Comments on: Guardian 24104/Puck – Nina

By:

Paul B — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 14:54:28 +0000

Brit refs are frowned upon in FT puzzles due to the paper’s international audience, and you’d be very lucky indeed to get one past Argus-eyed Mr Inman – he’d make a fine wickie.

But cricket esp. post-Packer has been a worldwide industry, and so you can see why its references are allowed.

That the Shermans have not yet taken to it is extremely regrettable in my opinion. However, it must seem a ridiculously complex game to those who did not grow up with it.

By:

ilancaron — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 20:52:51 +0000

… or very non-Brit. Cricket clues are not cricket in my opinion.

By:

George Foot — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 18:50:20 +0000

You must be very young not to have heard of Ted Dexter! One time England captain and I believe also once Chairman of selectors.

By:

petebiddlecombe — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 16:26:11 +0000

Introits and anthems, picking up from Stilt: “anthem” fits the “Introductory anthem / hymn / psalm” – meaning if introit mentioned in Chambers. According to its Wikipedia entry, “anthem” previously had C of E as opposed to RC connotations which no longer apply these days, such as a need for C of E “anthems” to be in English. Now it just means a song for the choir to do on their own. In the Lutheran and RC churches, “motet” is the usual word, and this still affects usage a bit – speaking of “Bruckner anthems” would be unusual. And “introit” is originally RC as it was the name for part of the Latin Mass. But many C of E folk quite happily use Latin or Latin-based names like Gloria and Gradual.
(And a major second as a chord is a bit of a clash!)

By:

michod — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:43:48 +0000

ORETIN may not be a word, but TIN ORE is. Presumably that was intentional, so I’m surprised there wasn’t a clue for 16, 24 as well.

By:

stilt — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:25:59 +0000

I’m feeling pedantic, so I’ll point out that the interval of a major second is also called a tone (similarly, a minor second is also called a semitone). “Anthem” also has some specific meaning in a church music sense, but it ain’t my area, and I don’t know if it’s exactly synonymous with INTROIT (maybe one is C of E and the other is RC or something).

By:

Richard Heald — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:11:17 +0000

11 Ac: A dead man is a slang term for an empty bottle, so ‘men’ was probably used here to enhance the surface reading.

17 Ac: To catch a crab is a term in rowing meaning “to bungle a stroke by failing to get the oar into the water at the beginning or by failing to withdraw it properly at the end” (according to dictionary.com).

By:

beermagnet — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 13:01:38 +0000

6D Sudorific means something that makes you sweat, thus, a sweater!

Another online vs. paper version difference.
16D: In the paper this is 16,13 for the same clue with letter count 6.
Before pocket money’s worthless (6) TINPOT
This is a more sensible answer for the clue and one of the first I got.
So the chain around the middle is TINPOT – POTASH – ASHORE
(shame ORETIN isn’t a word).
The online mechanism does seem to get itself in a pickle with clues like this. Click on the clue for 18,24 and it highlights 13, 18 and 24!

By:

fgbp — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:22:35 +0000

There is – or was – a right-handed batsman called Ted DEXTER!