Financial Times 15,831 by REDSHANK

11 comments on “Financial Times 15,831 by REDSHANK”

1. Thanks Turbolegs and Redshank.
   Terrific puzzle. Needed parsing for SNAKEBITE. Loved BEAUX and SEXIST.

2. Thanks, Turbolegs – once again, I’ll wholeheartedly echo your preamble.

   Lots of witty misdirection: I delayed entering PRESS-UPS, because I couldn’t see why they were specifically ‘army’ exercises – doh! And 1dn was my last in, because I didn’t know the SWAT abbreviation and didn’t connect ‘samples book’ until all the crossers were in place – another doh.

   Favourites today were ABIDE [for more misdirection], GRAPEVINE,  HEXAMETER and BEAUX [for their construction] and SEXIST and BY GEORGE because they made me smile – I’ve never seen STRUTH [for Strewth] before and neither, apparently, have Collins or Chambers but that’s an observation, not a complaint: it was clear enough and I’ve always wondered why it should be spelt that way, being an abbreviation [or euphemism] for ‘God’s truth’ – to make it even more innocuous, I suppose.

   Many thanks, Redshank, for another highly enjoyable puzzle.

3. A very enjoyable challenge indeed.   Thank you Redshank and Turbolegs

4. Comments a bit sparse on this so I’ll chip in say it was very enjoyable.

   Pretty much agree with all Eileen said.

   TA!

5. Enjoyable, as always with this setter. I must admit that I never thought of ‘army’ in 8d to refer to ‘using your arms’ until reading Eileen’s comments @2. I guess the clue for RHINO is a bit of an old chestnut but think it’s worth repeating every now and then – although I prefer the alternative “one with horn, perhaps”.

   Thanks to all.

6. Great crossword which I found harder than usual with this setter.

   Probably completely my ‘fault’ but I’ll have to admit that I had some trouble filling the left hand side.

   This is one of these Redshanks that doesn’t feel like a Radian or a Crucible. While I do admire the alter egos too, this crossword was just a tad more adventurous.

   Funny, to have SPECTATOR for the third time in two days.

   Thanks to Turbolegs [glad you enjoyed it as much as I did] & Redshank.

    

7. @2. Eileen: While waiting for an appointment I thought I would follow up your comment on STREWTH-STRUTH. The OED gives “trewthe” as an obsolete form of truth, so the coiner of the exclamation was perhaps showing off. The OED gives their example from Rudyard Kipling.

8. Thanks, trenodia @7. You’ve got me started now [it doesn’t take much] – just look at all this from the University of Michigan!

9. Eileen: Bloomin’ heck!. I have never seen that before – busy people! Thank goodness my visitors have just arrived.

10. Thanks to Redshank and Turbolegs. I did not get SNAKEBITE, even with all the crossers, and STENOSIS was new to me (though gettable from the clues), but after finally getting JEEPERS CREEPERS everything fell into place. Lots of fun.

11. Thanks Redshank and Turbolegs

    Didn’t get to this one until quite recently – what a terrific puzzle !  Most of the highlights are captured by Eileen@2 and although I got PRESS-UPS early on, it was quite a bit later that the ‘army’ context dawned on me.

    Had heard of the SNAKEBITE drink but HEXAMETER and STENOSIS were both new terms.

    Finished in the top left corner with IMITATION, MISSUS and the clever SWATCH as the last few in.

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