Comments on: Financial Times 12,732 (Phssthpok)

By: Paul B

Paul B — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 00:52:04 +0000

It doesn’t seem very cryptic, that ILIAC clue, because the bone concerned is the ilium. And what’s the Latin name for ancient Troy?

Maybe they haven’t heard about it on the Pak homeworld.

By: C G Rishikesh

C G Rishikesh — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:30:19 +0000

What I meant to say was breaking up MARTIAL ART as “mail tartar*” or
(-ex)tramarital* or any other similar division is one thing and breaking it up as Martial/art is another. The latter does not seem to give the solver much satisfaction.

But I do realise that while writing some thirty clues for a 15x puzzle such straight divisions may be welcome after convoluted wordplay elsewhere.

By: diagacht

diagacht — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:39:54 +0000

Magpie, you are clearly right. I spent a good while looking at the Iliad but somehow had it stuck in my head that the 80% referred to final.

Rishi, you too are clearly right although I have never heard of this chap. I think art if ok for expertise; I just think the poet is a bit out of the ordinary!

By: C G Rishikesh

C G Rishikesh — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 10:17:23 +0000

Re 14 ac: I found Martial listed under Poets in a dictionary.

I now learn that Marcus Valerius Martialis, an ancient Latin poet, was known in English as Martial.

But the breakup MARTIAL + ART (expertise) is not quite satisfactory, or is it?

By: Magpie

Magpie — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 09:32:54 +0000

I found this quite tricky too! But I think “iliac” is right, and took it to be 80% of the poem The Iliad + c (cut).