Comments on: Guardian Cryptic 25506 Tramp

By: Tramp

Tramp — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 15:23:03 +0000

Roger

Not sure if you’re still watching but I actually work for GSK too — the ENO was a reference to E Number.

By: Roger @ gsk

Roger @ gsk — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 07:11:49 +0000

I’m intrigued to see to comments about ENO. Although this is one of the many brands we have at GSK, I also assumed the ref was to an e number. If you can forgive the plug, ENO is available in pharmacies and many supermarkets in UK. It is brilliant to get you through the party season. Great puzzle by the way. Loved saggiest and snap, not keen on niggle.

By: sidey

sidey — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:35:01 +0000

Having the wrong mental image of Seinfeld I confidently enter SILD, didn’t help. A puzzle, in my limited time, I would have much preferred as a replacement for some of the recent prize puzzles.

And I think that Tramp is well beyond the “reminds me of…” stage. He has his own style which should be more worthy of comment.

By: chainsawpete

chainsawpete — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:16:09 +0000

Well, as long as Tramp is listening…I’m American and many of the solvers are spread around the world. It’s always pleasant to see a puzzle like this one that avoids football players and cricket terms. LAGNIAPPE was no problem, though SNAP was a guess. Enjoyable. Not too easy, not too hard.

By: jim T

jim T — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:14:22 +0000

Enjoyed this very much. TOILET TRAINING (my last answer) was superb.

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:04:57 +0000

Re: opah
This was one of the first I solved, not because I am an expert on US TV stars but precisely because I am not.
Consequently Oprah was the only one I knew,it had 5 letters and it was with little confidence that I checked opah in Chambers. It produced that wonderful sense of amazement that one gets regularly from Azed: wow,such an unlikely word actually exists and furthermore means exactly what I had hoped.

By: Derek Lazenby

Derek Lazenby — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 19:33:20 +0000

I was intending to ask who but a demented gibbon on acid would have ever heard of opah or lagniappe, but it seems the clever so and so’s here have. Oh well, scrap that idea.

At my level of solving this would have been utterly impossibe without gadgetry so I don’t think Tramp should worry unduly about it being too easy.

For all that it was still fun.

By: Tramp

Tramp — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 19:25:45 +0000

NeilW

It wasn’t a conscious effort to write shorter clues, it’s just the way they turned out. There’s plenty more of long ones (and short ones) to come.

By: chas

chas — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 18:47:26 +0000

Thanks to EB and Mitz.

You have shown that my memory may be a bit spotty nowadays but I do still remember things.
Now I can look back and check up on the potter I am half remembering.

By: NeilW

NeilW — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 18:36:53 +0000

Thanks, all.

Commenting very late for me as I’ve just got in, very late, courtesy of Mr Fernandes so I found the grinning picture particularly “amusing”. (Singapore – Jakarta, Mr F) The only thing to add would be to ask Tramp, given the timeline you describe above and if you’re still around, how come the clues are suddenly so short and “untramplike”? I rather liked your previous style.