Comments on: Guardian 25,517 – Brendan

By: Huw Powell

Huw Powell — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:41:49 +0000

This was some nice work by Brendan – as some said, looking at the across clues was very daunting, got a few downs, then sat down today and tried to get my head better wrapped around the nature of the “theme” clues, and managed to twig 14 and 18, which then changes the difficulty level from “head scratching” to “amusing romp”, since not only do they “clue” at least half the acrosses, but they also provide a solid anchor of checked letters for the down clues.

Median was doing exactly right regarding his explication of 22, until at the end he made the earth spin the wrong way. As the globe revolves, the west does indeed move to the east. Which is why the sun rises there.

Many thanks to Brendan, Manehi, and those who fully explicated 6!

By: David W

David W — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:03:15 +0000

RCWhiting @ #24

I think we must agree to differ about the point where we cease to admire a clue for its clever construction, and instead come to despise it because we think the setter was cheating!

By: Stella Heath

Stella Heath — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 23:07:03 +0000

A common confusion, Brendan, which didn’t bother me.

thanks for dropping by to comment.

By: Brendan

Brendan — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 21:31:02 +0000

As Kipling didn’t say, “East is West, and West is East”.

I blundered, my apologies.

By: Tony

Tony — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 20:40:31 +0000

7d – I don’t think deter means stop. To deter is to persuade someone to stop but whether they stop or not is their decision.

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 19:55:45 +0000

David @22
“unlike Boatman’s use of punctuation yesterday to introduce false information about the relationships of the words.”
Surely that is exactly the point of a cryptic clue.

By: DROPO

DROPO — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 19:44:19 +0000

A good puzzle. I agree that 22a makes no astronomical sense, but since it couldn’t be anything but WEST TO EAST in a crossword sense, I gave up worrying. I got all but two (THRUSH and SWAPS SIDES, which are fair and appropriately baffling

By: David W

David W — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:46:02 +0000

I found this puzzle a struggle, but a more satisfying one than yesterday’s. I got stuck for a long time in the NW as I had 3 as “alliterate”, through being mislead by the initial Ls. That was a clever trap in my view, and a fair one – unlike Boatman’s use of punctuation yesterday to introduce false information about the relationships of the words.

By: tupu

tupu — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:15:50 +0000

Hi Apple Granny

Lapper is in my 1998 Chambers and also in Collins with this meaning of lap as wrap or enfold. It didn’t immediately strike me as right before checking it but it clearly is so. The commonest use of ‘lap’ in this sense is perhaps in ‘overlap’, and there are several other related ideas of enclosure as in ‘sitting on someone’s lap’ and in a lap (complete round) of a track.

By: Median

Median — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 16:58:30 +0000

morpheus @16, about the rotation of the earth. You’re right. I don’t know what came over me. I should stick to crosswords.