Comments on: Guardian 24,894 / Enigmatist

By: Julia

Julia — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:25:03 +0000

My husband had “slight” for 19 down, which threw us rather, but which we like better as an answer…we do both like yeasty as a word mind you…

By: don

don — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:40:07 +0000

I assume it’s because bright students gets ticks, dull students get crosses.

By: davey b

davey b — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:24:05 +0000

1 across TICKER Why bright student?

By: Bryan

Bryan — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:05:49 +0000

Obviously, the Grauniad Setters are unable to please everyone all the time but nevertheless they always manage to please me so, thankfully, they have got their priorities right.

Please keep up the Good Work and a Very Happy New Year to one and all!

By: Paul B

Paul B — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 07:57:46 +0000

I’d have thought any puzzle with a theme that contains only one obscure word (in Collins none the less, as is RAISABLE) might have been seen as pretty carefully compiled right from the outset, but if you say so, folks. (Some Guardian puzzles are the other way, with no theme and who knows how many recondite entries.)

And why is a long anagram ‘pointless’ and ‘bad practice’? Some of the best clues I’ve ever had the pleasure of solving have been long anagrams.

And cabilistic (sic)?

By: Brian Harris

Brian Harris — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 01:55:46 +0000

I’m with George and Andrew on this one. Some horrible ungainly, inelegant, obscure and unfathomable clues made this a real chore. Not all bad – but still, each to their own.

By: stiofain

stiofain — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:42:58 +0000

the print edition had “Insubstantial point over the years”

By: Mr Beaver

Mr Beaver — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 23:29:11 +0000

Shed: 19d was 'Insubstantial point spanning the years', so EAST could be regarded as spanning the gap between Y and Y

By: mhl

mhl — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 23:27:56 +0000

Shed: was 19 down different in the print edition? All of the online versions seem to have the clue as “Insubstantial point spanning the years (6)”

By: Shed

Shed — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 23:11:51 +0000

TomHutton #16: yes, me. I got the long anagram first (not by working it out but in a flash of inspiration), then SWEENEY TODD and then MEAT PIES. If only thanks to Stephen Sondheim, this hardly counts as obscure. I needed a dictionary to verify CHINQUAPIN and TUBE FOOT but I was pretty confident they’d be there because the clues were so sound.

Tough but fun, I thought. My only quibble is with 19dn: how does ‘over the years’ lead to ‘between Y and Y’? Or am I missing something?