Financial Times 18,038 by MOO

16 comments on “Financial Times 18,038 by MOO”

1. Several crisp and neat clues. Good fun.

   My faves: COVERT, SHEKEL, AUTOMATIC and PUT ON

   ANATOLIA
   Looks like a reverse anagram considering the ‘producing’.
   AWARE
   The ‘about’ seems a bit odd as a link word. Would ‘of’ have been better?

   Thanks Moo and Teacow.

2. I took ‘informed about’ to mean ‘aware’.

3. Very enjoyable with BAGUETTE (liked the Marquis’s pain), AWARE and VACANT among my favourites.
   Thanks to Moo and Teacow.

4. Hovis@2
   Same here: informed about or up on, say, current affairs.

5. Informed about=AWARE of. Right?

6. KVa @5 – you don’t need the “of” in “AWARE of” depending on how it’s used: – Have you been kept informed about the developments in Ukraine? Yes, I am aware. That’s grammatical English English.

   Thank you to Teacow – and I feel your pain blogging on the phone, once and only once – and to Moo.

7. In 6a the “might one say?” looks like a homophone indicator for BETTOR.
   {Why does that orange 25a BAGUETTE [pain in the neck (… or worse)] have to spoil a fine puzzle?}

8. Can someone explain 26a? I understand Shekel is the currency of Israel. But what does ready have to do? Ready as in having shekels before going to Tel Aviv?

9. John @8: “ready” (short for ready cash) is one of the many slang terms for money.

10. mrpenny@9: Thanks vm.

11. I agree with KVa@1 that 22D is defective because, as Hovis@2 says, “about” must form part of the definition (it cannot justifiably serve as a link word), and “informed about” is not synonymous with “aware”. Shanne@6 doesn’t provide an example where “aware” and “informed about” can be interchanged in a standard sentence without affecting the meaning – that is the test that needs to be satisfied. In her sentence “Have you been kept informed about the developments in Ukraine?”, the words “informed about” could be replaced by “aware of” without changing the meaning. That provides support for KVa@5’s point that “informed about” is synonymous with “aware of”, and I agree with it.

12. 25 and 28 are connected by their Frenchness. I pictured Nancy coming on to the Marquis, only to suffer great pain as a consequence.

    Well done, Teacow, blogging on your phone. And thanks, Moo, for the neat puzzle.

13. Good puzzle. I liked the Franglais ones. Thanks all.

14. I found this a mix of very easy and quite challenging clues

    My favourites were the anagrams behind TELEPHONE and PERVERSITY (lovely surfaces); ELTON and VACANT made me smile; and I thought AGINCOURT a nice clue that took me some time to see. Ditto BAGUETTE

    I still have no idea what YUMMY MUMMY is about – I guessed most of it from the crossers, but had to reveal the first letter. I was also not familiar with baby BUGGY, which I assume is what “children’s ride” is pointing to. Good to learn!

    Thanks Moo and Teacow

15. Martyn @14: Chambers has:
    “yummy mummy noun (informal)
    An attractive or glamorous mother”

16. Thank-you Martin B@15. It is amazing what you can find in Chambers

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