Comments on: Guardian 25210 Puck … A Midwinter Day’s Reality

By: ernie

ernie — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 00:06:54 +0000

Well, if one may be THAT late (antipodean friends)…..
I thought 6d was HER indoors (always in) + O (A’s heart).
Thanks, everyone. I just picked this up again, having left it to one side.

By: OzLiz

OzLiz — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 23:27:03 +0000

Thank you Gaufrid and Puck for clarifying all that. It really was puzzling. I love the challenge of the Guardian cryptic every day, and reading all the various explanations and comments afterwards.

By: Maxine

Maxine — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 20:44:50 +0000

Thank you for responding to my reply and for the clarifications. Lovely to hear from you too, Puck.

I was unaware that we occasionally get different versions of the clue in Australia. Difficult to check on this as well from here, as for example this crossword is numbered 25,554 in our Canberra Times of 15th January. (This crossword is 25,210 in the Guardian.)

By: Puck

Puck — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 10:28:07 +0000

Hi maxine, OzLiz & Gaufrid,

If you happen back here to read this…

The version that seems to have been published in Australia is an earlier version of the puzzle prior to edits that appeared in the Guardian version (which was the same version in the paper and online). HERB and ODIUM were indeed changed to HERO and OPIUM during the final edit stages, the former at the request of the crossword editor and the latter as I saw the chance to include OPIUM as part of the PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON theme.

I hope that clarifies what happened – something I only knew of through your comments here (thanks Uncle Yap for drawing my attention to same).

By: Gaufrid

Gaufrid — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 09:32:51 +0000

Hi OzLiz
It would appear that these two clues were changed before the puzzle appeared in your paper. You can see the original clues here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/crosswords/cryptic/25210

By: OzLiz

OzLiz — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 02:52:07 +0000

If anyone is still there – we get the printed version of these puzzles in Australia in our local paper two weeks after publication in the UK, and the clue to 6d here reads “Basil possibly has (the key to) Sybil’s heart” which seems to translate to ‘her’ B (Sybil’s heart), ie “herb” (Basil possibly). Aphrodite is not mentioned.
Also the 26 across clue reads “Hate to see piano fall off platform” which seems to translate to (p)odium, ie odium, which seems quite straightforward.
Perhaps the clues in the on-line version were different, which was why everyone seems so puzzled trying to work out explanations?

By: maxine

maxine — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 00:44:35 +0000

Have just managed to plough through this enjoyable puzzle. (We get them about a week and a half later in Australia.)

Very much enjoy everyone’s comments and paricularly the many comments for 6d.

So far no one mentioned ‘herb’ for an answer. (Basil perhaps with her heart -Sybil -b.)

By: Huw Powell

Huw Powell — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 22:19:09 +0000

PS, sorry, Sil, I finally found the Parsons/FBB thing, although ’twas a J/R Stones song, their version was released first. Mea culpa!

By: Huw Powell

Huw Powell — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 21:40:19 +0000

Overall a fun puzzle, finished with some “help”, mostly in verifying a couple singers’ names and the cheese.

Thanks Puck for dropping by and verifying 6 (which I caught) and 25 (which I did not really understand)

I think anyone who caught HONAH LEE early on could have moved through this very quickly, since this was one of those puzzles with themed and interlocking clues all over the place, making the development of checked squares slow going. I kept bumbling even having the song title and the three singers by reading the clue with their last names, instead of just the referenced words.

I enjoyed the large amount of trickery and wide variety of cluing. My favorite, and last one in, was 18. Delightful.

Oh, and Sil, not only is “Wild Horses” a Rolling Stones song first and foremost, I can’t even find evidence of Gram Parsons covering it. No big deal.

So anyway, thanks one more to Puck and Uncle Yap!

By: Stella

Stella — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 11:10:57 +0000

I didn’t feel like adding anything yesterday, having read the first few comments without further enlightenment, but I would like to pop in a moment, if belatedly, to thank Puck for reminding me of one of my childhood favourites. I knew it by heart, but had never seen it written down, so only understood 17d once I’d written it in.

Ms. Blige was out of my musical sphere, too, as was Mr. Andre, though at least his surname was guessable.

Thanks Uncle Yap and Puck