Comments on: Guardian 25,193 / Puck

By: Huw Powell

Huw Powell — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 20:02:17 +0000

I found this puzzle quite enjoyable, although rather difficult (as you can see by the time lapsed!).

I had just under half of it finished when I hit a brick wall, although I had some useful scribbles in the margins (like Cree/pers and various kinds of bombs). But after mostly finishing Araucaria’s Christmas prize and setting it aside, I came upon this once more in my stack. Attacking it again today, I slowly managed to add in one more clue, then another, then another…

I had to look up at least eight answers or parts of answers to verify their “reality”, and that’s not counting the Radio Observatory, since what it is wasn’t part of the path to the answer.

But I must say, no matter how hard any given clue/answer was, once answered, it became clear that the clue was scrupulously fair. All except TARTS, which I needed Duncan to explain, and it, also, is equally tight.

So thanks for at least two different enjoyable solving sessions, Puck, and a very nicely explicated blog, Duncan!

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 06:55:44 +0000

I loved this – typically Puckish theme and surfaces. 6d I got, before I had the theme, simply from “shoes”, 2 crossing letters, and the fact it was by Puck. I guess he appeals to my schoolboy sense of humour.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 23:51:34 +0000

I’ve held back from commenting all day, because Puck is among my favourite setters, but I now find myself able to echo Carrots’ comment. I was disappointed in this and consoled myself with the reminder of my favourite Enya track, which I offer as bedtime music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XxMS1DMdeo

Sleep well!

By: Carrots

Carrots — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 23:13:42 +0000

After 40 minutes I had put in three….and sank half as many pintas at lunchtime to get them. Guesses galore and working backwards to parse them got me within half-a-dozen answers of the goal posts. These had to wait until I got home to plunder Duncan`s excellent blog.

I normally enjoy Puck`s puzzles which usually use the full repetoire of devices and cover a broad range of subjects and themes, but this one offered little wit, no “Hah!” moments and substituted obscurities (FISSION BOMB/TUSSORE/NIGHTERIE/ENYA/OBS-GYNAE) for other words in more common parlance with witty clues. I didn`t much care for this one though: all hard work and no light relief. Sorry!

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 22:12:23 +0000

We thoroughly enjoyed this crossword, no mistake about that.
But I (more than my PinC) do understand what walruss means @20 when he says ‘nearly but not quite’.
Puck’s puzzles are clever, but some of the cleverness is a bit contrived (like in 11ac or 1d).
There’s just not the ultimate lightness like in a Paul, whose clues are sometimes written in a similar style.

That said, we qualified the device in SERPENT (25ac) as ‘novel’, or at least as unusual.
We liked the trick in TARTS (23d), but it is very very Libertarian and we don’t think The Times would have given it a chance.

Not sure whether ‘taiga’ (in 3d) was intended as a homophone for ‘tiger’. I suspect Puck couldn’t find something for T?I?A in the Book of Animals, but we did see ánd appreciate the ‘wit’ of taiga/tiger.

NIELSEN (18d) being described as an ‘actress’ has already been criticised enough, but I think ‘actor’ would have worked better (although some might have have questioned the surface then).

ENYA (13ac) is – in our opinion – a great clue.
How concise can it get?
[we didn't even think of Dolly Parton, or is that non-PC?]

As someone who does some compiling in his spare time, I was a bit surprised by Puck using the same device (taking many initial letters) in three clues: 1ac, 21/8 and 22ac, although the Four Tops idea was splendid!

We did find the film in 1d, but we had never heard of it – indeed a long way from … um, Emerson Lake & Palmer and the like, who go quite a long way back themselves .

All in all, I think we could call this crossword a kind of ‘dynamic’.
As I said before, we thoroughly enjoyed it.
Yet, a long time ago, I described solving a Puck prize puzzle as travelling on a bumpy road, and today there was a similar feeling.
But we reached our destination where there was an inn where we had a pint or two.
Cheers!
Thanks Puck!
And Duncan, of course!!

By: Abby

Abby — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 19:19:53 +0000

Connie Nielsen? Brigitte Nielsen? Both pretty famous, though sort of at opposite artistic ends.

By: walruss

walruss — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 16:53:47 +0000

This was okay, and there were nice bits as Duncan says, but perhaps like him I got that ‘nearly but not quite’ feeling about it. Not quite in the Guardian top league for me.

By: Will Mc

Will Mc — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 16:11:54 +0000

Whichever of the acting Nielsens is being referred to, I don’t think any of them is famous enough to be just clued as ‘actress’.

By: Stella

Stella — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 15:08:55 +0000

In all, there are about ten or eleven clues linked to brothels and such, either in the wordplay or in the answer.

The actress refered to may be Asta, the erotic nature of whose 1910′s films led them to be censured in the US.

By: muz

muz — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 15:06:45 +0000

Thanks duncanshiell for a thorough and entertaining blog!

Not my favorite setter, and not my favorite puzzle, but I got through with copious use of the check button (but no google, I was on a train). Simply too many charades of one- to three-letter particles for my taste.

I have not fact checked this, but I remember from somewhere that “taiga” is one of only two word in the English language to come from Siberian – the other being “tundra”.

BTW, Telekinesis is also a band from Seattle (on record just one guy; Michael Benjamin Lerner, but they tour as a three-piece). Check them out if you’re into catchy, quirky little indie-pop songs. A long way from Enya and ELP, I know…