Comments on: Guardian 25,153 / Gordius

By: Huw Powell

Huw Powell — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 18:24:06 +0000

Somewhat late to the game, and I know I’ll never see the answer (I don’t think I saw it above), but where does the U at the end of PARI PASSU come from?

By: tupu

tupu — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 12:45:20 +0000

Hi SheffieldH

I always thought that the crossing letters were an intrinsic part of crosswords. Otherwise one would only need a list of clues. The same is true of countless cds by Rufus and others.

By: sheffieldhatter

sheffieldhatter — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 23:11:29 +0000

For what it’s worth, I agree with Sil about 7d. It’s a very poor clue and impossible to write in with any confidence without the crossing letters.

By: walruss

walruss — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 12:17:08 +0000

They have a pont though tupu. Some of the Ximenenan bunch regularly bore the pants off me, but here it’s the Libs that get it in the neck for writing nonsensical or bad clues! I thin you get really good puzzles from both camps, and often you get Lib and Xim clues in the same puzzle.

By: tupu

tupu — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 11:00:07 +0000

Thanks carrots, though I feel more like an old dinosaur than Mohammed Ali in his prime and Sil has pretty nifty footwork. Still one learns as one goes along, and I understand his position better than I did. Certainly Gordius raises more comments than most!

By: Carrots

Carrots — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 10:05:14 +0000

Thanks folks! Following you heavyweights slog it out is great spectator sport. Just one of the reasons I have a soft spot for Gordius!

By: Davy

Davy — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 08:30:55 +0000

Dear Sil,

Thanks for explaining to me that this is a cryptic crossword, it was much appreciated. At the risk of flogging a dead horse (please don’t try this at home), LOCAL CALL is simply a play on words and though the answer is connected with telephones, this is not reflected in the clue. It’s just Gordius having fun and yes he always does spark a debate.

By: tupu

tupu — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 06:59:53 +0000

Thanks Sil
I found his mention, alongside Paul’s from time to time, confusing.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 23:10:21 +0000

Hi tupu,
Paul B is Tees in the Independent and Neo in the FT.
[and very good, in both aliases, IMO]

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 23:06:38 +0000

Yes, Dave, I remember your ‘vanishing point’ and indeed ‘shrinking violet’ would be a perfect successor.
I see a clue like this more as something visual rather than linguistic.
To be quite frank, I’m not very keen on them [even though Paul likes them - and applies them every now and then in his crosswords, too].
As a one-off gag, fine, but for me not something to be a regular part of cryptic crosswords. In the end, I’m probably not Libertarian enough.
The fact that there would not be a definition, might be acceptable here because of the special character of the clue.
I am not sure though, whether we should embrace your statement “I don’t see why all clues should have a definition”.

Ah well, what a day!