Financial Times 14,996 by REDSHANK

13 comments on “Financial Times 14,996 by REDSHANK”

1. Agree with D and L that this was a pleasant and fair challenge. I was a bit surprised by the number of clues requiring deletions of letters before an anagram (17ac, 24 ac, 25 ac, 4d, 16d) – rather unusual I feel.

   FOI 1d; LOI 21d. Did not know what an ogen melon was, having never had the pleasure of seeing or tasting one (to my knowledge), but the anagram instruction was clear enough.

   Thanks Redshank and bloggers.

2. Thanks, D and L, for the blog.

   I agree wholeheartedly with your preamble: this is Redshank on top form – clever, witty clues, creating lots of smiles and ahas along the way. And it makes reference to two of my favourite places in the world – Delphi and the Yorkshire Dales.

   Top favourite clues, among many, were BALUSTRADE, ORGY, SOMNAMBULIST, LOCAL, ERADICATED and IDES.

   Many thanks to Redshank – I thoroughly enjoyed it.

3. Thanks Redshank for a terrific crossword and to D&L for the breakdown.

   I can’t say this is a straightforward crossword as the preamble suggests – for example, I didnt know that a word like 25a existed or 27a for that matter, even though I did know how to get there.

   All in all though, a super challenge from a star setter.

   Cheers,
   TL

4. Turbolegs@3 Sorry, forgot that Eisteddfod is maybe only pretty common for a Welsh lass – something from me has obviously rubbed off on David! Ogen Melons are very tasty too – they tend to be the spherical ones.

5. Once again a fantastic crossword by Redshank, just a day after another favourite setter appeared in the FT.
   At first it looked harder than usual but when the ball started rolling it kept on rolling.
   Thanks D&L for blogging, glad you liked it as much as I did.
   I had to look up the fruit – who knows, there were perhaps ‘Ogen lemons’ or even ‘Egon melons’.

   As ever, a few clues that were a kind of &lit. : 10ac, 12ac, 25ac, 7d.
   Also, the (in)famous ‘subtraction anagrams’.
   Steven @1 counted five of them and found it a lot.
   One should know that this device is one of the trademarks of Redshank wherever he lays his hat.

   In the past, I have contributed a lot to often heated discussions on this device.
   16d (ENMESHING) is hardly an example of it as only one letter should be deleted.
   But in three of the others (17ac,25ac,4d) I do not fully agree with the parsing in the blog – sorry!

   As the term says ‘subtraction anagram’ says it is about two things: subtraction and anagram.
   For many, including me, it can make a difference whether you subtract first or start with the anagram.
   Not everyone agrees but I do not want to argue about that as such.
   Still, I would like to take a closer look at today’s cases in connection with the blog, just to see what happens.

   Take for example 17ac.
   The blog tells me “an anagram of alcohol after removing ho for house” but the clue clearly tells us to take an anagram of ‘alcohol’ and then remove ‘ho’.
   See? Ditto-ish for the other explanations.
   Nothing wrong with the clue though as it can be done like e.g. LOCALHO – HO.
   Dr Pedanticus thinks that the deleted letters must be taken away in the same order.
   Others cannot be bothered.

   Dr Pedanticus tells us that if the solution (C) is connected to A and B through: (C+B)*=A, we can have two situations.

   C = (A – B)*
   The subtraction comes first, the letters of B should (ideally) be in the same order within A.
   If not, a second anagram indicator is needed: C = (A – B*)*.
   In 25ac this is not the case, surprisingly so as Redshank always uses this principle.

   C = A* – B
   The anagram comes first, there is no restriction for B, never a second indicator needed.
   See the LOCAL example above.
   4d is another example: it is (UNDERRAN)* – AND which can lead to RERUN[and].

   Dr Pedanticus thinks that 24ac is rather special, even if only one letter should be deleted.
   The clue tells me (unlike the blog): (DIRTY)* minus the ‘centre’.
   After taking the anagram, that ‘centre’ can actually be anything
   Of course, to get TIDY the R must be placed in the middle.
   Redshank clearly meant: Scrub the middle letter of DIRTY and then anagrammise.
   It is perhaps possible to read the clue like that but placing the indicator (‘fluid’) in the middle may be problematic.

   Many thanks for this to Dr Pedanticus.
   Some may find the things above irrelevant, boring, perhaps even ‘drivel’, I find them interesting.
   No criticism regarding the blog whatsoever, just a slightly different look.

