Comments on: Guardian 25,100 – Orlando

By: Huw Powell

Huw Powell — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 01:36:42 +0000

Thanks manehi and Orlando!

Wow, what a puzzle. I found it very very difficult, and yet I finished it! I only got one clue rapidly after another a couple of times. Almost every single one was a tough slog, and of course for a handful (the usual suspects + IAN HISLOP + RANKING) I had to verify via research before inking them in.

When 3/4 done I never expected to actually finish it. Very impressed by the cluing, too. It was tight, I don’t have a single complaint there.

BURGEON was last to go in, and thanks manehi for explaining where the E came from.

I also have been abroad too long and needed to be told why Bob = S, oh well.

I’m glad that PITCH never occurred to me!

Oh, and Stella @22, vitamin C is ascorbic acid, not citric.

Thanks again to Orlando for such a wonderful challenge.

By: tupu

tupu — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:45:36 +0000

Hi James

Sorry. I just came by wandering here.

Plum is a colour (of the fruit) and B is black.

Plumb meaning to sound has to have a b at the end I think.

By: James

James — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:25:03 +0000

PLUM = verb, to -sound- out a depth.

Colour = black –> “B”

By: William

William — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 21:06:41 +0000

Manehi @26 – bless you. Have a nice day.

Architrave @27 – thank you, too. I thought I was alone.

By: The Architrave

The Architrave — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 10:44:47 +0000

I struggled with PLUMB too – I thought “sound colour” meant it was a homophone of plum, which left me unable to explain the “black”

By: manehi

manehi — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 09:00:29 +0000

Thanks all for the comments, especially the clarification of CHICAGO.

I remember “bundle [in]“=”[get into a] fight” as fairly common in my schooldays c.2000, and didn’t give it a second thought while solving/blogging.

William – PLUMB=”Sound” in the sense of examining depth. “colour: black” gives PLUM + B[lack]. ANTIQUITY – the YMCA, known as “the Y” in the USA, provides hostels and the final Y.

By: William

William — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 08:33:03 +0000

Thank you for the blog, Manehi, although I’m still struggling with this.

Would someone kindly explain for a dimwit; a) why PLUMB = black? Can’t find it in my Chambers; and b) how to parse ANTIQUITY? I get the NT + I QUIT but I don’t understand the ‘stateside hostel’ reference.

Many thanks.

By: Dynamic

Dynamic — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 00:06:33 +0000

A strange coincidence that E numbers (European ingredient classifications) should come up in this crossword, and the cactus on which the cochineal bugs live and are harvested for their dye should come up as solution 10a in the Telegraph cryptic by Giovanni (aka Quixote, Bradman - who posted in response to his FT puzzle) (solving blog) on the same day. Why? A well-trailed BBC One programme on the previous night was all about E-numbers and whether they're good or bad, this episode being chiefly about colours and flavours (natural and otherwise), and included a fascinating piece about cochineal harvesting and processing to obtain the food-grade dye (which of course, has an E number).

By: Carrots

Carrots — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 23:40:27 +0000

A bit of a slog I`m afraid with some over-convoluted clues and no “Haa!” moments at all. I was glad to have finished it (eventually) and I wonder when, if ever, I shall encounter words like SHALWAR, TOILE, and YEREVAN again?

Stella @ 10: Please….what is the “cheat button”? I assume that its some facility on the on-line version, (which I don`t subscribe to because I like scribbling workings out over pictures of footballers` bottoms on the facing page). Boy, do I loathe and detest that game.

By: Stella

Stella — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 23:00:01 +0000

MikeS @5
Nothing to do with the puzzle, but what many people don’t realise is that many ‘e-numbers’ refer to natural products traditionally use in food preparation, like citric acid, ie. vitamin C.