Comments on: Guardian 25,620 / Araucaria

By: Val

Val — Thu, 10 May 2012 11:26:07 +0000

Thank you very much, Eileen. It makes sense now, I had been trying to see something more in it. Thanks for such a detailed response so long after the event.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:53:08 +0000

Hi Val @26

You’re right, it is the same answer: ‘all but’ = ‘nearly’. I can’t find it in Chambers [which doesn't mean it isn't there!] but Collins gives the example of ‘all but dead’: ‘nearly dead’.

The clue was ‘Cad all but stops between Chartres and Angers’. We could hardly say that ‘Nogent’ is nearly all of ‘Nogent le Rotrou’ [I should imagine the locals call it simply Nogent, but I found several in my research!] so I think the ‘all but’ refers to the pairing.

I hope that makes sense.

By: Val

Val — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:51:16 +0000

I see from brucew_aus at #25 I’m not alone working through a backlog! I’m just further behind.

By: Val

Val — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:49:12 +0000

Very sorry to reopen this conversation so long afterwards but this is driving me mad! What is the “all but” doing in 12ac? And how do we know to leave out the “le Rotrou” and the “s”? I assume it’s the same answer to both my questions but I can’t see it.

Belated thanks for the blog, Eileen!

By: brucew_aus

brucew_aus — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:47:32 +0000

Thanks Araucaria and Eileen
Still working through the backlog and was happy to get this one today. Typical clever clues and integrated theme.

Got it all out OK but didn’t realise how many that I hadn’t parsd correctly or even parsed at all (1,12,17,11,16)

Thought that course was just the word referring to the actual wall.

Anyway, another satisfying solve from A.

By: Huw Powell

Huw Powell — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 18:16:02 +0000

The closest I got to a parsing for NO GENTLEMAN was to assume LeMans was between Chartres and Angers, and the people there could be referred to as “nos gents LeMans” (“our people of LeMans” in my new form of Esperanto), without the ‘S’tops.

Last in was SWAY.

Thanks Rev and Eileen!

By: SteveC

SteveC — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 08:27:18 +0000

I confess to using Google Maps to plot a route between Le Mans and Angers to find No Gentleman.

But how on earth did Araucaria come up with the clue? The man’s superhuman.

By: yogdaws

yogdaws — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:14:04 +0000

It’s so rare for me to notice something which, apparently, nobody else has picked up on that I can’t resist mentioning the following:-

With SNOWFLAKE (17a) is Mr Monkey Puzzle making a reference to one of Selkirk’s most famous quotes: ‘Whenever a snowflake leaves the sky, it turns and turns to say Good-by!

Signed,

Esprit d’escalier

By: SeanDimly

SeanDimly — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:01:49 +0000

Thank you Araucaria, and thank you Eileen.
Warmed up quickly enough with 1,5 and 24,10, but then cooled right back down again, my gas at a peep – till I realised I’d put 24 and 10 in the wrong way round. I never learn.
Lots of lovely clues, though. And I keep hearing Leonard Rossiter, as Rigsby of 1d, saying 13,4. Perhaps he did.

By: Mick H

Mick H — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:50:00 +0000

I loved the ASHBO, real laugh out loud moment.