Financial Times 17,201 by ZAMORCA

24 comments on “Financial Times 17,201 by ZAMORCA”

1. Reed bunting? That was a doozie. I gave up on that one and came here with the one clue unsolved. Otherwise everything fell into place without too much pain. I groan audibly (is there any other way to groan?) whenever I hear “snuck”, so it’s reassuring that there are still people who use the mor sensible “sneaked”.

   I couldn’t think how “crack” and “clap” were the same, but our weather forecast for today is thunderstorms, so I twigged. In 14d, why is “disc” “counter”? I hadn’t heard of “bird” as a prison sentence, but sure enough, there it was, in the depths of my dictionary. I couldn’t work out why “shift” is “dress” but my dictionary informs me it’s “British English”. Likewise “book” for “work”.

   A very enjoyable Goldilocks puzzle today, which has brightened my day after an appalling score of six in today’s Wordle.

2. GDU@1
   In instrumentation, discs are employed in several applications to count something or the other. I think ‘disc’ is ‘counter’ in that sense.
   Of course, someone will correct me, if I am wrong.

   Curious to know what you call a shift (that particular woman’s dress).

3. KVa@2, I don’t remember ever hearing “shift” used that way, but my research indicates it can be called a slip, a chemise, or even just a dress, yes?

4. Wonderful Friday puzzle from Zamorca. REED BUNTING was actually my favourite, Geoff, but unless you’re a fashion writer or tailor, I think you can be excused from not knowing a shift dress! You’d hardly be alone in that. (The new Princess of Wales wears a lot of them.) The spicy 10a was good too.
   I confess that until I got 2d, I was considering DRUBBED for 9a, but a closer look at the surface encouraged another, closer read of the surface.
   Plenty of enjoyable charades today and a few red herrings.
   Thanks to Zamorca and Turbolegs.

5. GDU and KVa the disc is actually much simpler, When you play a child’s game , such as Snakes and Ladders, you move a brightly coloured disc around the board, also called a counter . Diane is right about the shift dress, very little styling or shaping, popularised by Twiggy, I have some original Mary Quant from my mother. ( sorry we do not get much chance for fashion talk ) .

6. Thanks for the blog, great set of clues here, I also thought it was CASTOR but checked my packet and it says CASTER,
   Nice to see Ernie WISE instead of Eric. I liked the Playtex usage for PIMENTO, AMASS was very clever, Many more …..

7. Ah yes, Roz, I see you now swanking around in a geometric print.
   For Geoff’s benefit, I’ll add Catherine Deneuve in Belle de Jour, wearing (or often not) a classic black shift by Yves Saint Laurent.

8. As usual, a pangram from Zamorca. Another who had to check 15a spelling was ok (strange surface, I thought).

9. Some quite tough ones here and I’m reassured to find I wasn’t the only one to find REED BUNTING difficult. PIMENTO and COMPLICIT also took some nutting out. I agree with Roxy @5 re the explanation of DISC for ‘Counter’.

   The usual trademark Zamorca pangram as well to top off an enjoyable puzzle.

   Thanks to Zamorca and Turbolegs

10. Ah, the pangram (spotted by Hovis) is the icing on the cake.

11. I’m surprised that no-one has mentioned 10A: isn’t “pimiento” the more usual spelling? Or am I influenced by a lifetime of working in the food industry?

12. Roz @6, would you please shed some light on your “Playtex” comment relating to Pimento? The only reference that I can find re Playtex refers to “female unmentionables”! (To use an old-fashioned term).

13. Peter @6. I always thought ‘pimiento’ was an alternative spelling of ‘pimento’ but the Chambers entry seems to imply they are different peppers. As to ‘Playtex’, I’m sure it’s is a reference to the ‘lift-and-separate’ nature of the clue, i.e. pepper+pot.

14. Sorry, I meant Peter @12.

15. Pimiento is Spanish and pimento is Portuguese. Just a matter of language like courgette/zucchini.

16. I did not have any problem with REED BUNTING, once I had some crossers which ruled out REED WARBLER. However, I’m buggered if I could parse it, so thanks turbolegs, and thanks to Zamorca for a fun puzzle.

17. Seeing the pangram helped me decide between CID and FED for 19a which then allowed me to finish with FURNACE for 19d. Like Diane @ 4, I also flirted with “drubbing” even convincing myself that “rubbing” might be considered “unconventional medicine”. Thanks Z and T.

18. Thanks Zamorca for the fun. Despite karma instead of KORMA and my inability to parse PIMENTO this went in quite easily. I liked REORDERED for its misdirection, SNEAKED IN, and the clever AMASS. By the way, “shift” as a dress is well known in the US — when I was a child it was the clothing of choice for women in the summer months. Thanks Turbolegs for the blog.

19. Most enjoyable, and we remembered to look out for the pangram. We saw the lift-and-separate required for SNEAKED IN, but not for PIMENTO which we therefore couldn’t parse. We liked the surface of 15ac with its suggestion of going for a picnic.
    Thanks, Zamorca and Turbolegs.

20. Successfully completed and straightforward. Done over coffee and croissant here in Bolivia.
    Lots to enjoy from the end of the week.

    I now head off into the jungle.

    Thanks for the blog.

21. Peter@12 see Hovis @13 , Playtex invented the slogan ” lift and separate” in the 1970s.
    The opposite , when we need to push two words together is called Gossard.

    { Diane@7 I do have the classic black and white squares even with the original box. My mother really looked after clothes and saved everything for me. My students very impressed and call it vintage, I call it cast-offs and hand-me-downs. ]

22. Thanks Roz, for the explanation of Playtex and also for the Gossard connection (of which I didn’t know) but an internet search did lead me to some pretty interesting photographs!

23. Peter@22 , Gossard is much rarer in clues but does occur, probably wise not to go searching for these terms.

24. Roz, although I am ignorant of both terms, the pictures that both searches turned up were enjoyable: I am a man, after all!

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