Comments on: Guardian Prize No 25,490 by Shed

By: bridgesong

bridgesong — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:34:30 +0000

Rather belatedly, thanks all for your comments. Perhaps I was unduly harsh about DRONGO and GYNAECOMASTIA, as nobody else seems to have been particularly bothered.

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:04:06 +0000

Genette
That’s where I have heard it! Not British sitcoms but sitcoms on British TV. Thanks.
Back in the 70/80s I had two young daughters who were obsessed with Kylie and Jason and a lot rubbed off on me.

By: Genette

Genette — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 18:48:43 +0000

“Drongo” was commonly heard on ‘Neighbours’ and ‘Home and Away’ so is familiar to anyone who grew up when they were required viewing for schoolkids!
I had “indigence” for 14a, though I can’t remember what my thought process was – not good enough, obviously.

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 16:12:57 +0000

I found ‘drongo’ very familiar (I am not Australian).
Isn’t it used often in British sitcoms where other more offensive terms are banned? It is nicely onomatopoeic and about the same severity as Del Boy’s famous ‘plonker, Rodney’.

By: Paul B

Paul B — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 13:05:00 +0000

I can’t see any reason why MAN BOOBS wouldn’t be supported in Chambers. Under BRASSIERE I mean.

By: dunsscotus

dunsscotus — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 10:08:59 +0000

Thanks to Shed and Bridgesong, particularly for the help with Edward Lear. I used Chambers for ‘gyna-’ words, which I don’t feel bad about.

I agree with RCW about 18d, which was my favourite: ‘By yon bonny banks and by yon bonny braes, where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond’. Memories of school music lessons!

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 22:39:44 +0000

Thanks all
Nobody has mentioned 18d, which I thought was brilliant.
No complaints at all and I thought it was averagely difficult for a prize puzzle.

By: Mr Beaver

Mr Beaver — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 19:21:48 +0000

We gave up on ARMIGER and PRETEND, though the latter was perfectly getable.

9d was new to me, but I didn’t think it out of order (except in the sense of it being an anagram ). Having the Y from 11a, and the letters, a beginning of GYNAE seemed likely, then it was just a matter of checking the dictionary, which I feel is quite legit. for an obscurity.
MAN-BOOBS I would have thought is in common parlance (accepting that readers here are far from common folk ), and DRONGO almost as much so – in fact wasn’t it in a Gruaniad crossword recently ?

By: fearsome

fearsome — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 13:21:16 +0000

Thanks for the post. I found this crossword quite tough. The clue that had me stumped me for ages was Drongo, as I was unfamiliar with both the word and the Edward Lear poem.

By: r_c_a_d

r_c_a_d — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 09:59:30 +0000

Thanks for the blog.

I too guessed GYNA and looked it up at the end. But I am not happy with MANBOOBS since I couldn’t find any reference to it as a single word.

Found some of the other clues quite fun and some a bit painful. Very much a mixed bag, but I would probably have said this was a good puzzle if only 23a had been written as (3-5) instead of (8).