Comments on: Guardian Quiptic 590 / Hectence

By: Derek Law

Derek Law — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 16:31:49 +0000

Derek, it's a little disingenuous of you to quote Wikipedia's definition of the obscure vegetable root chervil, yet leave out its description of the really rather well-known herb: "chervil is used to season poultry, seafood, and young vegetables. It is particularly popular in France, where it is added to omelettes, salads and soups." You'll not get far in crossword land without knowing the names of plants!

By: Derek Lazenby

Derek Lazenby — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 21:22:24 +0000

You guys are too good to understand what makes a good Quiptic. It takes someone who is almost a beginner to do that. The opinion of the class dummy therefore is that this was rubbish as a Quiptic. It took twice as long as Rufus, broke the rules as noted above, and included uncommon words. I vaguely know IMBRAGLIO, but don’t know anyone that uses it, and how many have heard of CHERVIL? Wikipedia talking of Root Chervil says “Now virtually forgotten in Britain…”. The other forms are hardly common, I can make no recollection of hearing it used in any TV recipe (I have to humour the wife by having cookery programs on), and if it has been, it can’t have been that often, and I certainly wouldn’t have heard it elsewhere as I hate gardening and don’t cook. I wonder how many fast food eating tower block dwellers sympathise with me?

By: Big Dave

Big Dave — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 21:19:37 +0000

@Angstony

I wondered the same, especially as there are two other across clues (16 and 23) that use “top” to indicate an initial letter.

By: Angstony

Angstony — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 21:00:48 +0000

Thanks Big Dave and Hectence.

It seems odd that this puzzle has two across clues featuring reversal indicators for down clues, and yet none of the down clues do. Surely it would have been trivial to reorient the puzzle so that the clues all made sense. Or maybe Hectence intended the crossword to be presented the other way and the fact it wasn’t is an editorial error.

By: Robi

Robi — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 12:50:21 +0000

P.S. Like Big Dave, I don’t like use of ‘up’ to indicate a reversal; surely, this should be reserved for down clues, especially in a beginner puzzle like the Quiptic.

By: Robi

Robi — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 12:47:55 +0000

Thanks Hectence and Big Dave for his usually good pictorial blog .

I don’t really agree with the comment: ‘I found nothing particularly noteworthy in this workmanlike puzzle.’ I thought SPROG and ALLOTMENT were good. Strange that EMBRACE is in both this and today’s Rufus – I wonder how often such a coincidence occurs. Unfortunately, I didn’t get UNFORTUNATELY until I had all the crossing letters – thought it was something to do with UNESCO or some such.

Overall, I thought this was just about right for a Quiptic and I enjoyed solving it (although I’m not much of an expert.)

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 09:07:22 +0000

Thank you, Dave, for a very clear blog.

I enjoyed this one as a warm up to the Indy puzzle, and thought it ticked most of the boxes for a Quiptic. I liked ALLOTMENT in particular.

Perhaps as you say a little anagram-heavy, but I suppose if a setter’s trying to keep it simple, then that’s the easiest way to signpost a solution for an inexperienced solver.

I couldn’t quite parse METEOROLOGIST so was grateful for your O = sphere connection. I don’t like it much either.