Comments on: Guardian 25,021 / Shed

By: mhl

mhl — Sat, 29 May 2010 09:42:12 +0000

Thanks for the excellent post, Eileen, and to Shed for what was also my favourite of the week. There’s a small typo in the explanation of 17a – it has to be CT for “caught” to get the last T.

This was a satisfying puzzle to solve, since we got rather stuck before getting THE DRINK TALKING, when guesses for some of the others fell into place. I particularly enjoyed B[eek!]EEPER.

Reading up about BANDERILLERO and all the things the bull is put through in a bull-fight was rather upsetting, I have to say.

By: FumbleFingers

FumbleFingers — Thu, 27 May 2010 23:22:40 +0000

Hi Eileen,

I didn’t recognise “Rylstone” until I Googled it – but yes, of course I assumed yours would be more the naked calendar kind of WI, rather than the Jam & Jerusalem kind (tv comedy series OR pectin & prayer) No offense lol.

Spooky about Tiptree! More evidence that this universe is a computer simulacrum written by a lazy programmer who constantly re-uses a small set of subroutines…

Shed – many thanks for a really enjoyable puzzle. Also for stopping by here, obviously.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Thu, 27 May 2010 22:29:25 +0000

Hi Carrots

Don’t give up! 80% of this setter is pretty good going!

By: Eileen

Eileen — Thu, 27 May 2010 22:27:02 +0000

Hi again Sil

See blog: TIME ['bird' is slang for a prison sentence]!

Time for bed!

By: Carrots

Carrots — Thu, 27 May 2010 22:22:03 +0000

I am not worthy of this company. After an extra pinta during a truanted lunchtime, I threw in the towel with the puzzle and resigned with it only 80% or so complete. I respect the setter enormously but find some of his puzzles akin to going for a paddle in Morecambe Bay.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Thu, 27 May 2010 22:19:14 +0000

Eileen, I withdraw my comment on REMORA. Thought it was just an annoying fish, should have looked it up in Chambers, though.

What I forgot to say was, that we didn’t quite understand SENTIMENT [even though we got it very quickly]. Apparently, TIME can be defined by ‘bird’ [prison sentence]. Have to think now of my PinC who said: “Maybe it’s TIME as in ‘time flies’, so a ‘flier’ [bird]” .

By: Eileen

Eileen — Thu, 27 May 2010 22:09:38 +0000

Hi Muck

Yes, that’s the homophone I was referring to in the preamble. [We're currently rehearsing several numbers including 'where' etc.]

But, now that I’ve blogged my first Shed, this is my final word on homophones. A reminder that I only ever mentioned, tongue in cheek, that there were some that my Scottish husband, tongue in cheek, objected to and, when I started blogging, I referred to them as ‘homophones’. More recently, I pledged not to do so – and I haven’t – and shan’t

Sil

Re 26ac: I don’t think the surface needs to point to a sailor’s obstacle, as such – I only added that for interest.

I agree that ‘for’ might have been better but, in 20ac, I took ‘to’ as ‘leading to’ and therefore totally acceptable.

Re 10ac: I nearly mentioned this on the blog. I took ‘being’ as the noun and the whole phrase as analagous with ‘time immemorial’: I know there are much better examples but that’s all I can think of just now!

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Thu, 27 May 2010 21:29:23 +0000

Yes, Dave (#31), that was also one of our thoughts (S being the fifth letter of FIVE SIXES), but then ’5 6s’ is doing double duty, isn’t it?
Maybe, it is also the order of words [with 'Parched' as a starter] that makes this clue hard to parse – at least, for us.

By: Bill Taylor

Bill Taylor — Thu, 27 May 2010 21:17:34 +0000

I dunno that the “of” requires an explanation. I think Eileen is right on the money. I’m surprised by all the fuss about REMORA. I wouldn’t necessarily have thought of it as an obstacle but I’ve always known of it as a parasitic fish that attaches itself to sharks and turtles.

By: Dave Ellison

Dave Ellison — Thu, 27 May 2010 21:10:54 +0000

I have just read Eileen’s explanation of 4d THIRTY. I read it slightly differently: the fifth (letter) of FIVE SIXES is S, which explains the OF