Comments on: Guardian 25,279 / Araucaria

By: William

William — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 09:34:02 +0000

Thank you Eileen, finished but certainly needed your blog for explanations.

Surprised no one else stumbled with “Peter is reliable” for which I enetered ROCK bearing in mind the setters ecumenical background.

Another toughie in a tough week for me.

By: stiofain

stiofain — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 23:28:50 +0000

Sometimes the comments are as good as the crossword.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 22:26:56 +0000

Yes, this was a nice Araucaria.
Not very hard, but a bit more challenging than, for example, the puzzle that will be reviewed in two hours time (and in which things fell too quickly in place).

Ian @11 had ABELE (10ac) as his last one – it was my first.
‘Abeel’ is a very common word in Dutch for a rattling tree.

Some (for us, unknown) solutions were clear from the construction (DASTARDY, BULLDOG DRUMMOND), some were clear as a solution but needed explanation afterwards (like OLIVE OIL or SAPPER).
Which made this puzzle a bit more ‘exciting’ than, let’s say, yesterday’s Chifonie.

Great to see that Araucaria still takes his liberties (eg in ‘Retranslation’).

Very un-Araucarian to use the same thing twice: U for ‘turn’ in 9ac ánd 2d, which was a nice anagram find.
In the latter the dismissal of U could have been clued by ‘not suitable for everyone’ (or something like that) instead of ‘turn off’, making it, in my opinion, (even) better.

We liked 14d (AGGRESSORS).
While I saw AGG rightaway, I didn’t think of more capitals.
When the penny dropped, I wasn’t happy with “we started it”.
Maybe, Araucaria should have said “we started it all”.
But then yours truly would probably have been grumpy about Araucaria using “it all” twice in this puzzle …..

Thank you, Eileen.
Tahnk you, Araucaria, for a fine crossword.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 20:15:08 +0000

Hi Mij

Many thanks for the lovely pictures. Been there! My late husband, Harry, always loved the King Harry ferry!

By: Mij

Mij — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:32:20 +0000

Hi Eileen

Thanks for your excellent blog. Regarding the use of “roads” for anchorage in 18 ac, here in Cornwall we have the Carrick Roads – a large anchorage in the estuary of the river Fal. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrick_Roads for some pictures.

By: tupu

tupu — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 17:35:27 +0000

Re Paladins

see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paladin

Oliver’s best friend among the Paladins was Roland of the Song of Roland. They fought but neither vanquished the other, hence the expression ‘A Roland for an Oliver’ – two equally matched champions.

The name Roland is another form of the name of our dear setter Orlando.

Paladin is a close cognate of Palatine.

The Paladins were celebrated in medieval song and their stories at one time apparently rivalled those of the Knights of the Round Table in popularity.

By: Dave Ellison

Dave Ellison — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 17:29:25 +0000

Strange isn’t it? Yesterday’s I found quite tough when many found it easy, but today’s I found easier and was pleased to finish in one sitting (though I couldn’t explain a couple of them, so thanks, Eileen, for the help).

By: Derek Lazenby

Derek Lazenby — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 17:04:50 +0000

Hard work and got stuck on 10, never heard of it.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:58:35 +0000

Hi muck

I see what you mean but I think I took it, with the ellipsis, as meaning ‘more like a squid than a crab’.

By: muck

muck — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:53:36 +0000

Thanks Eileen. I needed your explanation of 18dn OLIVE OIL I had to Google BULLDOG DRUMMOND to get SAPPER (which I still don't understand, tho' there are numerous Xrefs). I was a little iffy about OCTOPUS being 'more like a squid': they are both cephalopod molluscs, but the latter has two extra arms. It's a bit like saying a spider is more like an insect.