Financial Times 16,494 by GAFF

13 comments on “Financial Times 16,494 by GAFF”

1. Agree that 1d isn’t very cryptic (whether or not you take “flight” to refer to stairs).

   Not mad keen on “yoda speak” clues like 28a where “supporter” embraces “side”, not the other way around but this is fair game in cryptics.

   Wasn’t aware of a city CHUR so had UR in CH (Switzerland) + CHE (revolutionary).

   Thanks all.

2. 4 across also leads to ‘Churchill’ if you take a right turn at the second ‘H’.

3. I loved this-my fave of the day.

4. I was slow on the uptake, seeking out Dynamo, Dunkirk, Evacuation and suchlike. But once I had broadened my brain it became a very enjoyable excursion. Thanks Gaff for the hard work (and loonapick for the same).

5. Thanks for a great blog, loonapick. I agree with your favourites, with the addition of PNEUMONIA.

   An excellent grid-fill from Gaff, getting in all the salient elements from the peroration. [I wouldn’t have quibbled about LANDING, in this instance, since it’s paired with GROUNDS – and the clues run on in the grid: I’m always impressed when setters manage that.]

   I parsed CHURCHES as Hovis did. [Please note this is NOT a quibble: I didn’t think to research towns in Switzerland – I’m far too familiar with our old favourite UR! I’m sure Loonapick’s parsing is right.]

   I did note that we almost had CHURCHILL in the corner but didn’t go the extra inch – thanks, pthill.

   I rather liked the LOG Off / REBOOTED connection.

   Many thanks to Gaff for an absorbing and enjoyable puzzle.

    

6. pthill@2-thats well spotted -i didnt notice at the time but I can only think of one leader who could say we’ll fight them in the churches!!)

7. I read 1d as a double definition, as a LANDING comes at the end of a flight in an aircraft, and at the end of a flight of stairs.

8. I too parsed CH (Switzerland) and UR (city) for 4a. I now am enlightened and enjoyed reading about CHUR in Wikepedia. Also I saw 1d as did Tom I @ 7. Thanks L and Gaff.

9. We totally missed the theme which may be why we found the puzzle a tad unsatisfactory.  For instance we didn’t like ‘first-hand’ and ‘last supper’ to indicate the first and last letters repectively of ‘hand’ and ‘supper’; and we too thought 1dn was hardly cryptic.  And although we can’t say we’d never heard of Billy Ocean we only remembered him after a wordfinder suggested OCEANS for 30ac.  GAMEKEEPER we got from definition alone without understanding the wordplay.

   On the other hand there were some brilliant touches; we particularly liked OXFORD and the idea of vegan rice and beef (reminded us of the wording on a packet of gravy powder – ‘suitable for vegans’ – 😉 )

   Thanks, Gaff and loonapick

10. I loved the Colin Dexter reference in 13. Nice to see Morse’s name in one of his favorite hobbies.

11. allan_c @ 9

    The vegan gravy reference doesn’t surprise me.

    Smoky bacon crisps are suitable for vegans, but cheese & onion aren’t. Reason: the former are flavoured entirely artificially, while the latter do actually use cheese.

    Funny old world.

12. Thanks Gaff & loonapick.

    At the time, aliens were regarded as invaders — lots of refugees were interned.

13. Thanks Gaff and loonapick

    Took less time than average to complete the grid, but after looking at it afterwards, had no idea what the theme might have been – only know about the “We shall fight on the beaches” phrase of the speech.  In fact I thought it must have something to do with computing / computer games at one stage with LOG OFF, INVADERS and potentially other games that I didn’t know about.

    Finished across the middle with GREENPEACE, BEACHES (where I thought the ‘land’ definition was quite loose) and SEAS (which took a while to recognise the homophone).

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