Financial Times 17,799 by Leonidas

16 comments on “Financial Times 17,799 by Leonidas”

1. 

   Cineraria

   #1 - Fri 2nd Aug 24, 23:36

   
   

   Good job on the blog. A solid puzzle.

2. 

   Pelham Barton

   #2 - Fri 2nd Aug 24, 23:48

   
   

   Thanks Leonidas and Pete.
   25ac: I think the indicator for the D is just “Dutch “. Otherwise “capital” would be doing double duty.

3. 

   Diane

   #3 - Sat 3rd Aug 24, 01:25

   
   

   A mostly friendly and satisfying grid done over coffee breaks at the weekend.
   Everything was crisply clued – just as well, really, because I wasn’t exactly sure how TEMAZEPAM was spelt without parsing it.
   I liked REBECCA, EASEL, VELODROME, MERRIMENT and CACTI for the ‘pretend plants’ which made me think of ersatz western filmsets.
   Thanks to Leonidas and Pete.

4. 

   Martyn

   #4 - Sat 3rd Aug 24, 02:38

   
   

   I agree with the above – mostly friendly and solid. And I add enjoyable. I also echo praise for the blog. I had the same favourites as Diane@3.

   I did think TEMAZEPAM was bordering on being unfair: an obscure word relying on the vague “note” (which could be many things) as part of the solution. I needed all the crossers and google to get it.

   Thanks Leonidas and Pete

5. 

   Mrs Graves

   #5 - Sat 3rd Aug 24, 04:29

   
   

   Thanks, Leonidas, for a most enjoyable puzzle and Pete for the explanation. The puzzle had a nicely light touch, I think, and very witty in places. I liked RASTA and also ACRONYM.

6. 

   FrankieG

   #6 - Sat 3rd Aug 24, 04:52

   
   

   12a,7d – Liked the idea of Billy crossing an OCEAN in a CANOE – After a pair of UK No. 2s in the ’70s, his 1st No. 1 was across the Atlantic:
   Caribbean (originally European) Queen (No More Love on the Run) (1984, a 40th (Ruby) anniversary)
   Thanks L&PM

7. 

   Roz

   #7 - Sat 3rd Aug 24, 05:20

   
   

   Thanks for the blog, Diane @3 and Mrs Graves@5 describe this puzzle very nicely.
   Perhaps TEMAZEPAN the only word to fit in that corner, fairly famous in the UK for being addictive and for misuse.

8. 

   Tony Santucci

   #8 - Sat 3rd Aug 24, 05:23

   
   

   Thanks Leonidas for a crossword that took some thought but that was ultimately solvable and satisfying. My favourites were VISCOUS, REBECCA, TEMAZEPAM, the ‘dreaded’ RASTA, RHINE, ACRONYM, and LULLABY. Thanks Pete for the blog.

9. 

   Fiona

   #9 - Sat 3rd Aug 24, 05:36

   
   

   Good puzzle – took me a while to get into it but after I got the top half the rest followed quite smoothly

   Liked: VISCOUS, TEMAZEPAN, BAMBOOZLE, THIRSTY, EASEL, RASTA

   Thanks Leonidas and Pete Maclean

10. 

    PostMark

    #10 - Sat 3rd Aug 24, 09:11

    
    

    Contemplating the right adjective to describe this puzzle, I find I am aligned with several other commenters: for your friendly and solid, I had accessible. Not Leonidas in fiendish mode but nice, clean, fair clues throughout. VISCOUS, REBECCA, RASTA, SCOURGE, RHINE and POSTPONES were my favourites in this one.

    Thanks Leonidas and Pete M

11. 

    FrankieG

    #11 - Sat 3rd Aug 24, 09:45

    
    

    [When is somebody going to fix the FinaNcial typo? It’s in the URL as well as the heading, now.]

12. 

    allan_c

    #12 - Sat 3rd Aug 24, 15:03

    
    

    Very much what others have said – an enjoyable puzzle. We liked the clue for NONET; a change from the tennis allusions often found in Crosswordland.
    Thanks, Leonidas and Pete.

13. 

    Cellomaniac

    #13 - Sat 3rd Aug 24, 17:34

    
    

    PB@2, and what’s wrong (I ask again) with double duty? Just because some expert a long time ago said he didn’t like it doesn’t make it a bad thing. If used carefully it can make surfaces better and more concise. (Although I agree with you that 25a can be parsed as you did, without the d-d, I parsed it as Pete did.)

    That 25a – VELODROME – was my favourite clue, with cycling as the instruction for VELO as well as a hint for the definition (more clever double duty).

    Thanks Leonidas for the witty puzzle, and Pete for the excellent blog.

14. 

    Pelham Barton

    #14 - Sat 3rd Aug 24, 19:11

    
    

    Cellomaniac@13: My objection to double duty is based on a strong preference for grammatically accurate indications for the answers. I hold my views on this and other matters not because of what some expert a long time ago said, but because in each case I agree with the relevant expert – and usually a large number of editors and setters over the years – that precise cluing makes for more satisfactory crosswords. With regard to the clue for 25ac in the current puzzle, I have nothing further to say, but hope that Leonidas will drop in and tell us what the intended parsing was.

15. 

    Leonidas

    #15 - Sat 3rd Aug 24, 19:56

    
    

    Hello everyone. Thanks for commenting today. And thank you Pete for the blog.

    25a: LOVE (adore)/VELO(cycling) D(=Dutch) ROME(=capital)

    PB@2 is correct wrt my intentions. Equally I am very pleased that Cellomanic@13 clocked the use of the ‘cycling’ indicator to support the definition, which was my intention.

    Have a good weekend, see you next time.

16. 

    Pelham Barton

    #16 - Sat 3rd Aug 24, 20:01

    
    

    Thank you Leonidas@15 for clarifying 25ac (and again for the whole puzzle).

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