Comments on: Guardian Prize Puzzle No 25,358 by Araucaria

By: molonglo

molonglo — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 22:21:47 +0000

Thanks bridgesong. Nothing too hard here, except the last in, the guessable AMANITA. The 5,4 ROOK SPAWN numbering of 10a was really distracting, really good. I got 14a, missing the ghastly pun; and 5d without seeing how the ‘see’ worked. I suppose one could win the prize for this puzzle even lacking these insights.

By: EB

EB — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 13:25:26 +0000

Thanks bridgesong and, of course, Araucaria.

Thoroughly enjoyable as usual from Araucaria – lots of good stuff, Seven Dials no problem for me as someone I know owns a restaurant there; for anyone who is in London and likes their steak (other dishes are available) it is highly recommended:

http://www.thehawksmoor.co.uk/home.php

As for the crossword I thought 1ac was superb and reminded me of another clue (again Araucaria I think) from a long time ago:

1ac Medal winner here (8,5)

By: Tokyo Colin

Tokyo Colin — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 12:53:56 +0000

Thanks bridgesong. There seem to be two camps for this one. I belong in the one which enjoyed Rook’s Pawn (and many others of course) but had to resort to googling random combinations to stumble across Seven Dials. Not even a hint of recognition for me.

In fact Rook’s Pawn was one of my first in. The mismatch between the (5,4) in the clue and the (4,5) had me thinking about a possessive ‘s’. Eggs starting with S – spawn. Pawn and sideboard – Rook’s pawn. Easy when the guesses work.

I think my COD was 13dn. A big chuckle on that one.

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 10:45:18 +0000

Thanks all
Very enjoyable as always.
My only quibble would be that just “area” seems a bit vague for non-Londoners. A friend persisted with ‘seven hills’ for some time so even a hint that it was a GB area would have helped. To be fair,I did get it quite soon through ‘facet’ although it is only barely known to me.

By: Stella Heath

Stella Heath — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 09:48:31 +0000

Thanks Bridgesong.

There were some rather cryptic definitions here, which added to the enjoyment once the answer was found.

I had no problem with SEVEN DIALS, which sprung to mind immediately I had a few crossing letters, though I only knew it from the song quoted in your Wiki link. There was a time I knew Iolanthe by heart.

I liked 1 and 10,15ac, and 14d.

Thank you Araucaria.

By: rrc

rrc — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 09:39:28 +0000

I took this on a trip to Lands End and managed to complete except for 5d and 7d. Never heard of 5d (is this another example of London bias) even the word play on this was not obvious.

By: Wolfie

Wolfie — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 09:18:24 +0000

I too failed on ‘Seven Dials’ but found much to enjoy in this crossword. I was highly amused by 14ac. My only quibble was with 9ac. The title of the Goldsmith poem is ‘THE Deserted Village’, so the clueing here is unfair and inaccurate – even though it was the first one in for me. Thank you to Bridgesong for the blog, and for elucidating 5d.

By: Davy

Davy — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 08:47:27 +0000

Thanks bridgesong,

I found this very enjoyable…eventually as it took me a long time to get into. I failed on SEVEN DIALS which I considered as an answer but couldn’t see the wordplay. I don’t think I’ve ever seen V for ‘see’ before and the answer meant absolutely nothing to me anyway. I also failed on ROOK SPAWN which I think was further complicated by the 4,5 split. I should have thought of spawn but I was obsessed with ‘oo’ being the eggs. Just excuses I suppose. My favourite clue was definitely ONE ACROSS which was very clever. Thanks Arry.

By: tupu

tupu — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 07:41:23 +0000

Thanks bridgesong and Araucaria

A very enjoyable puzzle.

I too liked ‘Rook’s pawn’ and ‘Starlight’.

‘Corncrake’, ‘Potpourri’ and ‘Hung over’ also amused. I noticed the extra idea in 17d but treated it as simply a little bonus.

I managed to work out ‘Amanita’, ‘Seven Dials’ and ‘Pullulate’ though not familiar with them.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 05:43:19 +0000

Many thanks Bridgesong & Araucaria, this was very enjoyable.

I’d never heard of DESERTED VILLAGE so thanks to Google I was able to finish this at a gallop.

We have a SEVEN DIALS here in Brighton which, for me, is more famous than the one in Covent Garden although, funnily enough, I often go to the Royal Opera House – thanks to a good friend of mine who lets me use his box. I have discovered that watching a ballet for free adds to the enjoyment.