Financial Times 17,852 by SLEUTH

11 comments on “Financial Times 17,852 by SLEUTH”

1. I had ticks for TURBULENT, TOLERANCE and PROFESSIONALISM though what I most enjoyed about this grid was unravelling the perimeter clues – a big help in completing the puzzle, as Loonapick says. It was fortunate, too, that the couple I didn’t know (again, the same as our blogger) were anagrams.
   Thanks for the fun, Sleuth, and Loonapick for the blog.

2. I had CORRECTION FLUID, having only fleetingly glanced at the anagram fodder, so the French city didn’t happen. I suspected it was EDUCATIVE but couldn’t parse. And MILBURN was impossible from this far away.

   Enjoyable, thanks Sleuth & Loonapick.

3. Nice to see the great Daniel-mighty man!

4. Wow! Two days in a row when the outer four solutions are all fifteen letters. Three were pretty obvious anagrams after the cross/down letters were filled in but 26A was new to me.

   3D was also unknown to me and required a visit to an anagram solver to complete.

   17D was obviously intended for people who live in the UK, as supported by Geoff D.U.

   Thanks Sleuth and loonapick.

5. I can’t imagine that “Alan Milburn” is a common answer when asked for the name of a former Health Secretary. Not so much General Knowledge as aspiring Lieutenant-Colonel.

6. 3d – Went to see an Aristophanes comedy in the theatre at EPIDAVROS in the ’80s. My companions didn’t enjoy it much. It was all Greek to them.
   17d – An eminently forgettable politician. Why not ‘Wor Jackie’ MILBURN (1924–1988, in the centenary year of his birth)? – “Howay The Lads!”
   Thanks S&L

7. Funny how some people stick in your mind whilst others simply don’t – I was fine with the conductor but didn’t have a clue about the ex health secretary. Very grateful that 3d was an anagram, EPIDAURUS wasn’t on my radar. Haven’t tackled a puzzle from this setter for a while and thought he’d upped his game a bit, but perhaps it’s just this particular outing?

   Thanks to Sleuth and to Loonapick for the blog.

8. Not just four long answers around the perimeter for two days running but actually the same grid! Not that that’s of any real significance – what matters is that it was an enjoyable if challenging puzzle.
   We managed to ger it all without help although some of the anagrams took a bit of unscrambling, particularly for CONSERVATORSHIP. But EPIDAURUS came easily enough once we realised it was an anagram. LOI was NIMES once we corrected our hasty mistake in 1dn.
   Thanks, Sleuth and loonapick.

9. Needed 5 letter reveals to complete & found the puzzle very tough. Never heard of the conductor, the Greek theatre site & nutmeal but remembered the Blairite in charge at Health. Add me to those who went correction fluid until thinking where’s the G.
   Thanks Sleuth & Loonapick

10. Very tough for me. I got more than I thought from clever cluing. But I don’t enjoy needing Google to look up esoteric trivia.

    Thank you all

11. There’s a difference between a TILT (thing I learned today) and a NHO (never heard of). A TILT is something useful or interesting to learn, whereas a NHO is, well, …. For me, 3d EPIDAURUS was a TILT, while 17d MILBURN was a mere NHO.

    I still think of Daniel Barenboim as British, even though he isn’t. He was part of an amazing group of London-based friends in the late 1960s – Itzhak Perlman, Pinchss Zukerman, Jaqueline Du Pre, Stephen Bishop (Kovasevich), Zubin Mehta, etc., and he conducted the English Chamber Orchestra at the time.

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