Comments on: Guardian Genius 82, Lavatch: Regression to the mean

By: jetdoc

jetdoc — Wed, 05 May 2010 06:28:51 +0000

The default Print version of the Genius is pretty unsatisfactory, I think, especially when there are clashing squares. I do ‘clever’ (not really) things on my computer so that I get a printout with a larger grid and properly typeset and spaced clues. Clashes like this are more common in the Listener, for which I always print out a really large grid with room for at least two letters in each square.

By: TRIALNERROR

TRIALNERROR — Wed, 05 May 2010 06:19:28 +0000

Not much fun, so many single unches having to accommodate three letters. I had to reprint this a few times, ‘cos the grid ended up looking like a badly played game of Battleships. Would work better with extra squares to keep track of the split unches…

By: rainer

rainer — Mon, 03 May 2010 20:18:22 +0000

PONTIE found in Urban Dictionary

A word newly used within the glasgow community to describe the population who dont understand basic slang of the Scottish nature.
ye dinnie ken whit were oan about ya pontie

By: jetdoc

jetdoc — Mon, 03 May 2010 17:48:30 +0000

Thanks, Terry — I transcribed wrongly from my own solved version. I have now corrected 20d.

By: Terry

Terry — Mon, 03 May 2010 17:07:10 +0000

Thanks for the blog, jetdoc. A meaty puzzle indeed that took me the best part of the month to finish.

One small point: I think the middle letter for 20d must be N giving NAILS.

By: liz

liz — Mon, 03 May 2010 13:57:49 +0000

Thanks, Jetdoc. I never quite twigged what ‘split the difference’ meant in this puzzle, and didn’t finish. I suspected something along the lines of a mean and occasionally filled in the right answer — PAUNCHIEST for example and ORAL — but my method was too random to work!

By: Jan

Jan — Mon, 03 May 2010 10:28:55 +0000

Oh, dearie, dearie me! Sorry, jetdoc – I’m not even jetlagged.

By: Jan

Jan — Mon, 03 May 2010 10:27:27 +0000

Thank you, jetlag.

I did not enjoy this puzzle although I had a great feeling of achievement when I completed it to my satisfaction.

Early on, just one, new (to me), word and my confidence was shattered. How many solutions would need words which I didn’t know? I decided that feebulose, kropulose and bmalulose couldn’t be sugars and I had to resort to Chambers’ Word Wizard to realise that I had forgotten veal.

There were only 3 high spots, all of which involved solutions which I had seen immediately and brain-filed because I couldn’t see how they fit the clue.

PRION – I think our Aussie friends would have had an advantage with this Southern ocean petrel.
EGAD – I could write a dissertation on my thought processes before realising the justification for this obvious answer.
LANDLESS – Again, the obvious answer but why the Emerald Isle and anger? My non-cruciverbalist husband pointed it out!

‘From the nature of things’, I found it a bit too clever-clever. Yes, that clue took the longest to solve! Egad!

By: jetdoc

jetdoc — Mon, 03 May 2010 08:28:00 +0000

STEMLETS/STERLETS was the last one I got — in fact, it held me up for a while.
PONTIE is in Chambers under the entry for PUNTY,… — ‘an iron rod used in holding and manipulating glassware during the process of making’.

By: Mr Beaver

Mr Beaver — Mon, 03 May 2010 08:02:14 +0000

Thanks for the blog, jetdoc. Hats off to you if you found it ‘not too difficult’ !
I think we put our last answer in 2 days ago (18d – ‘sterlets’ was a new word to me!).
The penny dropped fairly early on, but even so, I thought it made solving clues extra challenging, as you couldn’t always rely on crossing letters being what they seemed – especially as several of the entered words were obscure (at least to me – 5a, 10a, 29a, 8d, 14d, 18d and 22a), in particular PONTIE – I couldn’t find a definition for this anywhere – is it someone’s name ?
Not complaining mind, you expect a Genius to be hard and it certainly gave us something to chew on on the days when we’d finished the daily puzzle before bedtime!