Financial Times 16,533 by ZAMORCA

16 comments on “Financial Times 16,533 by ZAMORCA”

1. Another quick, light-hearted Monday grid from Zamorca, completed over this morning’s porridge. An agreeable way to start the week with favourites including 21d, 22d and 12ac. ERRORS elicited a giggle. Thank you, Zamorca, and to Teacow for confirming those I couldn’t parse fully like 20ac (Minton, of course!)? and 24ac.

2. I can confirm that ABACUS is not an acronym for “A Bloody Awful Computer Useless to Scientists”.

   For anybody who likes a bit of assonance, I recommend reading “Cat” by Tolkien. I’ll have a bash at putting a link here

   Thanks to Zamorca and Teacow.

3. Yes, a nice swift and enjoyable start to a Monday. Not difficult, but enough to get the jaundiced brain working. I liked 20ac BADMINTON especially — another marker for philologists that the word ‘racquet’ is going out of circulation. Thanks to Teacow for the sprightly analysis and to Zamorca for the fun.

4. And thanks to @4Hovis!

5. Thanks both.

   Is a KNIGHT a PEER?  I thought that they were different ranks in nobility.

6. I think Bracoman is right: knights aren’t peers. I won’t fuss though if I’m offered just a knighthood….

7. Pleasant and straightforward mostly — I missed DJINN but I now remember that I’ve seen it recently in a crossword. Thanks Teacow for parsing — I only partially understood MORALISTIC, DEFILING, and BADMINTON. Favorites were NEGATED, ERRORS, and CRUNCH. Thanks Zamorca.

8. I got as far as 1a

   How would “back contract” give “bac”?

   “Contracts”, “contracted”, “contracting”, “contract support”, maybe even “contraction”, but “contract”? How?

9. Thanks to both. An enjoyable little excursion.
   um, Dansar@8 – “contract” means to pull back or make smaller so BACK is made smaller by getting rid of the last letter.

10. A very pleasant solve.  Just two minor points: Bracoman has already queried if knights are peers, and Chambers tells us that DJINN is the plural, a single spirit being a djinni (often anglicised to ‘genie’.

    Those apart we found much to enjoy, including BREAD BIN, DINING TABLE and TRICKSTER.

    Thanks, Zamorca and Teacow.

11. Thanks Zamorca and Teacow

    Think that I prefer this setter when he is a little more complex than this puzzle – highlighted when I solved the barely disguised REDECORATED followed by the not very well hidden DIOR and later on the THEFT chestnut. The knight / peer definition did cause a minor eye-brow raising moment.

    Had seen BADMINTON RACKET in a recent puzzle (Artexlen – 16514), but this one was quite differently clued.

    Still it was a pleasant enough easing into another week of crosswords, with the humorous clue for ERRORS bringing a wry grin too.

12. brucew@aus @ 11

    Zamorca is a she, aka Hectence in the graun

13. @9 I assume you are similarly stumped and being humorous.

14. At Brendan Emmett Quigley’s site (BEQ is a prolific, well-known crossword constructor for those who may not know) he writes “Who doesn’t love a joke like this? Behold the preposterous clue in today’s Financial Times crossword. Golf clap there, Zamorca. Zamorca is the setter. Though, I’m not quite sure it’s an &lit. Still! Still! Golf clap indeed. Made me laugh. Those who stumped, the answer is (rot13d): REEBEF” (ROT13 is a cypher where a letter is replaced by the thirteenth preceding or proceeding it. Thus, REEBEF = ERRORS.)

    Can anyone tell me what BEQ is talking about here, where rot13 is suggested by the clue, an inside joke, etc?

15. 26  Fears taking top off to reveal boobs! (6) is, of course, what BEQ is referring to. Just thought I should add this for clarity.

    Thanks

16. So I think BEQ was simply preventing a spoiler by giving the answer in rot13 code. “(rot13d)” in his post is a link to a rot13 decipher, something I didn’t realize originally.

    Thanks

    Maybe one day I’ll get into Cryptics.

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