Comments on: Guardian 23942/Araucaria – Celery! Apples! Walnuts! Grapes!

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Mick Hodgkin — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 23:17:57 +0000

I agree – normal English pronunciation should be ‘rosh’, whihc is closer to the French ‘rroash’ (phon)

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BenIngton — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 18:28:03 +0000

I enjoy Aracauria hugely but today’s one left me a little dissastisfied for the reasons already pointed out above. He does take liberties and I watch out for them but there were a few too many for my taste this time.

Also, can anyone confirm if “ROCHE” in Hoffman la Roche is pronounced “ROACH” or “ROSH” as I have heard the latter more than once on television and radio (that’s my excuse for not getting 12 ac!).

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neildubya — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 15:59:03 +0000

Re: 24A – I can’t see a “hidden” indicator either. Also, what’s the word “shirt” doing in this clue, not to mention everything between “name” and “embroider”?

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michod — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 15:12:18 +0000

As usual, Araucaria stretched the bounds of reasonableness to twanging point on numerous occasions (Canary=one of the Canaries… well, I suppose it could be). As for ‘lie down’, it’s the kind of clue that’s more susceptible to being intuited than deduced. By and large, the puzzle worked and I enjoyed it, but it is certainly true that a) a number of clues lack definition and b) some of the surfaces could do with wiping down, if not scouring with an abrasive cleaning product! Thanks to thgir (which I assume to be rightback’s real name) for a rigorous dissection.

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fgbp — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 14:37:32 +0000

I decided to take tea with Araucaria this lunchtime. I expect a longer meeting than normal (18 mins 19 sec to be precise, largely due to putting HOUSE AND GARDENS carelessly) some weirdness, a little unfathomability (LIE DOWN?), obscurity (GLENCORA), anti-Ximenean crime (DERONDA), outrageous wordplay (PARD ON ER STALE, AD MIR ALOFT HE FLEET) and all sorts of other little “gems”.
With Araucaria you don’t necessarily inspect the ingredients too carefully, just enjoy the cake. I must say I enjoyed this. Long may he continue!

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colinblackburn — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 13:44:52 +0000

I had a brief bash at this one online and got about half way through before work became more important. I hadn’t got TENERIFE by the time I moved on to work, the work being code I have to take out to Tenerife on Saturday (I’m travelling via Tenerife to La Palma to test some observatory software.)

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Albie Kenneally — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 13:04:17 +0000

I’d also like respectfully to suggest that

(a) not all Guardian crosswords are ‘Araucarian’ – there’s plenty for the MacNutt fan from compilers such as Pasquale

and

(b) an obsession, delight in, or long-standing preference for ‘sensible-sounding’ surfaces would or could possibly render a solver vulnerable to attacks of outrage when attempting the North face of the most notoriously un-Ximenean compiler known. Nonetheless, this doesn’t necessarily rule out fairness (or at least a kind of fairness with which droves of solvers are comfortable) in Araucaria’s, or Araucarian, clues and cluing

and

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petebiddlecombe — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 12:47:33 +0000

With lots of slang terms for prison, and some interesting names themselves, old London prisons are worth knowing about. Instant list to go with Fleet: Clink, Newgate, Bridewell, Marshalsea, Millbank.

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Albie Kenneally — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 12:25:07 +0000

PARD = PARDner, as you suspect, and it is both in Collins and valid for use in Scrabble. Your parsing PARD/ ON/ ER/ S TALE is spot on.

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linxit — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 12:19:24 +0000

23A – I saw it differently – “Admit to” as a definition for “lie down” and “one won’t (lie down) when dead” is a fiction, as that’s exactly what one would do!