Comments on: Guardian 24128, Paul — spot the author http://www.fifteensquared.net/2007/07/13/guardian-24128-paul-%e2%80%94-spot-the-author/ Never knowingly undersolved. Wed, 22 May 2013 09:40:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: jetdoc http://www.fifteensquared.net/2007/07/13/guardian-24128-paul-%e2%80%94-spot-the-author/#comment-3039 jetdoc Sun, 15 Jul 2007 10:54:12 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/2007/07/13/guardian-24128-paul-%e2%80%94-spot-the-author/#comment-3039 ‘Abbey-laird’ is in Chambers, but without the helpful explanation provided by Muck.

]]> By: eimi http://www.fifteensquared.net/2007/07/13/guardian-24128-paul-%e2%80%94-spot-the-author/#comment-3038 eimi Sat, 14 Jul 2007 23:25:22 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/2007/07/13/guardian-24128-paul-%e2%80%94-spot-the-author/#comment-3038 Thanks, Fletch. In which case I’d suggest that the implication is that Dec is more an abbreviation than a curtailment – to me, a tail has to be at least less than half the word, so that it’s DEC AGONY that’s curtailed rather than DECEMBER AGONY. I think ;-)

]]> By: Fletch http://www.fifteensquared.net/2007/07/13/guardian-24128-paul-%e2%80%94-spot-the-author/#comment-3037 Fletch Sat, 14 Jul 2007 23:19:18 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/2007/07/13/guardian-24128-paul-%e2%80%94-spot-the-author/#comment-3037 Eimi asked what was the clue?

1a Figure curtailing the misery of Christmas? (7)

]]> By: muck http://www.fifteensquared.net/2007/07/13/guardian-24128-paul-%e2%80%94-spot-the-author/#comment-3033 muck Sat, 14 Jul 2007 18:29:54 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/2007/07/13/guardian-24128-paul-%e2%80%94-spot-the-author/#comment-3033 Google ‘Abbey Laird’

High on a mound above St Margaret’s Loch sit the ruins of St Anthony’s Chapel, which is one of the most visible historic sites in Holyrood Park. It dates from some time prior to 1426, when its first repairs were recorded and it was a popular place of pilgrimage in the 15th century. The last record of a chaplain is in 1581, some 50 years after the first recorded debtor escaped his creditors in the land around Holyrood Abbey, which was a debtor’s sanctuary. Fugitives could escape justice there and Charles X of France was amongst those said to have sought refuge as an “Abbey Laird” before he became king.

]]> By: muck http://www.fifteensquared.net/2007/07/13/guardian-24128-paul-%e2%80%94-spot-the-author/#comment-3032 muck Sat, 14 Jul 2007 18:26:59 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/2007/07/13/guardian-24128-paul-%e2%80%94-spot-the-author/#comment-3032 Abbey Laird isn’t in Chambers, or my Scottish encylopedia, but probably relates to the fact that Holyrood being outwith the Edinburgh city boundaries was a haven for debtors.

]]> By: eimi http://www.fifteensquared.net/2007/07/13/guardian-24128-paul-%e2%80%94-spot-the-author/#comment-3031 eimi Sat, 14 Jul 2007 18:12:06 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/2007/07/13/guardian-24128-paul-%e2%80%94-spot-the-author/#comment-3031 So was 1 Across couched in unfamiliar terms?

Ouch.

What was the clue?

]]> By: jetdoc http://www.fifteensquared.net/2007/07/13/guardian-24128-paul-%e2%80%94-spot-the-author/#comment-3030 jetdoc Sat, 14 Jul 2007 17:40:45 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/2007/07/13/guardian-24128-paul-%e2%80%94-spot-the-author/#comment-3030 1ac was a typical Paul clue (Paul is free to dispute this).

I think it makes the crossword a settee.

]]> By: Mike M. http://www.fifteensquared.net/2007/07/13/guardian-24128-paul-%e2%80%94-spot-the-author/#comment-3029 Mike M. Sat, 14 Jul 2007 16:35:36 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/2007/07/13/guardian-24128-paul-%e2%80%94-spot-the-author/#comment-3029 BTW: isn’t “perfectly grammatically correct” a split infinitive…? ;o)
(Just teasing….!)

Yes, I thought 1ac was hard… only got it after getting a lot of letters in. Enjoyed the puzzle a lot overall though – Paul is one of my favourite setters.

(Thinking about it, if Paul is a setter, does that make us settees?!)

]]> By: mark http://www.fifteensquared.net/2007/07/13/guardian-24128-paul-%e2%80%94-spot-the-author/#comment-3028 mark Sat, 14 Jul 2007 09:15:24 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/2007/07/13/guardian-24128-paul-%e2%80%94-spot-the-author/#comment-3028 Don’t know much about grammar so I’ll leave that dispute to you guys (enjoyed the riposte though).

Am I the only one who found 1A very hard?

I’m not sure I’ve come across this type of clue before; where the curtailing then applies to two succesive words AND they aren’t even straightforward i.e Dec for Christmas. Never would have got it!

]]> By: Mike M. http://www.fifteensquared.net/2007/07/13/guardian-24128-paul-%e2%80%94-spot-the-author/#comment-3026 Mike M. Fri, 13 Jul 2007 22:01:58 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/2007/07/13/guardian-24128-paul-%e2%80%94-spot-the-author/#comment-3026 Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage, actually….

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