Comments on: Everyman crossword No 3,417

By: Ben Tombs

Ben Tombs — Sun, 06 May 2012 11:02:34 +0000

Great to get some answers…. we, in New Zealand only had this printed for us on May 5th… Took a while for pennies to drop re the April Fool connections, but then Sweden celebrates April Fool on May 1st! Wiki had a clue about that regarding the ‘trick’of catching people with April 31st(!), though I forget the details right now. Cheers Ben

By: Stephanie Fleming

Stephanie Fleming — Sat, 05 May 2012 05:38:08 +0000

Doing the crosssword as I do so many weeks later when it is syndicated down here, I was completely lost. Could not even begin to solve the three linked clues but hopefully that is a result of the time lapse, mind you who can say whether I would have got it otherwise. Found this one more difficult than recent ones! Having ssid that, this crossword is the highlight of my Saturdays.

By: Stella Heath

Stella Heath — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 22:23:13 +0000

Thanks all for your compliments.

I think Sidey@1 is probably right, though the only evidence I can find to support the explanation is that looking up “turnip watch” in Wiki sent me straight to “pocket watch” – only after reading the post

By: Robi

Robi — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 19:31:18 +0000

Good, teasing crossword; more difficult than usual.

Thanks Stella for the blog and all your past contributions. I think in 3d it is supposed to be turnip=watch; Chambers gives: ‘a large old-fashioned watch (old sl.) Maybe it should have had an ‘old’ to indicate usage, but that could have also confused the Everyman audience, with old=o.

I didn’t know the expression ‘EAT CROW.’

By: Jan

Jan — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 17:47:13 +0000

Thanks for the blog, Stella – lovely pictures, especially the poisson d’avril, something with which I was not familiar. I wondered quite what an April fish could be.

Thanks also for the reminder of the Panorama spoof which I watched in my teens! I read your link and was tickled by the comment …

“Spaghetti is not a widely-eaten food in the UK and is considered by many as an exotic delicacy.”

… how times have changed!

I thoroughly enjoyed the crossword. It was much more fun than usual.

By: muck

muck — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 15:40:38 +0000

3dn I meant

By: muck

muck — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 15:39:26 +0000

Thanks for this and other blogs Stella

3ac: despite sidey@1 (watch=TURNIP) your parsing is better. watch=TURN + number=IP (as in Internet Protocol address, generally referred to as IP number)

By: PeeDee

PeeDee — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 13:58:08 +0000

So sorry you are having to retire from fifteensquared for a while. I hope that things work out for you as well as they possibly can.

By: Stella Heath

Stella Heath — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 09:58:10 +0000

Thanks all for your comments and good wishes, especially to Sidey for clearing up 3d for me.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 08:38:27 +0000

Thanks, Stella.

A bit of a rarity, an Everyman puzzle with a theme, but I thought it was fun. I think the three clues ‘chasing their tails’ is hinted at by the fact that 14 is 1/4 or April 1st, then a bit of indulgence is needed.

Morning, Bamberger. Apostrophes are conventionally ignored in crosswords answers, so if the answer was SCRATCH ONE’S HEAD it would be enumerated as 6,4,4.

I too entered GAWK, which I think also works, so I hope this week’s lucky winners won’t be eliminated if their solution was also that. And thanks to sidey for the TURNIP explanation.

Stella, thank you for all your blogs – hope all is well with you and that this is an au revoir and not an adieu.