Financial Times 17,936 by STEERPIKE

21 comments on “Financial Times 17,936 by STEERPIKE”

1. I got the bottom half out quite quickly, then slowed at the top. In particular, there seemed a lot of deduction clues throughout the puzzle which raised the level of difficulty for me.

   I ticked SHUN, MASQUERADE, BOND, and I second our blogger’s mention of the magnificent anagram and surface in 16.

   Thanks Cineraria for showing me how to parse
   IDEE FIXE, and ENTANGLING. FLETCHER was a jorum.

   Thanks Steerpike and Cineraria

2. Thanks Steerpike for a top-notch crossword. Among my favourites were EYEPIECES, AT THE DROP OF A HAT (wonderful anagram), EJECT (loved the surface), PHILOSOPHY (another great surface), and TRIVIA. I couldn’t untangle ENTANGLING. Thanks Cineraria for the help.

3. Liked A T D O A HAT, MASQUERADE, ENTANGLING (‘sustains’ in the sense of ‘supports from below’? Fresh idea, I think) and THE SAUCE.

   Thanks Steerpike and Cineraria.

4. Cineraria covers pretty much everything I wanted to say in his intro, particularly top billing to 16A. Other favourites were THE SAUCE and FLETCHER.
   A lovely puzzle to end 2024 with lots of neat wordplay.
   Thanks to Steerpike and the Carolinian!

5. ENTANGLING was the only one I couldn’t parse. All else was tickety-boo. Thanks Steerpike & Cineraria.

6. I put in SLIME for 14a but have to admit SWINE is a much better answer.

7. [13d “Tar Heel” (and sandlapper) were 24ds.]

8. SORROW, for some reason, took longer than anything else, even with crossers. Doh! And TILT was tricky. Otherwise, fairly plain sailing for me with all the long ones going in mainly from def and enumeration. ENTANGLING did take some thought until I realised that the pastime was beneath rather than containing the (g)ENT. I was very pleased to work out IDEE FIXE which is not something I encounter terribly often. I agree with Tony S wrt EJECT and PHILOSOPHY and would add the very smooth IMPALE, BOND and CAROLINIAN, the nicely worded FLETCHER and BRAZIL NUT which made me laugh.

   Thanks Steerpike and Cineraria

9. Tricky. Eventually had to reveal 3d. French phrases, huh? Well, if that’s the only way a setter can find to beat the solver… *shrugs*

   Thanks all.

10. Bohemian @9: just to pick up on your closing phrase, I really don’t believe setters are setting out to beat the solver by any means possible, whether fair or unfair. I am sure Steerpike would say they want the solver to win – but to have a bit of a challenge along the way. There are plenty of ‘French phrases’ that are used in English – esprit de corps, carte blanche, bon voyage, fait accompli etc etc. ‘Idee fixe’ is in Chambers as a phrase adopted in English so it’s certainly valid. Out of interest, the other three options available to the setter for the crossers are ‘adhesive’, ‘edgewise’ and ‘idle time’. The second and third of those offer less option for the setter – if I were setting, I can see myself being attracted by the solution Steerpike chose to clue.

11. PostMark@10: Well said. Bohemian@9 is entitled to express an opinion. Please allow those of us who hold the opposite view to express ours. In my view, there are setters who are sometimes careless in the setting; there are some who use devices of which I do not approve, but others do; there are also some who use a wider range of vocabulary than many of us find comfortable. But I do not believe that there is a setter on the FT list who sets out with the deliberate aim of beating the solver. Nor do I believe that the FT editor would allow any such setter to remain on the list.

    With regard to the phrase idée fixe, the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary latest (6th) edition, dated 2007, dates its use in English to the middle of the 19th century (p 1319), and gives an illustrative quotation from an author whose dates are given on p 3719 as 1909-84.

12. I thought this was entertaining and accessible, with those amazing long solutions, all of which went in pretty quickly. Spotting the pangram helped a bit, but not a lot. Having got a lot in, like Cineraria, I was then slowed down. IDEE FIXE was one of my last in too, but it’s something I’ve come across reading English novels, apparently it’s in Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes novels, so wasn’t unfamiliar.

    [I found the Paul in the Guardian much tougher]

    Thank you to Steerpike and Cineraria.

13. I enjoyed this one, I didn’t get all of the answers and I got 24D wrong (I had toll, vs tilt), but I was able to get a few answers to start with which always helps. I rarely finish a crossword and I’m usually happy if my missing answers are in single figures.

    Being Autistic I sometimes find it hard to tune in to the setters’ thinking and just stare blankly, even with the blog I sometimes can’t imagine how anyone can get the answers. Maybe I just need more experience.

    Something that might also help newbies like me would be a glossary of the sort of terms used often (Pangram, Nina, and others) and maybe also the types of clues used- what to look for that sort of thing. From the outside looking in there sometimes seems to me to be a kind of Freemasonry going on, almost a secret language which is difficult to pick up.

    Didn’t (one time FT setter) CINEPHILE write a book on how to tackle cryptic crosswords?

14. AT@13: The FAQ section on this website is a good starting place for some of your questions. I learned a lot by studying the blogs and the comments to the blogs, gradually picking up tips and tricks. Even as a blogger, I am still learning. If you enjoy it as a pastime, keep at it.

15. Autistic Trier, a couple of things that I link to in the blog for the beginner’s crossword:
    Guardian Ultimate beginner’s guide – from their blog in October
    Six months summary of the Guardian Quick Cryptic puzzles – with a lot of abbreviations and indicators listed out

16. Many thanks to all the bloggers and commentors on my puzzles over the last 12 months. Wishing you all a happy and prosperous new year!

17. [FrankieG @7: sandlapper was a new one to me too–thanks for that. Tar Heel is much better known here, because it’s the name used by the University of North Carolina’s sports teams; the Tar Heels have a long tradition of excellence in men’s basketball, so anyone who follows that sport even idly recognizes those baby-blue uniforms. The University of South Carolina–coincidentally excellent in women’s basketball–are the Gamecocks. And now I’m curious if our blogger is also a Tar Heel in the sense of a UNC alum.]

18. Autistic Trier, if you’re still here: a fortiori to Shanne’s comment, I recommend doing the Guardian quick cryptics (found here.) They’re intended to be easy but are usually still lively. The point to them is that the setter restricts him- or herself to just four clue types per puzzle–and tells you in a blurb above the puzzle exactly which clue types they’re using that week. Many beginning solvers have commented that they’ve found them to be a good learning tool.

19. I had a marvelous time with this puzzle and glad to have it to end the year here in New York. I never did get IDEE FIXE and instead tried with EDGE SIDE meaning towering (I’m always guessing at what some British idiom might be) ? I also put toll instead of TILT having never figured out the parsing. Thank you all so much for fun not just for today but for the whole year. With best wishes for 2025!

20. Autistic Trier @13: Chambers Crossword Manual by Don Manley (Bradman, Pasquale) is a superb resource.

21. I got IDEE FIXE but didn’t fully understand it. I only know the term from studying Berlioz’ Symphonie Fantastique.

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