Financial Times 17,651 by NEO

29 comments on “Financial Times 17,651 by NEO”

1. Re 17d, I think “forward thinking” could equate to “advanced thinking” perhaps.

2. This superb outing from Neo is a fitting way to end what has been a week of worthy puzzles.
   EDIT, AUCTION and STROGANOFF were my top picks from amongst an impressive crop.
   Thanks to Neo and Turbolegs.

3. Agreed, top stuff.

   As to comment 1, also agreed. I had the military version, an advanced/forward position.

   I was sorry to hear about poor Selima (edited after FG’s comment 4).

4. loi 1a GOLDFISH BOWL – nho Selima, but happy to learn.
   Found this version of Thomas Gray’s Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes with illustrations by William Blake.

5. Ode on the death of a favourite cat…

   Super fun puzzle. Thanks, Neo and Turbolegs

   (edit: ah, FrankieG beat me to it!)

6. I agree, Hovis @1. I was thinking of a child being ‘forward’ or ‘advanced’ for their years.

7. I read that the very bowl is to be found at Strawberry Hill

8. Unfortunately, I was beaten by GOLDFISH BOWL with Selima being nho. Even with all the crossers, I guess the mind never contemplated a W filling that space. I also failed with Sally Ann = Salvation Army. I’ve encountered Sally Army but the girl’s name seemed so natural, I didn’t equate it with the brass blowers. I couldn’t work out why the SA abbreviation was being applied. Thing I learned today.

   I liked the refreshing approach to a hackneyed word in EDIT but the standout clue for me was HIPPODROME.

   Thanks Neo and Turbolegs

9. Liked GOLDFISH BOWL, EDIT and PROWL (stem and stalk-great surface).

   EDIT
   TIDE didn’t obey Canute in the original version. This EDIT is another version! 🙂

   NEO is seen diagonally (starting from the N of PLAN) and also N E O forming a triangle in a couple of other places (intentional or otherwise).

   Thanks Neo and Turbolegs!

10. Great puzzle and blog. Small grumble over BOAT RACE . Although I liked the clue, a trace is a leather harness and not a bit.

    Thanks Neo and Turbolegs.

11. Perhaps a bit of, a trace of.

12. I finished, making good progress through most of the puzzle, but taking a long time with goldfish bowl, Seth and Theresa. These clues I didn’t like, as they all required some general knowledge which I don’t possess – Sally Ann being an abbreviation for SA, Seth, being the third son of Adam and, most obscurely, Salima, being a cat who died in a goldfish bowl. Even using Google, this last curiosity did not appear quickly.

    To my mind, these three spoiled an otherwise excellent puzzle. I accept that some general knowledge is required solving cryptics and inevitably there’s a bit of a grey line, but these three for me were on the wrong side and resulted in a lot of wasted time.

    I also thought the clueing of 18 across works better if the answer were Sath, not Seth. I don’t see how “went down” easily equals Set.

    . Thanks for the blog.

13. Thanks Ui lmair. You might be right.

14. Moly @12. The sun set/went down.

15. Enjoyable puzzle, thanks S&B
    KVa @9, spot the NEO, that’s a good game. I’ve spotted two already.

16. James popped in!

    Great to see him again. Not his usual reblog I’m really gutted to have to say. I suppose this small interlude was all he had time for. Well, thus far. The night is yet young.

    Is Martyn coming?

17. Thanks Neo. I found some of this rough going, partly due to my lack of GK, e.g. Selima and Sally Ann. (People who call me a know-it-all are clearly mistaken.) In any event I found much to enjoy including MUMPS, COMMODIOUS, AUCTION, ALL OF A SUDDEN, DINOSAUR, and LEEWARD. Thanks Turbolegs for the blog.

18. Odd how the Salvation Army and sex appeal are the same in crossword land. It’s nice when you can deduce the GK from a clue and confirm it later as was the case for me with GOLDFISH BOWL today.

19. Thanks Legs for the blog, and thanks all for comments.

    EDIT: I think I’m right in saying that Canute wanted to show that he was pious and humble, rather than omnipotent. He knew that the incoming tide would be unaffected by any command, which failure proved the point. Here of course it ebbs, as I needed a reversal indicator to do with tides.

    SELIMA: poor Selima cat. The poor poor cat. It died at Walpole’s house in Arlington Street, and not at Strawberry Hill, for the record, but in THAT bowl. Curiosity didn’t kill this one, I suppose you could reasonably say. And hardly anyone knew what the clue was about, I suppose you could definitely say.

20. As Moly@12 wrote.

    Thanks Hovis for explaining set. In addition, would someone please explain why subbed is ADVANCED? I have no doubt forward is fine, but I do not understand the second part of the double def. Does it have to do with payment?

    Thanks Neo and Turbolegs

21. Welcome Martyn!

    It comes from (Chambers noun 11) ‘Subsistence money, hence a loan, an advance payment’.

22. Ah, I somehow suspected it may have to do with payments. Did not see it in OED, so thanks for the steer

    And thanks again for an enjoyable crossword

23. It’s v.3 in the OED.

    To be fair, there are quite a few meanings of sub to plough through. My favourite definition of sub would be “remove all the writer’s best jokes“.

24. Thanks Hovis @14. 🙂

    A clear and helpful explanation
    / example.

25. Thanks W@23. My faith in OED is restored. I fund it the second time around and apologize to everyone for asking the obvious. I have worked in finance & payments in several countries (though not the UK), and I do not believe I have heard sub used like this before. Always good to learn.

26. [Martyn @25: If you haven’t done so already try writing some clues and even setting a crossword of your own. You will then get a clear picture of how many synonyms exist for nearly every English word. It’s quite entertaining.]

27. Well Tony, that’s one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever seen given! Wow! And I’m sure that Martyn will be taking you up on all of the suggestions you have so helpfully made. If he hasn’t done so already. It’d be great to see something from him, and James too, who is also a keen contributor, and really soon, if that’s possible. I love seeing the fresh input of newer compilers. Fearless babes.

    I’d like to point out that English dictionaries, like Chambers and Collins, are the same wherever one reads them, even in foreign countries. So even in Antarctica for example, where accountancy is not perhaps the core industry, unless seals are doing a deal with the orca HA HA HA, subbed is still a synonym for advanced! All you have to do, if you’re a solver, or fledgling compiler not sure about a synonym, is consult a reputable dictionary. They really do half my work for me!

    Goodnight! I’m sloshed, and I hope you are too.

28. Widdersbel@23 – Did you mean this?: “Giles Coren” “nosh”

29. More recently in Countdown Episode 7738 on 12 April 2022, as part of Series 85,
    Dictionary Corner guest Giles Coren, from the letters BSLHUOEAN, trumped both contestants’ UNABLE and BLOUSE, with NOSHABLE, much to the embarrassment of Rachel Riley.

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