Financial Times 17,305 by Neo

17 comments on “Financial Times 17,305 by Neo”

1. Loved DIEGO for the ‘two passes’ and ‘spanner’ cluing ‘arch’ (27).
   Learned about the river OB and LUM as ‘chimney’ though both were derived from their definitions.
   WAPITI was my only hurdle.
   Thanks to Neo for a proper weekend workout and to Pete.

2. Lots to learn this week – call me ignorant, but LEECH = doctor, GUS the theatre cat [I read poetry but I do not particularly like Eliot], OB the river, and LUM the chimney were all new. And, I confess, I only just realised why ARCH is a spanner. The piece de resistance was the unknown (unknowable?) WAPTI and IMAGO crossing each other, meaning I only finished the crossword this morning when I finally wrote in IMAGO.

   It took me a long time to get on Neo’s wavelength, too, so my first couple of passes were not very fruitful. So, all in all quite the struggle this week. Pete and Diane already mentioned my favourites.

   Thanks Pete for the blog, and thanks Neo for consuming a few hours of my week

3. What a pleasant surprise having Neo on a Saturday in the FT when we had Tees on the same day in the Indy. I solved Tees first so the “wavelength” thing helped with this gem. I needed a nudge or two to solve COMMANDO but otherwise it was smooth sailing. I guessed that “chimney” meant “lum” and that “Ob” was a river so I learned something. WAPITI has been a staple in American crosswords forever so that clue was nearly a write-in. I particularly liked 21/14, UNDENIABLE, and INDEED. Thanks to both.

4. Tony @3: It is wonderful how different people experience the same crossword so differently. As you saw, I struggled where you progressed, while COMMANDO was one of my first answers in.

5. Martyn @4: I always find the different takes on a crossword interesting especially the variation in people’s favourite clues.

6. Agreed Martyn @4 and Tony @5.

7. Thanks for the blog, good to see the wide range of setters for a Saturday continuing. Very neat set of clues and a wide geographical spread. The OB is known for being much louder than the Don.
   I liked the use of Comma for IMAGO.
   SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE has a great partial anagram, they have a spectacular dinosaur collection.
   Fortunately DIEGO was one of the easier football references.

8. This was indeed an enjoyable and interesting puzzle. Many thanks to Neo and Pete Maclean.I learnt a lot from the puzzle.
   The Smithsonian is a marvellous museum and has a fascinating history as set out in its website. Wikipedia provides the further information that the Smithson legacy was transported to the USA in 105 sacks containing 104,960 gold sovereigns and invested in bonds issued by the State of Arkansas which then defaulted. John Quincy Adams persuaded Congress to restore the funds.

9. I agree that it is lovely to see Neo on a Saturday with another enjoyable crossword

   Many thanks to him and Pete

10. First time I have come across this setter. Agree with the consensus that this was top notch. Not too difficult (or so I found: these things are very subjective) but lovely elegant surfaces. Be good to see more of him/her

11. I could not parse COMMANDO, even though all the elements of the wordplay are common. Thanks for the refresher.

12. Thanks Neo and Pete.

    Loved 21/14. Have been to their many museums often. Thanks for explaining “comma” in 10 and parsing COMMANDO – I got hung up on “command” = “order” and didn’t see how it worked. Gus the Theatre Cat is also a character in Lloyd Webber’s Cats which is based on Eliot.

13. Afternoon. Thanks Pete and thanks to all for comments.

    Neo.

14. Failed to see ‘comma butterfly’ two entries down in my dictionary – I spent a good long while trying to parse ‘imago’. Like others, it took me a while to get going with this one but found it most enjoyable. Thanks for the explanations.

15. I enjoyed this, and my favourites have all been listed above. I have heard of a Wapiti ( and live in UK). My last one in was, with hindsight, the obvious and excellent Smithsonian Institute.

    I wish we didn’t have to wait a week for the blog.

    Thanks to all.

16. Wapiti is an elk, Cervus elaphus, but it has antlers, not horns. Antlers are made of bone and are grown and shed by a male cervid each year. Horns are made of keratin, like fingernails, and are permanent, as on billygoats, rams, bulls, antelopes, oryx, wildebeest, impalas, elands.

17. I can’t tell if my comment was transmitted.
    Wapiti is a kind of elk, Cervus elaphus, and has antlers, not horns. Antlers are made of bone and are grown and shed by a male cervid each year. Horns are made of keratin, like fingernails, and are permanent, as on rams, bulls, water buffaloes, antelopes.

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