Comments on: Guardian 25187 Gordius – … but now I see

By: Huw Powell

Huw Powell — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 02:27:43 +0000

Hmmm, ’twas fun, so thank you Gordius, and Unka Yap for explaining 13 (btw, the ONLY word returned by OneLook for ?h?r?r?l?, confirming my guess).

RIGHT HAND seems clumsy to me, I thought it might be a cricket thing, but the French Connection is a bit iffy. I thought LISPERS rather rude, and refused to ink it in.

But my big complaint is with SNOW BLINDNESS. It has nothing to do with amblyopia, which is a brain problem usually caused by (healed) eyesight problems that lessened the ability to interpret information from the optic nerve. Nothing to do with snow blindness other than the link posted above. I “got” the answer, but the clue could have been better.

As an ex-pat I also got left out of a few very Britisque details, like REME and the “U” rating. Oh well, it’s a British paper, and they do allow USianisms to frustrate their solvers as well.

All that whinging aside, yes, there were some very nice surfaces, and some delightful inside-out clues, such as MONETARIST.

By: William

William — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 09:20:48 +0000

Thanks UY and welcome back home.

Thinking of 14d, I read an article recently about left/right driving habits that might be worth sharing: The author maintained that until Napoleon, everybody drove on the left; and supported his view by observing that, as most people are right handed, one made sure one passed another horseman in such a way as to ensure right-handed sword engagement. (Makes sense). The change to passing on the right is thought to have been a misunderstanding. Moving vast numbers of troups across Europe, Napoleon was frequently delayed by local traffic and is said to have demanded in rage, “MES ARMÉS ONT LE DROIT DE PASSER!” or something like that, which got taken to mean they would pass ON the right. Perhaps if he had come here, we too would be right handers.

Thought I’d share this, but no doubt there are contrary (and probably more historically accurate) thoughts.

Kind regards.

By: tupu

tupu — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 19:12:50 +0000

Hi MarkB
You may well be right re snow blindness. My comment @8 was drawn from one web site
http://www.operatingmicroscopes.com/operating-microscopes-resources/ablyopia-amaurosis-and-disturbances-of-vision-without-ophthalmoscopic-change.html
which said
“Snow blindness. This is a form of amblyopia produced by the blinding reflections of the sun upon the naked eye of persons (usually strangers) exposed to the brilliant snow fields of northern latitudes or mountain resorts”.

Other sites do not seem to link the two and this site misspells amblyopia in its heading.

The more I think about it, the less I like this clue, although the ‘on reflection’ idea is nice, and the ‘could be’ might be taken to point to the definitional doubts.

By: scarpia

scarpia — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 19:03:15 +0000

Thanks Uncle Yap.
A good and surprisingly uncontroversial puzzle from Gordius.No real complaints from anyone – surprising for this setter,perhaps because,as Tupu says,it is one of his better puzzles.
Favourite clue for me was MONETARIST.
Roger@18 “And why do I always think of the Power Rangers when I hear the word Mastodon …” I haven’t got the foggiest,but I have the feeling that someone may enlighten us.

By: Roger

Roger — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 18:06:00 +0000

Thanks UJ. The words shorts & t-shirt don’t readily spring to mind hereabouts, more like brass & monkeys. Hope you enjoyed your UK trip, though. I’m with Mr Beaver on this one ~ it was a good puzzle, agreed, yet seemed to lack a certain je ne sais quoi. Having thed that, I had to thmile at theven down, top clue for me today also. And why do I always think of the Power Rangers when I hear the word Mastodon …

By: gm4hqf

gm4hqf — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 17:53:40 +0000

Thanks Uncle Yap & Gordius

13a stumped me. Can’t think why as it is so obvious. I was trying to form an anagram of HORSE, minus E as the start of the word and nothing would fit.

This snow & ice must be affecting my brain!

By: MarkB

MarkB — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 17:21:19 +0000

I’m nitpicking, but I don’t think snow blindness would normally be classified as amblyopia, which implies a lack of any physical defect: the usual medical term for snow blindness is photokeratitis.

By: Richard P

Richard P — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 17:11:55 +0000

Isn’t 14d just that the off side of a vehicle is the right side, but not in France where it’s the left side, rather than the side of the road you drive on?

By: Lawrence

Lawrence — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 16:43:54 +0000

12 across reminded me of the joke Q:”Who led the Pedants’ Revolt?”
A: Which Tyler

By: grandpuzzler

grandpuzzler — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 16:07:40 +0000

Thanks Uncle Yap; glad you are back home and thawed out. Like paul8hours @10 I spent a while trying to decipher the anagram at 13A. Fooled again.

Cheers…