Comments on: Guardian Quiptic 656/Hectence

By: JollySwagman

JollySwagman — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 03:47:33 +0000

@DL #7 As usual you are setting up straw men. I was just commenting on how I found the puzzle as a solve for myself. I was not commenting on whether or not it was a valid inclusion in a slot which is described as being suitable for beginners.

In fact many weeks many commenters say that they found the Quiptic harder than the main puzzle, which of course is normally Rufus.

If it’s any consolation I often find Rufus quite hard to finish, because I am just not very good at DDs and CDs – and what is doubly annoying is that my girlfriend is.

Myself I’m not sure that I would point a beginner to either Rufus or the Quiptic. I would say that Everyman is the most consistently straightforward solve and, for all its easiness, very elegantly clued. Also backpage Torygraph prolly is a good one but I haven’t been near it for a while.

By: flashling

flashling — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 21:55:12 +0000

Cor, this was a quiptic? what does that make today’s Quixote?

Tough, when you’re expecting a gentle ride and not expecting pretty tricky wordplay.

Cheers Pierre.

By: Derek Lazenby

Derek Lazenby — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:56:10 +0000

Quite. Agree with all bar post 3 which must be from someone so expert they no longer have any idea what a beginners puzzle should be like.

Wonder if we’re going to get a Rufus blog today?

By: Pierre

Pierre — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:23:22 +0000

Thanks, Stella, for correctly parsing DICTATORSHIP. Pressure of getting the blog out at a decent hour and all that. Or maybe I should tell the butler not to bring me that glass of Buck’s Fizz with my scrambled egg and smoked salmon for breakfast …

By: Robi

Robi — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 11:35:42 +0000

Good puzzle, although hard for a Quiptic.

Thanks Pierre; although I parsed 1a, I failed on 1d getting stuck on l=large (clothing.)

Maybe EXTEND could be ‘reach out to,’ [as in EXTEND a hand] in any case I think the surface would not make much sense if the ‘to’ was left out.

By: Stella Heath

Stella Heath — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 10:16:05 +0000

Thanks Pierre. I found this tougher than today’s Rufus

In 4d, you need “high” to justify the H, so the anagrind is “cruel”.

By: JollySwagman

JollySwagman — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 10:13:52 +0000

Great puzzle for the Quiptic slot. Easy enough overall but the last few took as long as the rest of the puzzle. Some good chuckles and (I’m pleased to see) two wordsplits.

Hip hop without a hyphen I took as a typo – surely there’s no interpretation other than hip-hop.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 09:45:53 +0000

Thanks Pierre, I agree this was quite tricky for a Quiptic.

1ac is RHAPS – homophone of “rap’s” =”piece of hip hop’s-” + O (round) + reverse of YD (“backyard”)

By: Thomas99

Thomas99 — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 09:44:08 +0000

I enjoyed this but agree it’s hard for a quiptic. Re 1a – I think it’s “Rhaps” (hip-hop’s – “rap’s” broadcast i.e. homophone), “o” (round) “dy” (backyard) = piece

My last in was 16 – really not very easy!

Thanks for the blog. Must have been a bit of a shock.