Comments on: Guardian 25,468 – Brummie

By: morpheus

morpheus — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 21:24:23 +0000

@stumped I strongly suspect EC refers to European Community (now since the Lisbon Treaty superseded by the European Union) not European Commission, though euro-sceptics would no doubt consider that latter body redundant as well.

By: Wanderer

Wanderer — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 21:20:56 +0000

A pedant writes: I don’t think Brummie can have intended YSSEY to equate to European Commission at 25a. The Commission is far from redundant! I think the redundant European body is the European Community (or European Communities) which replaced the European Economic Community and which became redundant on the signature of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009. I seem to remember I once had a (British) passport with European Community on it; now, of course, it says European Union.

By: Paul B

Paul B — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 20:40:44 +0000

Or perhaps it is the spending that should be ours, and we should not merely spend.

By: Paul B

Paul B — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 20:39:18 +0000

We should spend time that is ours, you see. We should not merely spend time.

By: dunsscotus

dunsscotus — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 20:05:53 +0000

I notice the my/me controversy rumbles on, but with a lack of analysis, so … Dear Martin. The reason for preferring ‘my’ is presumably that ‘spending’ is being construed as noun-like (i.e. a gerund). Using ‘me’ would therefore imply that ‘spending’ is being construed as verb-like (a participial construction I’d imagine.)

So, Martin, is it such a crime to construe ‘spending’ as a verbal form? I think not. Live and let live.

By: Paul B

Paul B — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:22:45 +0000

Hang on: Eve: she on way! … no? Oh all right then.

By: Paul B

Paul B — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:20:32 +0000

I remember discussing with some crooked old Guardian compilers the possibilities of clueing YES WE HAVE NO BANANAS using the fruit as the implied anagind, and we decided right there and then that it couldn’t be done in a satisfactory way. No? Well, NO is the difficulty with Brummie’s take on it, as the pesky thing appears in both the fodder and the answer.

I’ve just slapped the phrase into my anagram machine, made by NHS abortion eh? (5-8), and it still doesn’t look any good …

By: Jan

Jan — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:02:35 +0000

Thanks for the blog, Uncle Y.

(Please – what is a hash run? You keep doing one and I worry that you are involved in nefarious dealings. )

I got really annoyed with this crossword – sorry, Brummie. The clue that really irritated was …

14,7 London’s Games near collapsing – a brilliant anagram wasted with a trite definition – a game song.

By: Will Mc

Will Mc — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 17:36:34 +0000

Don’t worry UY,I wouldn’t pronounce Odyssey ODD-E-C either, I’d say od-uh-see.

By: Uncle Yap

Uncle Yap — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:21:57 +0000

Just came back from a fantastic hash run. I fell three times due to slippery conditions, brought about by the rain that fell before, during and after the run. But I enjoyed the spills and the thrills ….

Come to today’s puzzle, as a non-native, I always struggle to fully understand homophone clues … but, coming to ODYSSEY which is a three-syllabled word pronounced as ORD DEE SEE. The purist like Eileen would say it should be pronounced as ORD EE SEE (ala Brummie), but non-natives like Uncle Yap would say that the first syllable ORD has such a strong lingering effect that it overcomes the second syllable.

martin @ 6, solly, this chinaman no speakee england good good