Comments on: Guardian 25,206 – Pasquale

By: Daniel Miller

Daniel Miller — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 09:44:46 +0000

Didn’t bother with this one I’m afraid – the language in the clues looked extremely contrived and made little or no sense to me so didn’t even start!!

By: Paul (not Paul)

Paul (not Paul) — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 10:21:32 +0000

Really don’t understand the great affection for Pasquale. Maybe its just that he’s a bit tricky for me. I slogged through to the end with two mistakes dash/dish and couching/couchant.

I put this setter in with Gordius. Some great clues and some stinkers. I though Annunciated was dreadful. A really clumsy, convoluted construction. Neatherd, Chestnut and Second Name were all poor as well, I thought. But the fun often comes from seeing the joke early and getting it late (as I did with a lot of this puzzle) takes a lot of the fun away.

By: fearsome

fearsome — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 09:50:46 +0000

Really enjoyed this one – particularly liked “Mothers ruin”

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 19:27:59 +0000

Hi Robi at no 19.

I struggled with 18ac as well before Andrew put me right. I think the whole thing is a homophone, with the CI being a representation of the letter ‘C’.

And I realise on re-reading my earlier comments on the blog that I confused Pasquale with Quixote. Perhaps he does that himself from time to time.

By: Robi

Robi — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 18:01:24 +0000

P.S. In 18, would third-rate be C1 as in occupation groupings (A, B, C1, C2, D, and E) with ‘ated?

By: Dad'sLad

Dad'sLad — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 17:47:16 +0000

Thanks Andrew enjoyed your blog as ever.

Hi Stiofain at 1. I realise there has been recent confusion about which puzzle relates to which day, but this Pasquale offering as COTY?!? No better than average in my book with some CHESTNUTS ripe for joining the RAGAMUFFINS and SATRAPS in crosswordland’s DIS.

By: morpheus

morpheus — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 17:43:51 +0000

first pasquale we’ve managed to complete with a slight use of the check button to rule out saints name for 12D – thanks Andrew for the explanation.

By: Carrots

Carrots — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 16:07:26 +0000

Thanks Andrew….I needed your blog to explain a couple of my guesses. As it happens, COUCHANT and NAPPER were both correct, but I was unfamiliar with the latter word and unsure about the precise definition of the former.

This was a jolly good offfering from Pasquale, pitched at just the right level of difficulty (for me at least!). I could nit-pick about a few definitions (e.g. TURN

Good news about the Derby Do. It will be fun comparing my imaginary 15sqd contributors with the real McCoys!

By: Swukker

Swukker — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 14:50:55 +0000

A good crossword, not too difficult although a tad obscure in places I thought especially for casual solvers.

By: Martin H

Martin H — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 12:48:36 +0000

Some definitions well off target at 3, 13 and 16, all covered already, and a weak dd at 19, but otherwise a good crossword with well-constructed clues showing plenty of variety: 11 and 23 stand out.