Comments on: Guardian 25,255 / Bonxie http://www.fifteensquared.net/2011/02/25/guardian-25255-bonxie/ Never knowingly undersolved. Sun, 19 May 2013 18:47:26 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Andy Dix http://www.fifteensquared.net/2011/02/25/guardian-25255-bonxie/#comment-152299 Andy Dix Mon, 28 Feb 2011 02:02:56 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=26903#comment-152299 Finished this last night after starting earlier in the evening and not getting very far at first.

Found it quite hard but fair – a bit like Paul, though not in the same way. I was able to parse everything – which is always nice :-)

Hadn’t heard of 6D, though worked it out from the word play.

Hadn’t heard of 1D either – I jokingly suggested peanut as the only thing which fitted the second word, then realised it’s an anagram and found it must be peanut!

Got medallions but couldn’t see why they are cuts until I googled.

Last to fill in was 3D – a flower which is not a river!

Enjoyed it, though the Thesaurus-like definitions I found a bit stretched at times.

]]> By: Huw Powell http://www.fifteensquared.net/2011/02/25/guardian-25255-bonxie/#comment-152297 Huw Powell Mon, 28 Feb 2011 01:02:36 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=26903#comment-152297 Leroy, that’s a very interesting way to make “hernia” work, and it makes sense. I was comfortable with it as a simple (?) anagrind, in that a hernia is also commonly called a “rupture”.

This was a brutally enjoyable puzzle – I spent some time with it 2/25 evening and left with nothing more than ALIAS in ink and ANON in pencil next to the clue. Worked on it 2/26 and got most of the bottom half, though with some penciled answers (and a lot of research, follow my edit pattern on Wikipedia!). Today I was grim. The top and bottom are only connected by two words – the two 15 letter phrases, which I didn’t have yet, and the only word placed in the top was still ALIAS.

I had noted, though, that no matter how hard a clue was to solve, they all parsed well in the end, so I kept slogging away. When ANYTIME popped I was embarrassed not to be looking for hidden words… but it dragged me slowly towards the PEANUT (aka popcorn) and I just kept banging away.

I’ve seen CERT before, but it didn’t click, so I was one more CONSENTer. Which would have worked if the clue was “agreement to swindle the raptured”…

As far as a theme, while there really isn’t one, the puzzle is very “themey” – the cuts, the packing material and fabric, the food items (one in each corner), several legal-ish terms, RANDOM CHANCE, and any I missed?

So thanks for (too) many hours of entertainment, Bonxie, and the explanations for a few I didn’t understand, Eileen!

]]> By: Robi http://www.fifteensquared.net/2011/02/25/guardian-25255-bonxie/#comment-152269 Robi Sun, 27 Feb 2011 15:18:40 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=26903#comment-152269 Rather late in the day, but thanks to Gaufrid and Eileen.

]]> By: Roger http://www.fifteensquared.net/2011/02/25/guardian-25255-bonxie/#comment-152188 Roger Sat, 26 Feb 2011 22:13:36 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=26903#comment-152188 Got it now. {Perfunctory = token … & … clue = indication = token}. Thanks both of you.

]]> By: Eileen http://www.fifteensquared.net/2011/02/25/guardian-25255-bonxie/#comment-152186 Eileen Sat, 26 Feb 2011 21:51:03 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=26903#comment-152186 Hi Robi and Roger

Apologies for any vagueness – and thanks, Gaufrid.

My reading was:

a: noun: ‘indication’, as in ‘a token of my affection’
b: adjective [Chambers]: ‘serving as a symbol; done or given as a token and therefeore of no real value, nominal’
– as in ‘token woman’!

]]> By: Gaufrid http://www.fifteensquared.net/2011/02/25/guardian-25255-bonxie/#comment-152182 Gaufrid Sat, 26 Feb 2011 21:14:40 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=26903#comment-152182 Robi & Roger
You need to think of ‘token’ and ‘clue’ in the sense of ‘an indication’.

]]> By: Roger http://www.fifteensquared.net/2011/02/25/guardian-25255-bonxie/#comment-152181 Roger Sat, 26 Feb 2011 21:02:49 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=26903#comment-152181 Hi Robi, if by any chance you’re still there. I too was hoping for some clarification wrt 12a. The on-line OD has:

TOKEN: noun … (archaic) a badge or favour worn to indicate allegiance to a particular person or party .

In this sense I guess you could say that a rosette worn at election time acts as a clue to a candidate’s political persuasion.

However, there may well be another explanation and some kind soul may well yet enlighten us !

]]> By: Robi http://www.fifteensquared.net/2011/02/25/guardian-25255-bonxie/#comment-152154 Robi Sat, 26 Feb 2011 11:56:43 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=26903#comment-152154 Didn’t have time yesterday for this. I found it a struggle, making me more bad-tempered as I proceeded. Half the time I solved the clue without properly parsing it, so thanks Eileen for a nice blog.

I obviously need more experience as ether=number was new to me, and made me groan out loud when I saw Pat@12′s comment.

Still not sure I understand TOKEN=clue; perhaps someone can give me an appropriate phrase to show the meaning.

]]> By: RCWhiting http://www.fifteensquared.net/2011/02/25/guardian-25255-bonxie/#comment-152085 RCWhiting Fri, 25 Feb 2011 23:53:05 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=26903#comment-152085 I agree this was the toughest this week.
Very enjoyable, I was defeated only by 2d where Bonxie enveigled me into the usual I or me rather than ‘alias’.
I was dubious about ‘a percentage’ as a definition for ‘commission’ but it is in Chambers.(16a)

]]> By: MikeC http://www.fifteensquared.net/2011/02/25/guardian-25255-bonxie/#comment-152084 MikeC Fri, 25 Feb 2011 23:43:42 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=26903#comment-152084 Thanks Eileen for an excellent blog, and Bonxie for a stiff but fair puzzle. Carrots, I was licked as well (and not by fluorescent/flourescent golfers) – for some reason 24a, cert as banker, passed me by (and there were others I guessed but could not explain adequately). Not enough pints . . . or too many??

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