Comments on: Guardian 23,950, Orlando: A puzzle of two halves

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ilancaron — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 19:54:08 +0000

Well, if you’re Jewish, then you go BACK TO SQUARE ONE of the Old Testament every year (at Rosh Hashana) and start reading the whole thing over again throughout the year until… well, it’s “Groundhogs Day”.

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Miss Pedant — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 17:16:24 +0000

Yes Pete, quite! Wasn’t getting at you – merely reckon the discourse as to whether Gateshead’s G is really the head of a gate, or redhead’s R the head of a red to be pedantic or even silly beyond belief.

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BenIngton — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 16:37:20 +0000

Damn! Thought I had it all complete and correct but had REPLAYS for 19d

A nice puzzle.

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petebiddlecombe — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 14:13:25 +0000

I did say “if you’re being strict”. I hope that suggests the possibility that I’m happy for daily paper setters to take a few liberties. For me, “surface padding” (stuff that has to be ignored to make the cryptic reading work), word orders that don’t make sense in the cryptic reading, and inaccurate definitions are three bigger crimes than “Gateshead”.

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Miss Pedant — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 13:25:59 +0000

I don’t see much wrong with the likes of ‘fingertips’ (or even Gateshead for that matter, if it be a down clue) so long as te solver has some kind of chance. Thus ‘fingertips perhaps’, or even ‘fingertips?’ ought to suffice – especially in a paper where such alleged criminality abounds.

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petebiddlecombe — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 13:02:46 +0000

14A looks like a ref. to the phrase “hot gospeller” – a vigorous proclaimer of faith.
26A – something like “French count might use this collar” seems to keep the idea without completely ruining the surface.
1D Bridgehead is as illogical as Gateshead if you’re being strict. But it can all get very tricky. I’m happier with fingertip = F or R as a fingertip really is the tip of a finger. But is fingertips = FR therefore OK? Strictly, not unless the finger has been amputated!