Comments on: Guardian 25,640 / Araucaria

By: sidey

sidey — Sat, 26 May 2012 21:37:46 +0000

Gaufrid, indeed, I withdraw my comment. I wonder if I can get a refund on these new glasses?

By: Biggles A

Biggles A — Sat, 26 May 2012 21:17:40 +0000

Unusually for me, I finished this in one session so I wouldn’t have thought it was too difficult though, like RCW, I was stuck on the Woodhouse reference for a while. Rather more enjoyable than some recent offerings.

By: rrc

rrc — Sat, 26 May 2012 21:12:36 +0000

thoroughly enjoyed this but the enjoyment was over far too quickly – I was surprised how easily every thing fell into place too many clues to pick out a favourite

By: mhl

mhl — Sat, 26 May 2012 19:10:48 +0000

Congratulations, Robi! I’ve still never won any crossword competition, which (if my calculations are correct) is statistically rather unlikely…

Thanks to everyone for the corrections for my mistakes with USUAL, WARPATH and BYRON – I’ve updated the post.

tupu: my estimations of difficulty for Araucaria are always all over the place, I’m afraid – whereas with Paul, I feel I’m exactly on the setter’s wavelength, Araucaria’s crosswords always have a host of referents that I know nothing about…

Eileen: I thought of the same clue – Rufus’s two millionth, no less!

By: Gaufrid

Gaufrid — Sat, 26 May 2012 18:07:39 +0000

Hi Sidey
“The use of laus is a bit off. …..”

The only reference book you need is Chambers: “laus Deo (Latin) – Praise to God”.

By: sidey

sidey — Sat, 26 May 2012 17:45:19 +0000

Nice to have a puzzle worthy of a weekend for a change.

The use of laus is a bit off. Yet again something not at all easy to confirm even with a fairly extensive bookshelf of reference books.

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Sat, 26 May 2012 16:05:43 +0000

Thanks all
Well done, Robi.
Pretty straightforward although lack of knowledge about obscure Nottinghamshire places and the ‘Holy Jane’ canon held me up for a while at the end but it succumbed eventually.
When a young boy I did read Northanger Abbey but nothing since.
I think I discovered Aldous Huxley’s far superior and relevant social commentaries soon after and never looked back. It aws so much easier to imagine myself as one of his characters than hers (wishful thinking?)

By: Eileen

Eileen — Sat, 26 May 2012 15:49:34 +0000

Thanks, mhl, for the blog, and all the very best in your new home.

As you say, a satisfying puzzle. I loved the 25ac, 16,17dn 12ac connections and the exploitation of the two meanings of 25ac.

Re 20dn: having given a plug for Araucaria’s ‘While shepherds watched’ anagram yesterday, I think it’s only fair to mention, for the sake of those who haven’t come across it, Rufus’ classic clue for this word: ‘Two girls, one on each knee’.

Congratulations, Robi!

By: Robi

Robi — Sat, 26 May 2012 15:34:19 +0000

I didn’t find this one too bad, apart from the SAM BROWNE, which I had never heard of.

Thanks mhl for the blog. I think the 5d has YR for year; no doubt what you meant. I did like OBAMA and DIPTERA.

Many thanks to all the 15 squared bloggers for tutoring me. I just found out today that I was the winner of the 25,634 Prize Crossword!

By: tupu

tupu — Sat, 26 May 2012 15:29:00 +0000

KeithW @2

Sorry we crossed.

I should add I needed to check 25a though the answer itself is clear. I particularly liked 15a, 27a, 6d, and 20d.

Also my commiserations to mhl and hope you enjoy the new location!