Comments on: Azed Crossword No. 2,010 ‘A Score and a Half’ Competition Puzzle

By: Bob Sharkey

Bob Sharkey — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 20:58:51 +0000

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.

You won’t find this sense of the word defined in Chambers.

By: bridgesong

bridgesong — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 20:04:09 +0000

Bob

I thought about SOLA as well, but decided that it didn’t in fact fit the clue. It may be a versatile crop, but I don’t think that Azed would ever clue LOSS as “fortune cut”; it doesn’t work at all as a synonym. Once I’d come to that decision, it was time to search Chambers for the alternatives, and then search for the reversals of the words that were then generated. Only JOSS fitted the bill.

Apart from that, I’m another who spotted the coincidence of puzzle number and year, but completely missed the acrostic. Like you, Nick, I spent far too long looking at the completed grid for ninas, rather than at the clues. I thought Bart Simpson was most ingenious, if a little unlikely for Azed.

By: Bob Sharkey

Bob Sharkey — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 13:43:17 +0000

I believe the fibres are used for other materials, such as matting, etc., and also for silages.

By: The Trafites

The Trafites — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 13:13:24 +0000

Bob #9 – but is ‘sola’ a versatile crop?

(Homer Simpson)Nick

By: sidey

sidey — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 13:02:15 +0000

Sorry about missing that Bob (and Chris).

By: Bob Sharkey

Bob Sharkey — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 12:31:34 +0000

Sidey, Chris @5 has answered your question. It was explained by a post from Don Manley last Sunday on the crossword centre message board. Always worth a visit to check for issues like this.

By: sidey

sidey — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 12:17:44 +0000

I wonder what the ‘correct’ version of 4d was…

By: Bob Sharkey

Bob Sharkey — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 12:08:40 +0000

Well said, nmsindy, your toils with 9A mirrored my own. There is one alternative to SOJA in my view, and that’s SOLA, the plant cultivated to provide pith for pith helmets and the like. A reading of ‘fortune cut’ equivalent to ‘loss’, then truncated by ‘short’, then reversed surely works. As has happened many times in the past, Azed may have to consider whether to allow one or the other as an alternative solution. I hesitate to say which of the two he intended, but providing a few competitors raise the issue in their letters, he will almost certainly address it in the ‘slip’.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 11:40:28 +0000

Thanks for the blog, The Trafites. I got stuck on 9A, where there are quite a few alternatives for SO?A. Was tempted to guess SOYA but glad I did not and spend time writing a clue that would not be eligible for the comp. It seems obvious now that you’ve explained it, I did wonder about ‘versatile’ as to whether it belonged to definition or wordplay. I did not see the ‘first letters of clues’ theme either.

By: DFM

DFM — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 11:39:57 +0000

The incorrect anagram was corrected by Azed at proof stage but GU failed to make the correction in the online edition