Comments on: Guardian Cryptic 25525 Tramp

By: ernie

ernie — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:07:20 +0000

Thanks scchua and Tramp. Would not normally come in this late but just to check if PeeDee@50 recognises that MOAB IS MY WASHPOT is somewhere in The Bible (Old Testament?). I assume SF chose it because it sounds both interesting and quirky at the same time.

By: PeeDee

PeeDee — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:29:23 +0000

Thanks scchua and Tramp, super puzzle and blog.

I was really hoping someone would tell me what “MOAB WAS MY WASHPOT” is all about. Just a joke by Fry to see how much time people waste trying to come up with an explanation?

I had never heard of the phrase but wrote it in any without any hope whatsoever of it being correct, then what do you know, it is correct after all!

By: bagbird

bagbird — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:28:38 +0000

I am running behind after some recent puzzles took up far too much time.
Tramp, this was a delight and has restored my enjoyment of crosswords. And I didn’t have to google anything, for once. Thank you!

By: Davy

Davy — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 08:41:53 +0000

Forgot to say, I thought TOOTHBRUSH was very Rufus-like.

By: DROPO

DROPO — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 01:37:03 +0000

Well, I liked TOOTHBRUSH Good puzzle – I missed only “IRAQI” because I’d never heard of “QI.” (I’m an American addict of English crosswords, and my limited knowledge sometimes gets me almost far enough.)

By: Trebor

Trebor — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 01:17:28 +0000

Good puzzle again from Tramp.

I vaguely recall some sort of quote from SF when discussing his reputed intelligence that went along the lines of [obviously paraphrasing]: “…I can do The Times crossword faster than anyone I know…” so it’s fairly likely that news of this puzzle will reach him.

By: Davy

Davy — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:51:25 +0000

Thanks scchua,

An interesting and very entertaining puzzle from Tramp, with quite a bit of tricky wordplay. I put BRAISE (cook) in but failed to see the BSE/Angus connection. Very well-disguised indeed. Took me far too long to get the catechisms anagram also.

So many good clues so I’ll select a few favourites such as RECLAIMED (medical ground was excellent), LASTINGLY (superb surface) and PIMP (simple but effective).

I enjoyed the theme also but didn’t know the Fry book although the clue led me to the answer.

Great stuff Tramp. Looking forward to your next outing.

By: Ian W.

Ian W. — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:36:56 +0000

Thanks, Tramp, for the crossword, and scchua for the blog. But re your commentary on 24d, solicitors don’t wear wigs, barristers do — and they’re horse hair, not silk.

By: Tramp

Tramp — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:06:00 +0000

Paul B

Doublethink — that’s a super clue

By: tupu

tupu — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 21:57:05 +0000

Hi amulk et al

re charades. Apologies. I should have checked through the searching facility – the term appears much more commonly than I remembered, and is particularly common in PeterO’s blog of Paul 22/12/11.