Financial Times 16,560 by JASON

11 comments on “Financial Times 16,560 by JASON”

1. Thanks loonapick

   According to Chambers, tart and quiff are both slang terms for a prostitute. Roads often have a camber on a corner so that it can be negotiated safely at a higher speed, hence ‘feature of corner’.

2. I must confess, I found some of these clues too weird to be enjoyable. Any news on ‘standard’, anyone? Thanks, loonapick

3. I thought “bend” would be better than “corner” in 18a. I often pass an “adverse camber” road sign and wonder how many drivers know what either word means.

   I had to look “quiff” up in Chambers to find the “prostitute” meaning. I came across the term BONKBUSTER in a crossword many years ago (may have been Paul).

   Thanks to Jason and loonapick.

4. Hornbeam @2,
   Some nurseries define a ‘standard’ as being an ornamental tree (a bay or olive tree, for instance) as being over 2 metres in height. Others consider the girth. Either way, as I understand it, it’s a free-standing potted tree of various types, the term referring to size and shape rather than genus.

5. An intriguing puzzle, this. My progress took a different path with the bottom half solved first, ending up with just the BUSTER part of 13ac solved. I’m familiar with Porthos et al and 8ac-rippers but not this unseemly word! ‘Quiff’ as TART was also new but the crossers made this guessable. I liked the anagrams at 21ac and 24ac. Thought 21ac contained a rude reversal for a short while…well, with tarts and bonking, perhaps not surprising!
   Anyway, despite a fair bit of head-scratching, I found this fun and learned a few new terms. Thanks to Jason and Loonapick.

6. Gaufrid @1 – thanks for the clarification on quiff.  Just checked again and must have missed the “prostitute” definition in Chambers, but you’re right, it is there!

   On “camber”, don’t all roads have a camber for drainage purpose, i.e. it is not exclusive to corners or bends.  I seem to remember that being mentioned in Latin classes at school, as Roman roads had cambers.  The “adverse” camber” that Hovis @3 mentions is where the camber leads to a more severe drop off at corners to force traffic to slow down, compared to say the kind of camber you might see on a race track whch curves differently yo allow cars to corner at speed.

    

   Diane B – that’s my understanding of a “standard” – a free-standing straight tree.

7. *to allow

    

8. Lead’s overturned! Well, I’ll remember it next time anyway. Along with BONKBUSTER, even if I never read one in my life.

   Good fun.

   Thanks to Jason and loonapick

9. Thanks Jason and loonapick

   Re ‘camber’, a road has a camber in that it arcs gently from either side to the centre, to allow for drainage. A corner has a camber from the outside to the inside, so that the inward slope of the road counteracts the centrifugal force of the vehicle going round the corner.

   The sharper the corner, generally the steeper the camber.

10. Thanks Jason for a mostly enjoyable crossword. I failed at KEPT, BONKBUSTER, and OBOIST but I liked most other clues. Thanks Loonapick for the blog.

11. Thanks Jason and loonapick
    I remember when this setter’s puzzles were pretty easy, but not any more! Although inside my average solving time, it certainly felt like longer, especially getting the last two – BONKBUSTER (new term) and BARBERSHOP (didn’t know the singing group bit and knew polling as the cutting of the horns on a cow – grew up on a farm – but not the cutting of human hair).
    Had no problems with the corner CAMBER and admired the quad definition at 9a. ‘Quiff’ was new abd CAPO was only vaguely remembered.
    Nice crossword !

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