Comments on: Guardian 24,538 – Rover

By: Geoff Moss

Geoff Moss — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 10:35:09 +0000

John
Chambers 21st Century Dictionary doesn’t have anywhere near as many words or definitions as the main Chambers. The on-line version of Chambers 11th Ed. (you can get a 1 month free trial) gives the following (as does the printed version):

tickler (noun)
someone or something that tickles
a puzzle, a difficult problem (informal)
a feather-brush
a poker
a cane
a device for reminding
a dram of spirits

By: John

John — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 10:12:26 +0000

Richard: No intention of accusing you of unnecessary training in ovi combibendum (Notre Dame University Latin Dictionary). Not having Chambers among my modest collection of dictionaries, I did search the online version. No mention of tickler at all, viz.

Enter your search and choose your title from the drop-down menu.
Chambers 21st Century DictionaryChambers ThesaurusChambers Biographical Dictionary 1997 edition
Search Results for ‘tickler’
——————————————————————————–

Sorry, no entries for tickler were found.

By: ACP

ACP — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 02:56:52 +0000

The last of couple of Rover puzzles have been pretty disappointing.
I think I will skip any Rovers in future – not much fun to be had.

By: Duncan

Duncan — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 23:27:10 +0000

re 16dn Oxbridge colleges all have ‘fellows’, and there are Jesus colleges at both Universities. I therefore read this as a cd based on the interpretation of ‘fellowship’.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 23:04:27 +0000

PS: I should have said it was particularly disappointing because it started off so well: I really liked 8ac!

By: Eileen

Eileen — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:48:33 +0000

I really didn’t like this at all, for most of the reasons put forward above, and also that I thought 18 and 19 dn were weak clues.

I didn’t intend to comment today, because I don’t like to be so totally negative, but I have been waiting all day for a satisfactory explanation of 20ac. Never mind Pip’s sister’s cane, I’m still struggling to see the significance of the inclusion of ‘stern’: to me, a pedant is, simply, a stickler – and there are those who say I should know. [OED: "Beaufort was no stickler for pedantic rules" 1879] I think we must be missing something: could it be that the ‘s’ is at the end, ‘stern’ of ‘pedant’s'? – but no, surely, because then the definition would not be at the beginning or end of the clue, which is very unusual but not, as I recall, totally unknown.

Deeply unsatisfying indeed!

By: Roger Murray

Roger Murray — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:06:49 +0000

A deeply unsatisfying crossword, I too put in most of the questionable answers but was at a loss to explain them. Pretty much gave up on the last few clues as my enthusiasm all but left the building.

By: Richard

Richard — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:16:50 +0000

John, sorry if I was teaching you to suck eggs. Personally I found it hard enough to work out the logic even when I’d got the answer.

By: Geoff Moss

Geoff Moss — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:54:04 +0000

John, ‘tickler’ is defined as ‘a cane’ in Chambers.

By: John

John — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:26:04 +0000

Richard: I quite understand how to arrive at the answer, but I’ve looked up a dozen online dictionaries and nowhere do I find tickler equating to a cane. It’s just that it’s so arcane, (pun intended). I’m sure Pip’s sister would have had no problem with it, but I do.