Comments on: Guardian 25,537 – Bonxie

By: tupu

tupu — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:47:14 +0000

re 24a
I did not notice the w+ idea but simply saw that easel (propper) and weasel (popper) rhymed as per instructions.

By: Trebor

Trebor — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:15:07 +0000

Eileen @24
On reflection there is indeed very few references!
Perhaps I solved those consecutively and imagined a theme.

By: tupu

tupu — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:41:06 +0000

Thanks Andrew and Bonxie

Late back after day out at Hockney exhibition (quite amazing) so late blog.

I found this clever puzzle entertaining but hard and was held up for quite a time with the SE corner. I only saw prig as HA after deciding it was the right answer.

I was (mi)sled by 1 a. and thought it was a Grauniad typo for heave pledge.

By: mrs t

mrs t — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:45:39 +0000

Three taxing, rewarding puzzles on the run. Thanks to setters and bloggers.

Thank heavenly Hugh now the `fold` issue`s sorted.

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:42:25 +0000

Chambers gives Grundy and origin.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:33:04 +0000

I’ve been out for most of the day, so I’ve a bit of catching up to do.

Re 27ac: I didn’t know Mrs Grundy meaning prig and, like Mitz, I was temporarily beguiled by the Archers’ Clarrie [and the new Mrs Grundy, Nic] and then wondered about the wife of Solomon, who was married on Wednesday [with no further information about his wife] – before [ping!] seeing that PRIG was hidden in uPRIGht and then a bit of googling led me to Wikipedia’s, “There is an 18th century English play by Thomas Morton called Speed-the-Plough, which gave the world the character of that arch-prude Mrs.Grundy.”

Paul B “And what the hell is a tardigrade?” Yes, that’s what I thought but ‘water bear’ was so obviously the definition that, of course, it only needed googlimg to find out abourt this amazing creature: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUC0_HjNFBs which I’m now ashamed never to have heard of.

Hi Trebor @23

I only spotted NEONATAL and PREGNANT – and I don’t think they really constitute a theme. COTTON WOOL might be involved, I suppose. [I’ll just add that I was fairly 25dnd that my fourth-born weighed 9lbs 13 in old money. What more can I say than that I’m glad he was not 21,20.

By: Trebor

Trebor — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:43:27 +0000

Is it just me or are there quite a few references to birth / pregnancy?

By: Paul B

Paul B — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:00:13 +0000

Re 16A the definition is somewhat reliant on the idea that we solvers are all really savvy, in that we know that answers ‘emerge’ ‘after’ we have engaged in a bit of unravelling. Butterflies emerge too, don’t they. So we’re all happy.

And what the hell is a tardigrade? I found out today of course, but well, really.

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:59:40 +0000

Neil W
They are. You do have to be so careful on this MB to spell out every thought in precise detail.
I was quite happy with 16ac but judged by the nit-picking which usually follows any but the most extensive and precise definition I did expect some comments on ‘it emerges’= butterfly.

By: Mitz

Mitz — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:29:44 +0000

Good work chas!