Comments on: Guardian 25,402 – Puck

By: maarvarq

maarvarq — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 00:50:24 +0000

I thought 6ac (others’ COD) was cheating somewhat, particularly as “me” wasn’t bolded in my paper – the reversal indicator is clearly attached to “me”, not to the “big bra size”.

By: tupu

tupu — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:19:18 +0000

Many thanks Ian, Ann and Puck – missed it completely!

By: caretman

caretman — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:12:04 +0000

Rats, that was my second guess.

By: Puck

Puck — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 23:11:41 +0000

Ian @ 26 and Ann @ 27 have it sussed between you. Four rivers and four dances, and Ian was just missing the Orange. Theme Song has no relevance though, and the Cars idea is lovely but a complete coincidence.

By: Ann Kittenplan

Ann Kittenplan — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 22:57:54 +0000

The mystery theme. Cars? Sirocco, Morris Marina (hmmm), Seat Bolero, Volvo Amazon. A bit of a stretch. I’m going with RIVER DANCE as suggested by IanN14. And I’ve just learned that the Orange River is the longest river in South Africa.

By: IanN14

IanN14 — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 22:45:25 +0000

Surely it’s to do with 1,3d. Rivers (Test, Plate, Amazon) and Dances (Morris, Bolero, Hustle, Fling)?
Any more?
I don’t have time to check if there’s a River Thursday…
And does Theme Tune have any relevence?

By: caretman

caretman — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 22:34:34 +0000

Wait, there’s a subtle theme? Ah, I see! The first and last lines read “Remedying Puck test theme song.” So obviously there’s an anagram of ‘Puck test’ meaning ‘theme song’, and an anagram of ‘Puck test’ is, er, STUCK PET? Brilliant!

By: William

William — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 22:31:21 +0000

Puck @22. Thank you for dropping in, always nice to hear from our tormentors. Sorry, but failed with the theme, do tell.

Thanks again for a delightful distraction.

By: Puck

Puck — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:59:43 +0000

Thanks to Uncle Yap for the blog, and to others for your comments.

Ann @22, the bold type in the clue for 6ac is purely in there for the surface reading – it would indeed have worked fine without.

No-one seems to have spotted the subtle hidden theme. Too subtle, probably, and certainly not as clever and sophisticated as the one in today’s Monk in the Indy. That puzzle’s well worth a look if you’ve not tried it yet.

By: Ann Kittenplan

Ann Kittenplan — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:02:47 +0000

Thanks to Puck and UY. Extra special mention to Wysawyg for revealing THOME SENG. Exactly the sort of contortion I can relate to. Some of the nonsense I venture before the answer goes in For the first time in a while I didn’t finish. PLAINTS – I fell for the tennis courts, and (in contrast to Rosmarinus) PUCK stumped me. Incidentally why the bold ‘me’, wouldn’t the clue have worked with plain type?