Comments on: Independent 7,904 / Scorpion

By: pennes

pennes — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 23:27:28 +0000

Well I’d not finished a Scorpion before in 3 years of doing the indy, so I liked this for that reason, and also because I have at least one cycle tour in France each year. I thought 13 ac was the only iffy clue as I usually come across god’s gift as in “god’s gift to women” , a fellow who rather fancies himself as a ladies’ man, but presumably it has a wider context.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:57:25 +0000

On #16, re 17D, my guess is that the ellipsis was intended as a slight misdirection esp as it wasn’t followed by the usual ellipsis in the following clue.

I think it’s meant to mean “selling for (how much it did sell for)” ie “fetching” which would in that context normally be followed by an amount of money.

By: NealH

NealH — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:05:40 +0000

I find Scorpion’s clues don’t have quite the precision of compilers like Dac and Quixote, which makes it quite tricky sometimes. Examples here were 17, 25 and of course 19. In 17, what exactly is the ellipsis for? That had me thinking for ages that the answer was going to be ellipse or elipsis or some variant form of the word. For 25, I wasn’t convinced about while as a linking word between the two parts of the charade – I was tending to think that it was a containment indicator. For 24, my thought was that it was an &lit because Ely would at one time have been underwater and hence the home of eels. As I understand it, most of that area is land reclaimed from the sea.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:00:53 +0000

Maybe I’m being overly naive, but for me the HEADSPIN clue simply works with definition = dance move, and it’s a dance move that could possibly (question mark) crack your ‘nut’ or head because you’re spinning around on your head on a solid surface. Anyway, it worked for me.

By: Paul B

Paul B — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:44:05 +0000

I think a ‘nutcracker’, in the world of Scorpion, is a heads, or head’s pin, where the pin (a club) is of a rolling variety. In comes Scorpion, the worse for wear, and up jumps the missus with the old rolling pin to give him one round the ears for his trouble.

No?

By: RatkojaRiku

RatkojaRiku — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:14:03 +0000

Thanks to one and all for the explanations: we live and learn! I certainly had never heard of any association between “Ely” and “eels” until today.

I’m still not sure about 19: perhaps Scorpion will drop in later and enlighten us? That clue really has made our heads spin today

By: Pierre

Pierre — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:48:54 +0000

Bien, évidemment this was going to be right up ma rue. I agree with K’sD about the puzzle, but just wanted to add that I have instructed my legal team to pursue Scorpion over the wholly unfounded and scurrilous suggestion in the surface of 25ac.

By: Paul B

Paul B — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:42:21 +0000

Twisting and turning lowland-dwellers originally inhabiting Ely? (4) EE(L)S <

does seem to be taking the form of an &lit, since 'twisting and turning' doesn't define and is in the wrong part of speech for EELS, plus there ain't no definition otherwise. If so then 'twisting and turning' has to be the reversal indicator, which (although obviously modified to help with the sense) might not be the purist's cup of tea, with Ely DBE for SEE (the fact that Ely usually signifies, or has come to signify SEE helps a lot with that, of course).

There is a debate, apparently, about the place-name Ely, within which one camp thinks the word derives from EEL. I don't know whether that helps or hinders the clue to be honest, but Ely itself is actually high (85 feet) compared to the surrounding low land.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:35:36 +0000

Thanks, RatkojaRiku and Scorpion. I liked this very much, with most of it falling out steadily and only the last few holding me up (same old, same old …) The French theme became apparent early, which helped. TRUFFLE had a good surface, and I liked GROIN as well. I took HEADSPIN as Allan has described.

I think I’d go so far as to say that French can be a romantic language, but as for the best lovers … I’m with either B or J.

By: Allan_C

Allan_C — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:51:26 +0000

In 19a; someone who’d just had a blow on the head (= a crack on the nut) might complain their head was spinning. And as Gaufrid points out headspin is a move in breakdancing – see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headspin – also, the clue does have a question mark at the end.