Comments on: Guardian 24,651/Paul

By: percy

percy — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 04:22:30 +0000

yes scat is much like this new r and b and those beat combos they shouldnt be allowed in any decent english dictionary

By: Derek Lazenby

Derek Lazenby — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 23:44:41 +0000

If scat was a musical form I would agree, but it is not, it is merely a technique used by the vocalist, just as a riff is a technique used by blues and rock guitarists. The vocalist could be using scat within a song which was being performed in any of several styles of jazz.

By: Smutchin

Smutchin — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 22:14:10 +0000

Never heard of “birdlime” before today, and no idea what it means, but solved the clue anyway (cos it’s a good clue) which is surely all that matters.

Liz – you’ve described almost exactly the process I went through to solve 25a.

Testy – I think it has to be used in writing before dictionaries pick it up, so they can quote the source.

By: Testy

Testy — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:57:05 +0000

Birdlime – I’ve been misguided all these years too. I wonder how widespread the mis-use of a word has to be before dictionaries officially adopt the meaning.

Scat – Scat is jazz, just like jazz is music and music is an artform. They are not parts of something larger: they are specific types of the more general form.

By: Derek Lazenby

Derek Lazenby — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:15:27 +0000

Given the OED did that Beeb 2 proggy “Balderdash & Piffle”, perhaps they may be interested?

By: liz

liz — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:13:38 +0000

Yes, of course, Reed and Hardy. I don’t listen to the Archers…. I too thought birdlime meant droppings!

By: Dave Ellison

Dave Ellison — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:07:55 +0000

Liz: Oliver Reed, Oliver from the Archers, and also Hardy went through my mind when solving; Twist and Cromwell didn’t occur to me till I’d solved it.

My wife is from Worcestershire, and she knows birdlime only as droppings. What a strange word; a widespread meaning that is not in the dictionary. I wonder if there are others such.

By: liz

liz — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:31:27 +0000

re 36 Derek — I don’t really think there are mega possibilities for an Oliver in a weekday crossword. Oliver Twist, Oliver Cromwell, Bath Oliver and…maybe a couple of others?

I first thought the answer to 25ac was ‘nepotism’, realised that didn’t fit with the clue, wondered if ‘Oliver’ was anagram fodder, rejected that idea and then when I got the ‘r’ from 12dn, the penny dropped who the ‘well-off Oliver’ was. Something about the ‘well’ close to the ‘Oliver’, I expect.

I don’t think it’s always possible to divide answers into ones where you do the wordplay first and ones where you work out the wordplay afterwards. Sometimes, with me at least, both things happen more or less together.

By: steven

steven — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:11:49 +0000

I wouldn’t rule out the south lads. I just Old Baileyed ‘Birdlime’ and tho I’m a londoner I never knew Birdlime=time.What a fine day for words .It was also used in theiving.

By: John

John — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:16:27 +0000

Has “squash” for “being on top of” been seen before?
And “visiting” for “in”?
You can be “in” a place permanently, can’t you?