Financial Times 17,438 by MUDD

19 comments on “Financial Times 17,438 by MUDD”

1. Why is ice breaker pick?
   Thanks

2. You could use an ice pick to break the ice for your cocktail

3. The clue reminded me of No More Heroes by The Stranglers:
   ‘Whatever happened to Leon Trotsky?
   He got an ice pick
   That made his ears burn’

4. Thanks Mudd and Turbolegs

   12ac: Further to the first three comments, I see it more naturally as applied to breaking up ice on roads and pavements, after fallen snow has frozen. Of course it works at the smaller scale too.

5. [Incidentally, every time I see the word “alimentary” I am reminded of the quotation “Elementary, my dear Watson” from Chapter 19 of P. G, Wodehouse’s book Psmith, Journalist. The book was originally published in instalments in a magazine, but appeared in book form in 1915. The words (actually in the form “E-, m- d- W-, elementary”) are spoken by Rupert Psmith and the context makes it clear that they are an allusion to a character created by Arthur Conan Doyle, but there is no explicit claim for the phrase to be a direct quotation from Doyle.]

6. Here are just the punchlines to two Sherlock Holmes jokes: “A lemon tree, my dear Watson” and “No sheet, Sherlock”.

7. Very straightforward today. A mini theme of colours I believe. Thanks setter and blogger.

8. Got 15d but couldn’t parse it at all
   but then i’d never heard of tricot or lour so no hope for me there 🙂

9. Yes Steven . I agree with your assessment . There is :TRICOLOUR with ORANGE, CYAN ROAN. Very neat .

   Thanks to both for a very fair puzzle.

10. Thanks for the blog, the format seems fine to me, very clear. A lot of concise clues today.
    Fireball=DYNAMO ? perhaps this is more modern usage, my Chambers93 has no links between the two.

11. Hi Roz,

    Chambers has them both stand for a “lively energetic person”.

    Regards,
    TL

12. I am in the midst of trying to solving this crossword, an icebreaker is also the first speech you do when you join a Toastmasters Club.
    TIA

13. Thanks Mudd, that was fun. I missed the hidden MINI (I hate when that happens) and bunged in “midi” instead but that was my only error. I liked STRAIGHT, HANDY, and BRAINY.
    [Ice picks were common when I was a kid; before family picnics my dad would go the local icehouse and buy a large block of ice. He would then put it in a galvanised tub, surround it with beer and soft drinks and break off chunks of ice throughout the day to keep the drinks cold.]
    Thanks Turbolegs for the blog.

14. Thanks Turbolegs, didn’t know LOUR (my online dictionary only has it as a form of “Lower”) so I guessed at the French spelling for a while until PRETTY became clear. Apparently Orange Roan is a colour associated with Cocker Spaniels, as is blue roan, but can’t find anything for cyan roan. And isn’t ab ice pick famously key to the classic thriller Basic Instinct? Agree with Roz’s observation on the efficient clueing, I particularly liked 20d, but for some reason I don’t think of a CHICKPEA as a salad item so that took me a while. Thanks Mudd.

15. Sorry Gaza. Left out comma. Should be ORANGE, CYAN, ROAN giving a tricolour of a kind.

16. Gazzh!

17. Got there but I found this harder than others of you. Maybe hayfever and antihistamine slows me? Thank you for parsing Tricolour.

18. Thanks SM. I did have a quick look to see if those colours formed an actual flag representing something but couldn’t see an obvious candidate.

19. Don’t you hate it when you fail on one of the easier clues? Today it was 20d BRAINY. Sometimes the BRAIN puts up roadblocks in the strangest places. Y is that so?

    On solving 3d I immediately wondered if there are differences (nuanced?) among COLONIALIST, colonist and colonizer. I looked them up but reached no conclusion.

    Thanks Mudd for the fun, and Turbolegs for the nice blog.

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