Financial Times 18,136 by SLORMGORM

26 comments on “Financial Times 18,136 by SLORMGORM”

1. Some synonyms I struggled to justify, such as sea/mass, light/window, take care of/farewell. I looked hard for something clever in the clue for NARRATOR, but couldn’t find it. I got SUPPLY TEACHER, even though here we call them casuals, but still don’t get the clue.

2. It’s just take care for FAREWELL, two goodbyes Geoff. I don’t get the SUPPLY TEACHER either and agree about NARRATOR.

   A skylight is a window here and a sea of people is a mass of people.

   I liked the puzzle. No particular stand outs.

   Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow

3. I had the same query re SEA = mass but no problem with light = window. I think the definition for FAREWELL is simply’ Take care’ but the ‘of ‘ is rather awkward. (We crossed, Martin.)

   I don’t quite get SUPPLY TEACHER, either.

   My favourites were EASY DOES IT, PULL OVER, POLYMATH, DELIVERY and FLYING.

   Thanks to Slormgorm and Teacow.

4. FAREWELL
   I agree with Martin and Eileen that the def is ‘take care’.

   NARRATOR is mildly cryptic, agree with others.

   SUPPLY TEACHER (my undersatnding)
   When a teacher (head) is deficient/short, a pupil (student) might see a SUPPLY TEACHER.

   Sea=mass in the sense of large quantity, I guess.

   Thanks to Slormgorm and Teacow.

5. The only way I can try to explain SUPPLY TEACHER is as follows.

   Does the clue mean if the head of the school engages supply teachers, s/he has been deficient in attracting and employing permanent ones?

   Yes, FAREWELL makes more sense without the “of”.

   Still not convinced re window/light.

   That was how I justified sea/mass, but I still think it’s a stretch.

6. GDU@5
   SUPPLY TEACHER
   I think your explanation works better. With a deficient head, you are likely to see SUPPLY TEACHERs.

7. My queries were somewhat similar to those above.
   Geoff @1, a light for window is seen in both ‘skylight’ and ‘fanlight’ (the fan-shaped window illuminating an otherwise solid wooden entrance door).
   I didn’t have any concerns re ‘sea/mass’ (of people, for instance) and though I agree that NARRATOR was only mildly cryptic (Morgan Freeman’s rich voice being a popular favourite), I think it also refers to those irritating people who talk too loud in the cinema all throughout a film you’ve paid to enjoy!
   Talking of enjoying things, I did like this puzzle! Like Eileen, I particularly liked EASY DOES IT and POLYMATH.
   Thanks to Slormgorm and Teacow.

8. If my interpretation of SUPPLY TEACHER is correct, I must say I don’t entirely agree with its premise. Schools mostly use casual teachers here when the regular ones are absent sick, or on other types of leave. (I’m assuming here that our casual teachers are the equivalent of the British supply teachers.) To imply that a casual is not as good as the genuine article is a bit unkind. They might even be better!

9. I took it that the head was off sick, which, directly or indirectly meant that there had to be a SUPPLY TEACHER, though I tried to make a reverse anagram work at first.

10. Nice puzzle and blog. Either I’m getting better or that wasn’t too tricky. No quibbles from me and some good’uns in there too.

11. I found myself thinking of a sea of faces rather than people and that works for me: looking out over an audience, a performer might well be confronted by a sea/mass of faces?

    SUPPLY TEACHER did not quite work for me, either. I assumed a possible play on ‘pupil’ as in the eye but it was a weak allusion. PULLOVER and MAIN COURSE both made me laugh and I had ticks for ACTION, PREFER, BEDCHAMBER, FELONS, LIME and FLYING.

    Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow

12. 21 down was my last clue, but I couldn’t get past LUSH for “drunk”.

13. Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow

    20ac: light 3 a window or section of a window, from the Pocket Oxford English Dictionary 2013 p 527;
    3dn: sea 3 a vast expanse or quantity: a sea of faces, and mass 2 a large number of people or objects gathered together, also from the Pocket Oxford p 821 and p 559 respectively.

    I agree with others about 9dn, and I could not see why “Motorway” was needed in 11ac or “from America” in 5dn.

14. PB@13: Is the term “felony” still prevalent in modern UK law? It is a basic classification in US law, lesser offenses generally being misdemeanors.
    Rounding out the discussion on 9D: In the US, we call them “substitute teachers.” I could not quite make sense of the clue, either, other than the suggestion that the regular teacher was absent for some reason.

15. Cineraria@14: Thank you for that. Collins 2023 p 721 tells us “All distinctions between felony and misdemeanour were abolished in England and Wales in 1967.” However, that does not mean that the word felon immediately disappeared from normal UK English usage. Indeed, there are presumably still people alive today who were convicted of a felony in England or Wales before 1967 and can therefore reasonably be referred to as convicted felons. Having said that, I think you have provided a good justification for the wording of 5dn.

16. Further to Pelham Barton @13, I suppose ‘motorway’ is in 11ac because it’s a police command to road users (on bikes, in cars), where ‘Freeze’, say, or ‘Hands Up’ are more general orders.

17. Hamlet wonders whether it is a good idea to “take arms against a sea of troubles”, so I had no issue with that. Like others, not very impressed by NARRATOR or SUPPLY TEACHER.

18. Diane@16: Thank you for that. I agree that some indication of road use is required. I think I was expecting a more general one, but perhaps that would have led to a less pleasing surface for the clue.

19. Don’t usually do the FT but because I enjoyed and sped through Hoskins in the Independent I thought I would give it a crack with the rest of lunch break.

    Talking of deficient heads and SUPPLY TEACHERS. It reminded me of the Welsh supply teacher we had in French for over a year. He didn’t speak a word of French and we could barely understand him in English. I think there was a failure in the senior leadership team there.

20. Re 9 down, I think deficient head? = lacking teacher, therefore a pupil might see a supply teacher. Thanks S & B.

21. Re 9 down, I think deficient head? = lacking teacher, therefore a pupil might see a supply teacher. Thanks S & B.

22. I was going to raise many of the questions that have been discussed

    I agree with Teacow’s assessment: solid with some nice surfaces. So saying, should we not expect that of every setter? I ticked INSIDE

    I had never heard of LASHED for drunk. I still think it says a lot about the UK that there are so many synonyms for drunk, not to mention prison.

    Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow

23. I don’t see a problem with 9d Supply Teacher. If the Head is deficient (lacking) in staff he will supplement them with a supply (agency) teacher. Hence what a pupil will see.

24. For 21D, I had “didn’t go with” as CLASHED then “out drop of Cognac” being to remove the C. On the Lash is another way of saying going out for a drink (or seven).
    Many thanks to setter and blogger, as always.

25. 21dn: clash works perfectly well as an intransitive verb, and “without” is a better removal indicator than just “out”. There is no need to postulate an unsignalled requirement to split the clue word “without”.

26. Further to 25: I ran out of editing time. The meaning of clashed as a transitive verb for “didn’t go with” is not supported by any of Collins 2023, Chambers 2016, ODE 2010 or SOED 2007 as far as I can see. I support the blogger’s parsing as the only reasonable way of making 21dn work.

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