Comments on: Guardian 24,174, Araucaria: Disraeli Gears http://www.fifteensquared.net/2007/09/05/guardian-24174-araucaria-disraeli-gears/ Never knowingly undersolved. Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:57:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Mick http://www.fifteensquared.net/2007/09/05/guardian-24174-araucaria-disraeli-gears/#comment-4221 Mick Wed, 05 Sep 2007 21:36:30 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/2007/09/05/guardian-24174-araucaria-disraeli-gears/#comment-4221 Thanks for all the clarifications,and for Ilan’s rock trivia. I guess Alan must be right about OMELETTE, though I can’t help feeling we’re being asked to remove letters before the turn – i.e. RH, rather than HR.

]]> By: AlanR http://www.fifteensquared.net/2007/09/05/guardian-24174-araucaria-disraeli-gears/#comment-4218 AlanR Wed, 05 Sep 2007 17:47:45 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/2007/09/05/guardian-24174-araucaria-disraeli-gears/#comment-4218 25a – “no time for letter home – turn” means remove hr (hour) from letter home and then switch the words, I thought.

]]> By: muck http://www.fifteensquared.net/2007/09/05/guardian-24174-araucaria-disraeli-gears/#comment-4216 muck Wed, 05 Sep 2007 16:08:18 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/2007/09/05/guardian-24174-araucaria-disraeli-gears/#comment-4216 10ac: Coningsby is also an RAF station: hence … 11ac ‘Flying…’

15dn appears in the onlone print version with %u2018 for beginning quote and %u2019 for ending quote. Hope no one tried to decode these as %(=part of) you mores embryo and so on!

]]> By: linxit http://www.fifteensquared.net/2007/09/05/guardian-24174-araucaria-disraeli-gears/#comment-4214 linxit Wed, 05 Sep 2007 14:04:31 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/2007/09/05/guardian-24174-araucaria-disraeli-gears/#comment-4214 Having said that, the presence of Disraeli and Coningsby in the grid mean it probably is SYBIL, but taken on its own you’d be guessing.

]]> By: linxit http://www.fifteensquared.net/2007/09/05/guardian-24174-araucaria-disraeli-gears/#comment-4213 linxit Wed, 05 Sep 2007 14:02:18 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/2007/09/05/guardian-24174-araucaria-disraeli-gears/#comment-4213 24a – I think this clue could be read either way. 2′s girl is Sybil, and she could be “heard” (homophone indicator), to make “a profit (say)” = prophet, i.e. SIBYL.

In fact that seems to me to be the better cryptic reading of the clue than the one that leads to SYBIL. As the two interchangeable letters are unchecked, you can’t be sure either way.

]]> By: Stan http://www.fifteensquared.net/2007/09/05/guardian-24174-araucaria-disraeli-gears/#comment-4209 Stan Wed, 05 Sep 2007 12:19:18 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/2007/09/05/guardian-24174-araucaria-disraeli-gears/#comment-4209 25a = omelette – can’t make one without breaking eggshells

]]> By: Peter Owen http://www.fifteensquared.net/2007/09/05/guardian-24174-araucaria-disraeli-gears/#comment-4208 Peter Owen Wed, 05 Sep 2007 12:02:24 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/2007/09/05/guardian-24174-araucaria-disraeli-gears/#comment-4208 Re 13A – a bar-sinister is an heraldic indication of illegitimacy.

]]> By: ilancaron http://www.fifteensquared.net/2007/09/05/guardian-24174-araucaria-disraeli-gears/#comment-4206 ilancaron Wed, 05 Sep 2007 11:31:34 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/2007/09/05/guardian-24174-araucaria-disraeli-gears/#comment-4206 From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disraeli_Gears:
“The title of the album, Disraeli Gears, was actually a bit of an inside joke. Eric Clapton had been thinking of getting a racing bicycle, and was discussing it with Ginger Baker, when Mick Turner, one of the roadies, commented on the performance of “those Disraeli Gears” meaning to say “derailleur gears”.”

I’m ashamed to say I actually knew this… which probably goes a long way to explaining why I would construct acrostics in my pre-teenhood spelling out “Eric Clapton is God”.

Incidentally, while solving this I too thought Disraeli Gears would be an excellent name for the puzzle’s blog!

]]> By: roland http://www.fifteensquared.net/2007/09/05/guardian-24174-araucaria-disraeli-gears/#comment-4205 roland Wed, 05 Sep 2007 11:02:39 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/2007/09/05/guardian-24174-araucaria-disraeli-gears/#comment-4205 I wondered briefly whether the esteemed Rev. Graham intended 3 Down as an “& lit” clue?

]]>