Comments on: Genius 90 / Crucible

By: Mr Beaver

Mr Beaver — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 23:19:08 +0000

re ‘acting up’, I’ve often heard this applied at work where a manager leaves and a junior temporarily fills the post (usually without extra pay!) – sometimes leading to a permanent promotion to the senior post.

It took us a long time to twig the theme, so whiled away many frustrating hours over the festive period !

By: Jan

Jan — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:36:58 +0000

Sorry, I shouldn’t have included ‘tipped’ in the definition, just, ‘replace his boss’.

By: Jan

Jan — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:34:21 +0000

Thank you for the blog, Gaufrid. I hadn’t noticed the symmetry of the solution positions, so, forgive me and thanks, Crucible, for a very enjoyable puzzle.

Paroxysms apart, I chuckled when the significance of GOSPEL and APOSTLE dawned – my mind was fixed on scratches and scars.

I thought 8d was a superb clue.

My only little gripe was with the definition in 3d. I can see why ‘act up’ could fit ‘tipped to replace his boss’, but I thought that some reference to ‘act up’ as naughtiness would have been better, especially as a layabout was involved. I could well be missing something obvious.

By: peter

peter — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 19:18:23 +0000

Thanks, Crucible, for admission of error at 23a.
Having found PAROXYSM, I eventually decided it had to be a reference to some unfamiliar work of Mark Twain, though my searches were fruitless.

By: sidey

sidey — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 13:07:12 +0000

Very enjoyable, thanks all.

By: Crucible

Crucible — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 12:42:45 +0000

There was indeed an error in 23A and I apologise for it. The original clue read “Fit new x-rays …” until I stupidly ‘embellished’ it in the final edit, thus adding an extra definitionless clue. Lesson: don’t tamper with the editor’s approved version.

By: Gaufrid

Gaufrid — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 11:54:09 +0000

Thanks Robi, typo corrected.

By: Robi

Robi — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 11:43:03 +0000

Thanks Gaufrid. I wouldn’t have been able to complete this without some hints on the web.

I started thinking 12 was PORTAL, as por is Spanish for by and ‘tal’ has some obscure reference to an American railroad.

I think you have a typo in the answer to 20.

Well done Crucible for a very testing puzzle.