Comments on: Guardian 24,900 – Gordius

By: smutchin

smutchin — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 12:43:11 +0000

Derek #29 – well, my complaint is that “alternative plan” isn’t listed in the dictionary as a set phrase (unlike “alternative medicine” or “alternative curriculum”, say). But thinking about it, you may have a point – I probably wouldn’t have batted an eyelid if Gordius had used the plural form “alternative plans”, as in: “The trains are affected by snow. Best make alternative plans.” The singular form still jars though.

“Repairing clause” is a dodgy one too. Although I’m not familiar with it, I assumed it was standard legal jargon, but I can’t find any decent evidence online to back up that theory. “Full Repairing Lease” seems to be the preferred set phrase.

By: Mr DNA

Mr DNA — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:27:03 +0000

Derek Lazenby (#27),
Yes, I too only really know GOOP as an inf. term for thick liquids etc., but that still works for ‘fool’ in the sense of eg. gooseberry fool.

By: Ali

Ali — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:56:23 +0000

Blimey, seems to me that a lot of masochistic people here should have just not bothered starting this. I guarantee you’d all be a lot happier if you’d done Dac’s Indy puzzle instead!

By: don

don — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:41:55 +0000

IanN14 #36

I didn’t get as far as comment 21. Sorry, but I get nauseated by the niggling criticism of quite a few setters and then the unquestioning adoration placed on others, who a no better and no worse, in their own ways, than those berated.

By: stiofain

stiofain — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:22:52 +0000

I thought this was rubbish I groan when I see Gordius’ name these days it is a chore to fill it in.
Why is he used so often while other clearly superior setters make rarer appearances?
Judging by todays posts no one seems to be a fan. Unlike Rufus or Aruacaria where complaints seem to be a matter of personal taste, Gordius is quite rightly lambasted for consistently sloppy clueing.
I also find the inclusion of Christian dogma offensive and as parochial and annoying as cricketing references.
Well Brendan tomorrow Thank God/Allah/Thor/Zeus/Lar/The Leprechauns or whoever.

By: C. Smith

C. Smith — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:04:35 +0000

Am I the only niggling lawyer to point out that “leasehold” is an estate, and certainly not a conveyance, and that a provision dealing with the tenant’s and landlord’s obligations for “repair” has never in my forty years been called a “repairing clause”?

By: IanN14

IanN14 — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 23:45:11 +0000

don,
Did you actually read all of yesterday’s posts?…
Even No.21?

By: Eileen

Eileen — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 23:29:41 +0000

Hi again, Sil

You’re right, of course – I don’t like these ‘chain reactions’, either. I was just trying to point out that there were a number of us who of us who had GOON and that there was a little method in our madness. Gordius is not exactly known for the tightness of his cluing, so GOON seemed the obvious answer [it wasn't the 'familiar option' for me - there was no option, as I'd never heard of GOOP] and, thinking about it, wasn’t it rather perverse of him to choose [cf 16dn] to go for the obscure GOOP, when he could have clued GOON properly?

By: don

don — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 23:13:47 +0000

Good grief! ‘Reading Royals’ [Rover] and now corporal [Gordious] are too obscure for everyone, but yesterday you put up with the extreme obscurity of things like Carter-Ruck [Ohcarryus], which is only defined by reference to an answer [1 across] that: had no definition; didn’t match the order in which its parts were clued; depended on guessing four letters [LIBE] from a seven-letter-word [LIBERTY] that, according to Uncle Yap, is one of three ‘unalienable Rights’ [not freedoms] from the 1300-odd-word US Declaration of Independence. And that was for just half the answer! If you want obscurity try a old wooden donkey that anyone under 55 would not have seen or probably heard of – and that was also for just half the answer.

I found today’s ‘alternative plan’ no better, but no worse than yesterday’s ‘super-injunction’.

And ‘mew-sick’ was terrible; ‘spirits’ poorly clued; ‘crow’ pretty weak. There were other weak or unsatisfactory clues yesterday – ‘lists’, ‘isis’, ‘avert’ ['purpose' might not quite mean 'mean', but does 'avert' really mean 'stop'? If you avert an accident, it doesn't take place; you can only stop it once it's started].

I thought everyone’s condemnation of Rover was due to Hogmanay Hangovers, but after today’s diatribes against Gordius I realise you’re all in ‘au’ of goldenboy.

Bah, humbug! If it wasn’t for the weather I’d be off to my allotment to ‘fertiliser apply’, or as you _might_ say, ‘muck spread’!

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 22:36:49 +0000

Hi Eileen,

Don’t like these chain reactions, to be honest :
‘at work’ = ‘working’ and ‘working’ = ‘on’, so ‘at work’ = ‘on’.
Very mathematical, but …
… when I come in at work tomorrow morning (not too much snow, I hope) I’m ‘in’, not ‘on’.
But that’s not the only thing.
A setter wouldn’t clue ‘at work’ as ‘on’, I think, and as a solver you should be aware of that as well. Well, I am, probably because I am not only a solver but also thinking of clueing every now and then).

Re #32:
Mr Beaver, OK.