6. Sil@5
   I’m surprised that you and Steven haven’t heard of ogen melons – I suspect that if you look in your local supermarket you’ll find them on display.
   Sorry, couldn’t make head or tail of the rest of your comment.
   But, as I’ve said elsewhere, I don’t think it does to get too hung up on parsings anyway. One generally knows whether one has got the right answer or not and going back afterwards and analysing the answer to the nth degree strikes me as akin to checking the contents of the toilet after one has used it. Still, it would be a boring old world if we all thought the same.

7. David @6

   I think you’ve used this rather inelegant analogy before and I agree that some clues are too good to get down to excessive nitty gritty in the parsing. But Sil has some good points here, which are worthy of follow-up [which I’m afraid I’m too tired to do, sorry, Sil!], in the absence of further comments – always sparse in FT blogs, which is a real pity.

   But, apart from the parsing, I often, when blogging, beg solvers to revisit the surfaces of clues they’ve solved, to discover gems they may have missed. I know that not everyone sets such store by such things but there’s lots here to treasure. I think the favourites I listed earlier are excellent illustrations. On further reflection, I think ER A[b]DICATION is just brilliant!

8. David @6: I said it might be ‘boring’!

   My point is the following.

   Take 17ac (again): Where I usually drink alcohol, shrewdly avoiding house (5)
   The blog says: An anagram of alcohol after removing ho for house.
   Meaning (in crossword language): (ALCOHOL – HO)*.
   But the clue actually tells me: (ALCOHOL)* – HO.
   For me that is a different parsing, leading to the same solution – true.

   Or 4d: Repeat broadcast underran and was dropped (5).
   The blog says: An anagram of UNDERRAN after removing the letters A N and D.
   Meaning: (UNDERRAN – AND)*.
   The letters A,N,D are not in the same order as in UNDERRAN, therefore some might object to the subtraction.
   To do this is very unlike Redshank, in my opinion.
   Yet, the clue perhaps tells me first to subtract indicated by our beloved setter using ‘was’ (the past tense).
   However, I think that he did this because the surface needed the past tense and that the intention of the clue was: (UNDERRAN)* – AND, which is fine (in anyone’s eyes) for giving RERUN.

   My view on the order of subtraction and anagram is different from the explanations in the blog.
   That’s what I meant to say in my overlong (sorry!) post.

   You say in 25ac: An anagram (surprisingly) of WHERE DRUIDS FETED POETS, minus the letters P U R E S and T.
   The comma suggests that you mean: (WHERE DRUIDS FETED POETS)* – PUREST.
   That would ‘technically’ be fine.
   However, the clue suggests: (WHERE DRUIDS FETED POETS – PUREST)* because the anagram indicator is at the end.
   If that is the case, the letters of PUREST are not deleted in the order given, which is very unlike Redshank.

   Perhaps, you do now understand what I mean.
   But perhaps, like many, you cannot be bothered and find it nitpicking – no problem.
   But as someone who, at times, tries to write crosswords himself that are as sound as possible I do find this an interesting thing.

9. Eileen@7 and Sil@8
   The object of the blog, as I understand it, is to enlighten people who couldn’t understand the answers, or who perhaps couldn’t solve the clue. That’s what we did. I don’t think anyone had any difficulty understanding.
   I really cannot be bothered to get into such detail as you. Life’s too short and it’s a crossword, not divine revelation. If you can do it better, please volunteer to take over the Thursday slot.

10. David, I do not understand why you are so upset about this.
    I am not criticising the blog as such.
    You last line, I think, is out of order.

    I have only a different (or perhaps more ‘layered’) view on one particular device.
    It’s clear that you cannot be bothered with such detail [your own words].
    That’s fine by me (which I made clear in my first post, last two lines in particular) but that should not prevent me from saying what I wanted to say.
    My comments were about the puzzle rather than about the blog.
    But, yes indeed, I used the blog to make my point clear.
    That is very different from criticising it – which I didn’t.

11. Sil@10 I am not in the least upset. And I have never suggested that you should not be free to add your two penn’orth. A little amazed, perhaps, that anyone can take crosswords so seriously. I hope this doesn’t sound heretical, but they’re a minor diversion, no more.

12. Thanks Redshank and D&L

    Late to this one, but no less enjoyable for that. Find his clues ‘very busy’ – that is, there seems to be a lot of work to be done to derive the answer – no better example than in 25a with the extraction anagram in what is a very cute and pertinent surface.

    Needed help with the last bit of parsing of my last one in, COMPASS POINT – was able to spot the boxing of the compass – but couldn’t extend that to find ‘north’ in the middle of winNers.

13. Thanks D&L and Redshank for a fine puzzle.

    I was beaten by Compass Point – hadn’t heard the phrase and it was a clue you couldn’t parse unless you knew it – so no bad feelings.

    As to David’s analogy @6, surely its highly appropriate – and witty – in the context of 3dn.

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