Comments on: Guardian 24,649 – Taupi

By: Ralph G

Ralph G — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:26:03 +0000

32 above, Mark, 19d ‘promoting’: I think the idea is that ‘BE A CON’ is a recommendation, ‘promoting’ prison as a life-style choice. {Noted more succinctly above, I think.)
As for the puzzle as a whole, de gustibus non disputandum I reckon. This blog makes all the difference for me when the subject matter is beyond my ken eg 15d . Provided I can enter the solution from one or more of the indications I can rely on the blog to illuminate my darkness later in the day. I realise that doesn’t help if you just don’t like the clues.

By: Uncle Yap

Uncle Yap — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 01:25:10 +0000

Phew! I spent more than two hours trying to load my blog but the site or my internet speed was crawling and almost dead. I even had to resort to emailing Geoff to act as standby and post from his end.

Thank goodness at my 5pm when I was about to leave for my weekly Hash run, I managed to upload but without the usual embellishment of bold typeface and perhaps some links to Wikipedia.

I am glad so many agreed with me that today, Taupi was a real fun nut to crack. I am struck by an observation that this community is a world-wide one, all bound by this common love for cryptic crossword puzzles. Aren’t we masochists?

By: mark

mark — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:59:34 +0000

Agree with Smutchin.

21 and 22 are ridiculous.
19A – what has promoted got to do with it.

I can’t believe so many of you thought it was so great and so funny. Funny ha ha…really? Are you sure? Each to his own!

By: Agentzero

Agentzero — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:56:18 +0000

John, I wasn’t troubled by the “s” in 17dn. It apparently means “is” in the surface reading and “has” in the cryptic reading, and I think it’s OK for it to mean different things in those two readings.

By: Mr Beaver

Mr Beaver — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:39:00 +0000

Ray (#24) – yes, the A-circumflex characters on the hard-copy version puzzled me for a bit, but checking the interactive version showed they weren’t intended. Just as well, 14a took me long enough to work out as it was !

By: John

John — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:59:03 +0000

Mostly excellent,but since we’re nitpicking, I don’t like the “s” in 17 dn either. It is either standing for HAS, which, as has been mentioned in the past, it doesn’t very often in common or in literary parlance, or it’s an abbreviation for IS, which is ok for surface but not for wordplay, or it’s a possessive, which is nonsense.

By: ray

ray — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:58:06 +0000

Dave, 18a pie certainly means ‘all mixed up’ in ‘apple pie bed’, so it’s not too great a stretch ?

By: Eileen

Eileen — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:54:40 +0000

Dave: I thought I’d seen ‘pie’ as an anagram indicator before.Chambers has ‘pie, pye or pi n. type confusedly mixed [printing]; a mixed state; confusion. Similarly, SOED: a mass of type mingled indiscriminately, such as results from the breaking down of a form of type; transf: a jumble, medley, confusion, chaos.

Thank you for your interpretation of 22ac: it had been vaguely bothering me all day – I’m sure you’re right!

By: Dave Ellison

Dave Ellison — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:19:19 +0000

18 ac pie? Does that indicate an anagram?

22ac Whilst I didn’t get this answer, is it not that a 5 by 5 would be a square 5 feet on each side, so T by T is T(ea) squared = square meal?

By: JamieC

JamieC — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:33:15 +0000

Some very nice clues here, but one or two bits of nit-picking.

I think the presence of the “‘s” in 1 ac is wrong/unfair. “touch with affection” is PAT and “tumult” is RIOT. The “‘s” isn’t doing anything and positively suggests there should be an S in there.

In 16d, does “sticking” really indicate “put inside”? If it indicates anything, I would have thought it indicated a charade.

And I agree with Smutchin re “that’s” in 23d

But they’re minor points in what was otherwise a very enjoyable puzzle.