Comments on: Guardian 25,590 – Boatman

By: Huw Powell

Huw Powell — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 14:52:48 +0000

Thanks to Andrew, and many thanks to Boatman!

Continuing from 25,899:

“An interesting week… the Everyman was just what I needed after a hard day’s wall building, and Rufus was just right on Monday. Tuesday came in nicely for my mood and worn intellectual abilities, too.” Wednesday was a themed puzzled of the sort I dislike, but that’s just my opinion and taste.

Today’s was, again in my opinion, a tour de force. The theme(s) were rampant, but no one solution was required by others, or made them trivial (especially since the 7th or so possible use of “crop” did not occur to me until I solved the clue itself).

I came up with roughly 6 or 7 ways to use the key word, and counted their occurrences…

“to shorten” – twice as a device in clues, twice as (part of) the meaning
“a whip” – once
“food” – three times, with one from the sub-theme “fruit”
“as cryptic fodder” – once as part of an anagram, once reversed, and once as part of a hidden answer
“to appear” – once
and finally, the last one, “part of a bird’s throat”.

Oh, and I forgot 18d, where it is just a word one must have in one’s head along the way as a (food) meaning for “harvest”.

Whew.

That said, I found the short (3 and 4 letter) clues mostly very hard, which slowed me down a lot. I “cheated” on 30a, I think by using wildcards at OneLook, in spite of having “RETURN” in my head, and never quite jumped on STINKER at 21d. I was also mildly disappointed that “boat” appeared in 7a’s answer, but by then I wasn’t really bothered.

This is the sort of themed puzzle I really admire and enjoy.

Now on to “tomorrow”‘s 25,591…

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 22:44:30 +0000

Where is your sense of humour- it’s only a MB – not the budget statement?

By: Admin

Admin — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 20:25:18 +0000

Kayoz @30
I asked you politely, and in private, to stop posting off-topic comments. It seems you have ignored this request. This site is about discussing crosswords etc, not exchanging recipes (there are many other sites for that). I really don’t want to have to put you under moderation again so please exercise some restraint.

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:09:22 +0000

I think gerardus @28 might be referring to the beetroot leaves. I eat them regularly, taste very like spinach and can be cooked in the same ways.
Of course, I also eat and enjoy the underground roots as well.
Sadly retailers have decided that it is only a root crop and usually cut off the leaves so it is a grow your own solution.
Hence, to me, the beetroot is one of the most versatile and tasteful vegetables.

By: Kayoz

Kayoz — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:06:20 +0000

Re 22a, a great clue.

This probably won’t get through but I am offering possibly the best dip you have tasted for a while. BeetROOT dip.

Take one tin of whole baby beetroot, not sliced. Blend with garlic, some chilli, juice of half a lemon, 1/2-1 tspn of ground cummin. Taste and fold in at least a 1/2 cup of thick greek style yoghurt. Season with salt and pepper as desired.

By: Kayoz

Kayoz — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 15:46:36 +0000

22ac. I wonder why it would it be called beet ‘root’ if it was an above ground crop? I have grown it and it does grow close to the surface but it is a root vegetable.

By: gerardus

gerardus — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 08:00:37 +0000

22ac. Beetroot is an above ground crop! We grow them on our allotments. Try it freshly harvested, boiled and served with butter. Deliciously sweet.

By: JollySwagman

JollySwagman — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 05:12:23 +0000

@PB #26 – Am I missing something? It works just as described in the blog.

Where does WUN come into it?

The homophone applies only to the wordplay components.

By: Paul B

Paul B — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 02:27:40 +0000

Well Swaggers, your ‘clearly indicated’ ‘Oh’ and Any’ are not pronounced ‘wun’, which is the point.

By: JollySwagman

JollySwagman — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 01:42:46 +0000

@Paul B #23 “no way one should be able to get away with indicating O for ‘Oh’”

In a clearly indicated (“they say”)homophone.

How is ‘Oh” pronounced down your way?