Comments on: Guardian 24626 / Boatman

By: Barnaby Page

Barnaby Page — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:29:53 +0000

Didn’t get very far with this one because I put in an erroneous RING UP for 4ac.

It kind of worked, though. Call = RING UP, to London = UP, put in confinement = RING (enclose), then use “back” to indicate the reversal in order of UP and RING.

By: Paul B

Paul B — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 09:24:44 +0000

Were that the case, we might all rejoice.

By: Fletch

Fletch — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 01:26:47 +0000

And please don’t post now I meant to say November not Novemeber, half the blogs are taken up with corrections of typos and we all realise what people meant to say but didn’t check before they posted.

By: Paul B

Paul B — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 01:09:20 +0000

To return briefly to the subject intended to be under discussion, B = Bravo refers to the phonetic alphabet. Contains R = Romeo, N = Novemeber etc, and its use forms a part of common crosswording practice.

By: radchenko

radchenko — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 23:49:26 +0000

In between the ins and outs of the ups and downs, can I ask about 6dn?

Isn’t the “heard” superfluous? And then “unfairly” misleading because one starts looking for a homophone.

Surely “Complaints heard from terrible social groupings” or “Complaints from some Indian social groupings” would have been better?

Still, like yesterday’s, a good puzzle, though both solved in same way, a sort of “punctuated evolution”. Nothing for about fifteen minutes, then I got one and half a dozen fell from it; stare blankly for another quarter of a hour; get another one and a sudden rush of 4 or 5 more, rinse and repeat…

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 23:43:33 +0000

Ron (28) – B is Bravo in the NATO phonetic alphabet: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, etc.

By: Derek Lazenby

Derek Lazenby — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 23:14:46 +0000

OK I hear you Chatmeister, and I ain’t discussing matters of opinion in this post, but there is one facatual point which should be clarified though as it is clearly misunderstood and facts always need to be correct, so please bear with me just this once.

It is an operational fact that all twin or four track railway lines have an up track and a down track (or tracks). That is how they are formally refered to, e.g. Up Main, Down Main, Up Local etc, (see the legends in any signal box). When London is involved that settles which is which, it is NOT a matter of my or any one else’s opinion, nor of asking people on the platform (sorry I said that earlier, I meant railway operational staff) it is the way railways have always worked and still do work.

Don seems unaware of this and regretably previous posts have not made it plain and I appologise to all for that. I hate to think of people walking around not knowing facts when I could have told them, if I knew how to contact Don privately I would have done that rather than post this, but I don’t.

What we prefer to believe informally is debatable and I have no wish to add to that debate.

I have no more to say on this as facts are facts and they are now stated. Promise, honest guv.

Don, it’s d dot lazenby at ntlworld dot com if you are really masochistic enough.

By: chatmeister

chatmeister — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 22:19:49 +0000

Gentlemen
We have had enough discussion as to whether London is ‘up’ or ‘down’ in this and other blogs. I don’t wish to have to start deleting comments. The convention is ‘up’, according to all the usual references, so let’s call an end to this debate.

By: don

don — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:50:42 +0000

I hear what you say, Derek, but ‘any station with a line to London’?
Stand on Newcastle station and tell them you’re going down to Edinburgh; or Leeds, or Manchester. I think ‘in London’ = ‘up’ is post-rationalization for weak, if not lazy, clueing and shows an unjustified southern England bias. I’m not, but my mother-in-law was: you should have heard on southern softies and snow!

By: Derek Lazenby

Derek Lazenby — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:33:58 +0000

Don, go on to any station with a line to London, ask which is the Up platform, then ask if that is to London.

It was one of those social snobbery conventions. In my young day every one knew it, much though some of us hated it. Maybe times have changed. So, find a passing old fogey and ask them too.

Some people seem to think times have not changed.

I prefer down whichever direction I’m going because it’s not my favourite place. I get shouted at every time I mention it.