Financial Times 18,355 by Julius

11 comments on “Financial Times 18,355 by Julius”

1. 

   Martyn

   #1 - Mon 27th Apr 26, 02:19

   
   

   Nice crossword. I agree with you, Pete, that it was a bit more difficult than many other Julius puzzles

   I ticked EGAD, BALDERDASH, CENOTAPH and LIEDER

   I can pinpoint some areas of difficulty for me. It took a while to spot the cleverly hidden CENOTAPH and took ages to realise how TAXI is “head for the runway”. I thought parsing of ALIEN was a bit remote (I only saw the parsing on my second visit to the puzzle). And, unusually for Julius, there were a couple of NHOs too.

   Thanks Julius and Pete

2. 

   Gnomad

   #2 - Mon 27th Apr 26, 02:57

   
   

   I loved ALIEN once I realised the definition wasn’t buzz after all.

   Failed on NHO 2D which would have helped with 17A, which turned out to be a favourite, having stupidly missed the stupid boy reference completely.

3. 

   KVa

   #3 - Mon 27th Apr 26, 04:01

   
   

   My picks: DOG BISCUIT, ALIEN, CENOTAPH, TAXI and RABBIT HOLE.

   Thanks Julius and Pete.

4. 

   Fiona

   #4 - Mon 27th Apr 26, 04:02

   
   

   Lovely crossword. I found the top half went in quite quickly (except for TAXI) but the bottom half, particularly, the SW took longer. I too took ages to spot the hidden CENOTAPH.

   Like Martyn @1 I liked EGAD, LIEDER. I also liked ASAFOETIDA (at first I was looking for Aldi as the supermarket) PIAF, WINCEYETTE (at first I put wincelette which is one way of spelling it but it didn’t parse) GETHSEMANE.

   Thanks Julius and Pete

5. 

   Roz

   #5 - Mon 27th Apr 26, 05:30

   
   

   Thanks for the blog , yes a bit trickier but I think that is a good thing on a Saturday .
   Great variety of clues and many references around the world in this one .
   WINCEYETTE nighties a term used to mock people who are a bit old-fashioned .
   ALIEN a very neat trick , a great definition for TAXI and at last a different president .

6. 

   Mrs Graves

   #6 - Mon 27th Apr 26, 05:33

   
   

   Lovely puzzle. I skimmed along and came to a halt with 29a – simply didn’t see the hidden word.
   Thanks also for explaining 3d which I got but couldn’t parse, despite the dash being entirely obvious.

7. 

   Big Al

   #7 - Mon 27th Apr 26, 10:17

   
   

   All solved with no problems and most enjoyable. The grid is a standard FT pattern, although less common than some. And we’ve seen the first name plus initial device before, meaning the solver has to look for another name in the same format.
   Favourites were DOG BISCUIT, BALDERDASH and RABBIT HOLE.
   Thanks, Julius and Pete.

8. 

   jvector

   #8 - Mon 27th Apr 26, 10:56

   
   

   I was a bit flummoxed by the grid at first but persevered. Quite enjoyed a lot of the four letter words – KEPI, PIAF, TAXI all raised a smile. I had a struggle parsing GETHSEMANE (not a word I often encounter) and failed to spot the reverse in ALIEN. RABBIT HOLE and ASAFOETIDA I thought were very smart. Thank you Julius, and Pete for the blog.

9. 

   KenF

   #9 - Mon 27th Apr 26, 11:54

   
   

   Thanks for the blog Pete, and Julius for the setting. Unlike most, I found this straightforward, with LOI KEPI. I thought this clue a bit tough/obscure for non-UK solvers.

10. 

    Petert

    #10 - Mon 27th Apr 26, 11:56

    
    

    A really enjoyable crossword. PIAF and TAXI both great examples of clues that seem impenetrable at first, but raise a smile when the solution dawns on you.

11. 

    SM

    #11 - Mon 27th Apr 26, 14:40

    
    

    I enjoyed this a lot. I was in the kitchen doing the puzzle and a glance at the spice rack greatly helped with ASAFOETIDA. TAXI elicited a groan for the excruciating word play . All good fun.
    Thanks Julius and Pete.

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