Financial Times 16,986 by ALBERICH

9 comments on “Financial Times 16,986 by ALBERICH”

1. Thanks for the blog, a lot of neat, clever and concise clues. STRIATED was the pick for me.
   ( very minor typo for 10D )

2. I agree, Roz; the neat cluing is what made this a satisfying solve. And yes, STRIATED was a choice clue. I particularly liked the definition ‘expedition’ used in this sense and also TENACITY.
   I didn’t know the expression ‘give someone a mouse’ but the meaning was clear.
   Thanks to Alberich and Turbolegs.

3. I actually made heavy weather of this but perhaps I’m just having an off day. None of the seemingly-insolubles turned out be unfair or indeed unusual once I’d cracked them and I made a lot of ‘Oh, you idiot’ noises as they went in.
   Thanks to both. A good puzzle for, today, a rubbish solver.

4. Grant,
   It’s always heartening for those of us who merely solve, not blog, to hear that seasoned cruciverbalists like yourself have the occasional offday.
   My own repertoire of self-critical eye-rolls and groans is rather extensive!

5. Enjoyable though I found this hard going, for the last five or six in anyway. CALABASH is one of those words I’d come across but I had no idea what it was so this had to go in from wordplay, holding me up in the NE corner.

   Never heard of the expression at 12a and the swimmer wasn’t one of the obvious ones to spring to mind. The &lit 10d was clever (aren’t they all?) but I was slow to do what the answer instructed.

   Hardest of today’s crop, so the most satisfying to eventually solve.

   Thanks to Alberich and Turbolegs

6. Like Grant and WordPlodder, I found this quite challenging – for some reason, it was the top left corner that held out longest for me – but enjoyable and ultimately satisfying.

   I dimly remembered learning that meaning of mouse, from crosswords, but it took a while to surface.

   I had ticks for CALABASH, EVENTUAL and DRACONIAN (each for the construction) and BARE and LACTATE (both for the surface).

   Many thanks to Alberich and Turbolegs.

7. As seems to be becoming more common these days an overnight brain reset was needed before I finished this with my breakfast coffee this morning.
   It looks like I had the same inconveniences as others, but did enjoy CELERITY and STRIATED. I was looking at the wrong definition for a long time.
   An enjoyable workout, so thanks Alberich and for the explanations Turbolegs.

8. Favourites, for their neat construction and surfaces, were 25 CONSTRAIN and 27 TENACITY. Like Roz, I also thought 14 STRIATED was excellent – I took “typsy on vacation” to give TY, until I realised that tipsy had to be the anagrind.

   I too hadn’t heard of the mouse phrase, but SOCKEYE is my favourite kind of salmon, so 12 went in half-parsed as my LOI.

   Thanks Alberich for the stiff workout, and Turbolegs for the helpful blog.

9. Thanks Alberich and Turbolegs
   After a series of puzzles in which I have struggled recently, was obviously on the setter’s wavelength here. A short sitting to get started and a slightly longer one to finish in well under average FT solving time – strange how this solving caper works !
   Got off to a flyer with SAUCE and quickly followed by ABUNDANCE to get the NW corner completed first, then enjoyed the rest of the journey to end up with CALABASH (which I’ve heard of but never tasted), ADORE and DRACONIAN the last one in.
   Whilst thinking the surface of 14a as clearly the best, CONSTRAIN gave me the biggest grin and TENACITY my tick for cod.

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