Comments on: Guardian 25,422 – Araucaria

By: FlutterBy

FlutterBy — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 08:53:26 +0000

Probably rather late to post this comment, but I need to get it off my chest!!!

I feel my favourite setter has let himself down with REDHEAD. It’s just TOO topical. Anyone trying this crossword in a year’s time (or later still) will struggle to work out the Rebekah reference. For me, crosswords should be timeless, especially now we have online archives of them. References to famous artists, prime ministers and whatnot are fine. But Rebekah Brooks is a flash in the pan who will soon disappear into obscurity – I sincerely hope.

Other than that, a very enjoyable puzzle. HOMEOWNER made my laugh out loud.

By: Davy

Davy — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 21:02:00 +0000

Thanks Andrew,

This was much easier than yesterday’s Arachne which I failed to complete by seven white spaces. The first FH I got was BEARD which led easily to all of the others. My last clue in was JELLYBY which I guessed….eventually and checked it on Google.

This was quite an enjoyable puzzle but not one of Arry’s best.

By: g larsen

g larsen — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 20:54:17 +0000

Thanks Andrew.

Very satisfying puzzle, even if fairly straightforward by Araucaria’s standard.

I got the theme quickly – I don’t think my own FH helped in the process.

Many thanks to jackkt@13 for enlightening me about ‘Oban’: a house near me is so named, and I had innocently assumed it was the home of an exiled Highlander!

By: Mr Beaver

Mr Beaver — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 20:36:39 +0000

Robi and Derek – I think a LASER being a ‘concentration’ of light, while not being scientifically accurate, is close enough to make it obvious that was the required answer. You can’t expect these humanities types to grasp the finer points of technology, after all
Anyway, we thoroughly enjoyed this – several answers made us laugh (LOL, if not ROFL). I particularly enjoyed TECO as ‘heartless supermarket’ after learning yesterday that Harrogate is to lose its cherished status as the only mainland postcode without a Tesco superstore

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 20:35:54 +0000

Of course it could be the juice of the laserwort,that needs concentrating,it’s very weak.

By: Derek Lazenby

Derek Lazenby — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 17:11:15 +0000

Sorry late, ISP died whilst I was solving.

Gosh! Actually finished my second special instructions puzzle. Most times I find them impenetrable

I’d go further than Robi. I think concentration is wrong. There is no way the word can be validly used to refer to the laser process. You can get get away with concentrated as loose description of a laser beam though. The beam is created as a concentrated beam, but no “un-concentrated” (sorry) light undergoes concentration. If you wanted to refer to the strength of the beam that would be it’s intensity, not it’s concentration.

By: Robi

Robi — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 16:44:59 +0000

Not my cup of tea; too many references to things I know little about.

Thanks, Andrew; I don’t think ‘requires concentration’ is an adequate description of LASER, although I missed the ha anyway. I quite like COMICAL now that it has been explained, even if MIC isn’t exactly right (should have used minimum inhibitory concentration instead!) Didn’t know DIVES even though I did ‘O’-level Latin; the biblical reference didn’t help.

All in all this put me in a grumpy mood, so I’ll have to go and find some solace with Bacchus later.

By: liz

liz — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 14:25:10 +0000

Thanks for the blog, Andrew. An enjoyable Araucaria, which I completed fairly quickly, but didn’t manage to parse completely. Thanks for explaining MIC in 2dn, DIVES and the Trenet reference (knew the song but not the singer…).

My way into the FH theme was BEARD.

By: grandpuzzler

grandpuzzler — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 14:05:05 +0000

Thanks Andrew and Araucaria. Didn’t get the mini-theme until I was 3/4 through the puzzle. Embarassing since I had a goatee in the 60′s, mutton chops in the 70′s and a handlebar moustache for the last 30 years. Learned a lot in this puzzle: DIVES, JELLYBY, RUFUS, and SIDE meaning conceit. Thanks for the education.

Cheers…

By: gm4hqf

gm4hqf — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 14:01:00 +0000

Thanks Andrew and Araucaria. Nice to get back to sensible clues after the contortions of the last couple of days.

Admitted this was not one of the most difficult puzzles but the DOR in DORMANT was a new one to me.

COMICAL was obvious but thanks for explaining the MIC part.