheap’ and I wondered if the “tool” was being referred to, though I’ve seen PeeDee’s clarification of TWO-BIT = BRACE.

   TOUGH LOVE as a ‘self-help policy’ went in with a shrug, but I accept it’s OK. I liked the ‘Doom?’ reverse anagram and FLARED as a reminder of the 70’s.

   Thanks to Hamilton and to PeeDee for filling in

   RIP Grant

7. Thanks, PeeDee @ 4 & 5, for responding.

   No big deal, but I’m still not convinced by the explanation of 21 down.

   To my mind and like Wordplodder, “two-bit” means Cheap. But I accept it could mean “comparatively cheap”.

   However, to illustrate my point about the uncertain drafting of the clue, if it were written “Brace is cheap, 3-3”, I can’t convincingly see that the answer would be Two Bit.

   Brace means Two.

   Like a brace of partridges.

   Anyway, this is definitely a first world problem 🙂 🙂 🙂

   I’m stuck at home with Covid so spending too much time on my phone and reading blogs!! Recovering quickly I’m pleased to say.

8. Like Wordplodder, I found this hard-going to begin with but over several snatched sessions throughout the day, I gained momentum and finished without help. I was another to enter LOG IN unparsed along with TWO-BIT. Aside from these, I parsed and enjoyed the rest, including those separated answers. DOOM was my favourite though.
   As for ‘to’ in 1a, I read it as ‘[in line] to’; for instance, ’employees to get a 10% salary rise’.
   Thanks to Hamilton and PeeDee (sterling work as always in spite of the circumstances).

9. Peter @ #1 the splitting of the two bits (see what I did there) of any one word is common enough, as you say, and not an appalling crime really. I don’t mind it, and it sure is economical on the clueing. But these wily old coyote types we see occasionally have been known to split things such as GENERAL ABILITY using GENERA and LABILITY, which is quite neat dontcha think. That one was Enigmatist about fifty years ago IIRC. It’s just taking advantage of a cracking charade I suppose, but most laudable.

10. Thanks Hamilton. I thought this was on the easy end of the Hamilton scale but no less rewarding. Favourites were ELECTRODE, ROUGH-HEWN, and MOOD SWING. Thanks PeeDee for the blog and filling in for Grant.

11. I think I recalled Very Light from reading my dad’s Neville Shute collection nearly 50 years ago.

12. Doh, me @8,
    I meant MOOD SWING was my favourite!

13. TANGA as briefs was new to me. I only could think of carriages.
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanga_(carriage). Great puzzle.

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