Financial Times 17,604 by FALCON

14 comments on “Financial Times 17,604 by FALCON”

1. I agree fully with Cineraria’s assessment of the puzzle

   My favourites were: my last two in – BANANA SPLIT and RECITE – and IL TROVATORE. All nice surfaces and a great anagram.

   Thanks Falcon and thank-you for the great blog Cineraria.

2. Very nice, thank you, Falcon.

   And ta, Cineraria.

3. I agree fully with Martyn’s full agreement with Cineraria.

   A very nice anagram spot for WEATHER FORECAST.

   Thanks Falcon and Cineraria

4. Thanks Falcon and Cineraria

   Peter @ 4 Possibly the most complex anagram I’ve ever seen was in a John Henderson puzzle at the centenary of Daphne Du Maurier. It resolved to “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again”, the opening of her novel Rebecca.

5. Peter

   Enigmatist 27579 on 11/8/18:

   12, 20, 14, 18, 4. Novel start: enter woman, imagining deathly detail (4,5,1,6,1,4,2,9,5)

6. Enjoyed this, but it was a comlete write-in for me.
   Peter@4 – check out some of Bunthorne’s puzzles in the Guardian achive he was the master of the self-defining long anagram, though Araucaria could run him close on occasion.

7. 16a ‘after the news..’ put us on the right track… not sure “novel opening” would narrow it down much Simon S@7..
   Had to check the opera, nearly started with LA..
   Thanks FALCON n cineria

8. Thanks Falcon and Cineraria

   24dn: I think this should be RE+ homophone of SITE, not SIGHT.

9. Lovely stuff – you still hear of advertising hoardings by the side of football pitches, mostly when a player runs into them.

   The opera was new to me, as operas typically are, but there was only really one arrangement of letters that worked. I echo the praise for WEATHER FORECAST.

   Thanks Falcon & Cineraria.

10. PB@10: I agree that SITE was probably intended, although SIGHT could work in a pinch. Correction noted.

11. I’m late in commenting but I really liked this and agree with many of the above comments regarding, for instance, WEATHER FORECAST, BANANA SPLIT and pausing a moment to ensure I had the right opera.
    And on Goujeers’s recommendation, I’ll have to seek out some of those Bunthorne puzzles.
    It seems too long between Falcon puzzles; I always enjoy them
    Thanks to him and Cineraria.

12. Cineraria@12: Thanks for that. It is nice to have a homophone where there is no doubt that it works. Some dialects of English may have a non-standard vowel sound in these words, but it will still be the same for all three of them. Or am I setting myself up for someone to argue?

    [Peter@6: One of my favourite rounds on the former Radio 4 Panel Game Quote Unquote involved identifying substantial works of literature with well known opening sentences from just the first three words. I was of course expecting something like “All happy families” – we obviously have different translations of Anna Karenina, but there are plenty of them around. What we actually got for the first three questions were “It was the” (best of times); “It was a” (bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen); “It is a” (truth universally acknowledged). It would of course be too much to hope that there was something suitable beginning “It is the” for the fourth question.]

13. The most remarkable anagram I have seen so far appeared in Guardian Genius No. 2. I won’t spoil it.

14. Thanks, Falcon and Cineraria!
    Thanks, PB for your analytical posts (as a routine).

    CRACKDOWN
    I think it is an extended def (or maybe a clue-as-def).
    As the ‘Firm action needed if’ part of the clue doesn’t seem
    to contribute to the wordplay, it is not &lit.

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