Financial Times 18,036 by SOLOMON

21 comments on “Financial Times 18,036 by SOLOMON”

1. [22d: KP (UK) / Tayto (ROI) Skips (1974–) aren’t really crisps (UK) or chips (US), because they’re not made from potato: “Tapioca (UK) … Maize (ROI)”]
   14d was my LOi, too.

2. Unaware of American clowns and British crisps, my SW corner had some blanks. Nor have I heard of Izzard. Do I assume that WEDNESDAY is something to do with a Netflix series? English rivers seem to be making a comeback in recent days.

   A ring is round, yes, but are they synonyms?

3. Pretty hard for me. Had no idea about WEDNESDAY, which went in from wordplay, or the second definition of my last in SKIPS; if I’d seen the likelihood of a pangram earlier it would have given me the K. I never did parse LOWER or SUPERFOOD properly.

   There’s LAUREL and HARDY plus a few fruit and veg around (never heard of a PLUMCOT) but not enough for a theme that I can spot.

   Thanks to Solomon and Turbolegs

4. Thanks Solomon for another excellent crossword. My favourites included LAUREL, BLIZZARD, RESTORE, the nicely hidden NOURISH, ALIBI, and DESIGNATE. I didn’t spot the pangram; I thought the DBE indicator in SWISS should not have been ‘possibly’ since Roger Federer is SWISS & I thought Jane in EYRIE needed a DBE indicator. Thanks Turbolegs for the blog.
   GDU @2: Wednesday is the daughter in the Addams Family, a US sitcom from the 60’s. Yes, this is a bit obscure.

5. Wednesday’s child is full of woe

6. A nice puzzle indeed, although on the difficult side for me. Favourites were SWISS, RAUNCHIER, NOURISH (well hidden), RESTORE and LOI PIQUED

   A few random thoughts: I needed an internet search for SWEDE, PLUMCOT and SKIPS; I wondered why UNDERWEAR is not a plural given “rivers” should yield WEARS; and most AVOCADOs are unripe and inedible when their skin is green and will not be getting stoned.

   Thanks Solomon for an interesting, difficult and enjoyable crossword. Thanks Turbolegs for a very good blog

7. Can anyone tell me whether the FT cryptic has gone behind a pay wall? Up to a couple of days ago I was doing it by ‘finger stylus’ after tapping the little pen-and-paper icon. That icon has now disappeared.

8. PS my comment about river (s) in UNDERWEAR was not meant to criticise the clue – I get that there are two rivers. I meant to imply I initially did not understand the answer.

9. Agree this was an excellent puzzle, albeit with some unknowns: PLUMCOT and SKIPS. Slight quibble . SWEDES and turnips are different vegetables.

   Thanks to Solomon and Turbolegs.

10. I did spot the pangram forming so that’s enough of a theme for me. I wondered if WEDNESDAY was referring to Wednesday Addams of the eponymous family? Certainly morbid and a teenager by the time the various films/series came to a close. Indeed, the whole clue could be taken as CAD.

    A cracker of a puzzle, full of misdirection and invention but then I have been a fan of this setter since the off. Too many faves – pretty much everything bar the nho crisps brand.

    Thanks Solomon and Turbolegs

11. grantinfreo@7 I’m not aware of any suggestion of the crossword having gone behind a paywall. It is accessible via this link https://www.ft.com/crossword I have checked with today’s puzzle and am able both to download a pdf version and to gain access to an interactive version by clicking on the relevant links given there without having paid a subscription. I am using a laptop, not a smartphone.

12. Thank you for replying, Rudolf @11. The links to the interactive version are no longer showing up on my phone. Bit of a mystery, but that’s life.

13. I’m in agreement with the generally positive comments for this absorbing puzzle and like Postmark, I’ve enjoyed every Solomon puzzle I’ve attempted thus far.
    I spotted the pangram courtesy of SKIPS, a snack I knew growing up as the manufacturer, KP, was in my neighbouring market town. Frankie @1, I didn’t know they were a maize snack but these days, ‘crisps’ are made of so many foodstuffs besides potato and since Solomon didn’t specify spud in the clue, I think we can left him off the hook!
    James@5 makes a valid point though the ‘teenager in the clue made me think of the Addams Family.
    I also liked the spot for RAUNCHIER/ ‘hurricane’, LIQUIDISE and PLUMCOT, although I know it as ‘pluot’.
    Thanks to Solomon and Turbolegs.

14. PostMark @10 I, too, assumed that Wednesday referred to the daughter from the Addams Family: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wednesday_Addams

15. grantinfreo@12 Just a suggestion, as I don’t use the phone app – have you tried re-installing it?

16. I came up short on quite a few with this one, just not being able to tune in I suspect.

    That said there was enough to keep me interested, I enjoyed INTER ALIA and TITANIUM.

17. Lots of nice surfaces here. I particularly liked the WEDNESDAY Addams and BLIZZARD clues. I did not know the brand of crisps, but I assumed it was something like that. And yes, “chips” here can be made of many things, so while potato is usually assumed, that assumption isn’t always warranted.

    ginf: You can get the interactive version at app.ft.com/crossword . I’ve done it that way from the beginning–I’ve never actually installed the FT app on my phone.

18. You can also get the interactive crossword by using ft.com/crosswordapp

19. Thanks for the blog , very good set of neat clues , Tony@4 is right about WEDNESDAY but the character has been developed through films and she now has her own TV series , so not quite so obscure .

20. Very hard for me. Tried to finish at the weekend and gave up.

    DNE.

21. Chiming in very late…
    In 10a, I thought the reference was to “Wednesday’s Child is Full of Woe.”

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