Comments on: Financial Times 13,646 by Cinephile

By: Pete Maclean

Pete Maclean — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 22:13:17 +0000

Wil, That’s a very good point about 1ac. Thank you!

By: Wil Ransome

Wil Ransome — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 22:07:04 +0000

Pete I agree with you about the weakness of some of this. What nobody has said, though, is that in 1ac ‘two short planks’ doesn’t mean ‘very thick’. Certainly there is an expression ‘as thick as two short planks’ but to equate the two bits seems just wrong. It’s like saying that ‘toast’ is a definition of ‘warm’, or that ‘a cucumber’ is a definition of ‘cool’.

By: bamberger

bamberger — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 05:32:13 +0000

Jan
Great link -thanks

By: Pete Maclean

Pete Maclean — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 22:57:46 +0000

I am inclined to agree that biblical references are unfair. It’s the kind of thing that makes it too easy if you know the reference and too hard if you don’t. That said, I would forgive the “WRITING ON THE WALL” clue here because, as far as I know, the Belshazzar-Daniel thing is the origin of the expression.

By: Jan

Jan — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 22:57:21 +0000

Thanks, Pete. I didn’t help myself by entering SOLFA instead of SOLAR and then had to rethink it later.

Bamberger, I agree that the ‘Daniel’ clues were rather obscure if you’re not familiar with the Bible story. I well remember ‘Tene, tene, tekel, upharsin’, from school lessons.

I found this quirky version of the story, written for children, … http://www.essex1.com/people/paul/bible13d.html

By: bamberger

bamberger — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 19:41:38 +0000

I took one look at this and was immediately put off by the Belshazzar to Daniel clues. I googled but was none the wiser. How precisely do you get “WRITING ON THE WALL” and “WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN” please? I think it is plain unfair to put biblical references in.

As thick as two short planks was well known to me.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:55:20 +0000

Pete @ 5

I always do puzzles offline, at least initially, and – in this case – I was able to get all the answers without resort to any computer assistance.

Like Scarpia, I am familiar with the phrase ‘as thick as two short planks’ possibly by virtue of my Oldham background.

By: Pete Maclean

Pete Maclean — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:14:44 +0000

Bryan, I was not familiar with the story of Belshazzar and Daniel either but quickly found the answers on Wikipedia.

By: Scarpia

Scarpia — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 08:03:30 +0000

Thanks Pete.
I enjoyed this puzzle,which I thought contained plenty of Cinephile’s usual wit.
I can see your point re. GORBALS but I must admit,when solving the puzzle,it didn’t bother me.
My only(minor) quibble would be over the two long clues 16/29 and 2/25.If you are familiar with the Biblical story they were rather easy and opened up a large part of the puzzle.

I’m surprised that you’ve not come across the phrase ‘as thick as two short planks’(meaning stupid) it’s very common around here.
Regional differences I suppose.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 05:51:05 +0000

Many thanks Pete

I really enjoyed this which was served up on the same day that The Grauniad presented an Araucaria. A Great Double but I considered this to be the easier of the two.

At first reading, I was rather intimidated by encountering Belshazzar and Daniel – whoever they are – but I was able to succeed anyway.

Thanks Cinephile!