Comments on: Independent 8,004 by Radian (Saturday Prize Puzzle, 09/06/12) http://www.fifteensquared.net/2012/06/16/independent-8004-by-radian/ Never knowingly undersolved. Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:57:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: eimi http://www.fifteensquared.net/2012/06/16/independent-8004-by-radian/#comment-196916 eimi Fri, 29 Jun 2012 10:12:09 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=45428#comment-196916 #15 DEFINITELY NOT vice versa – the general shouldn’t be defined by the particular.

But if the dictionaries say a blackbird is a type of thrush, then thrush for blackbird would be fine.

]]> By: redddevil http://www.fifteensquared.net/2012/06/16/independent-8004-by-radian/#comment-196907 redddevil Fri, 29 Jun 2012 08:32:37 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=45428#comment-196907 eimi – i Take your point on how genreal the definition is (Jackdaw and raven are also dictionary defined as crow variants) but would you have been equally happy to allow blackbird to clue thrush (or v.v.)?
My dictionary suggests you ought to be as it defines blackbird as “a type of thrush”.

]]> By: eimi http://www.fifteensquared.net/2012/06/16/independent-8004-by-radian/#comment-196724 eimi Tue, 26 Jun 2012 18:53:21 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=45428#comment-196724 It depends how narrowly you define crow – obviously if you’re using it to define any bird of the family Corvidae, then the clue is fine. I was surprised, but I do check these things and for rook, Chambers gives
“n a gregarious species of crow”
and COED
“a gregarious crow with black plumage and a bare face, nesting in colonies in treetops”

]]> By: redddevil http://www.fifteensquared.net/2012/06/16/independent-8004-by-radian/#comment-196719 redddevil Tue, 26 Jun 2012 17:53:57 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=45428#comment-196719 well there’s a pretty big overlap between blackbirds (Turdus merula) and thrushes ((Turdus philomelos) too but they’re still not the same and would hardly be interchangeable in a crossword clue methinks.
Rook (Coruvs frugilegus) and crow (Corvus corone corone) look similar but then so do ravens…

]]> By: nmsindy http://www.fifteensquared.net/2012/06/16/independent-8004-by-radian/#comment-196716 nmsindy Tue, 26 Jun 2012 17:17:44 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=45428#comment-196716 Re reddevil at #11, I’m not an expert on birdlife at all but my dicts suggest a pretty big overlap at the very least between rooks and crows – looking at Collins and COED.

]]> By: redddevil http://www.fifteensquared.net/2012/06/16/independent-8004-by-radian/#comment-196714 redddevil Tue, 26 Jun 2012 16:55:28 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=45428#comment-196714 dialrib @ 8 rooks and crows are not the same so 24a is in fact a flawed clue.

]]> By: Paul Stevenson http://www.fifteensquared.net/2012/06/16/independent-8004-by-radian/#comment-196201 Paul Stevenson Mon, 18 Jun 2012 12:54:11 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=45428#comment-196201 I had assumed that 15d was rather ruder than the (plausible) theatre box explanation. The Chambers Dictionary I have on my phone lists the definition I had been thinking of for box as “The vagina (vulgar sl)”.

]]> By: MikeC http://www.fifteensquared.net/2012/06/16/independent-8004-by-radian/#comment-196120 MikeC Sat, 16 Jun 2012 14:51:11 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=45428#comment-196120 Thanks Simon and Radian. An interesting, challenging puzzle. Re 15d, this link supports Thomas99@7:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1259670/A-love-seat-fit-king-The-antique-chair-gives-eye-popping-insight-Edward-VIIs-debauched-youth.html

]]> By: dialrib http://www.fifteensquared.net/2012/06/16/independent-8004-by-radian/#comment-196118 dialrib Sat, 16 Jun 2012 14:44:20 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=45428#comment-196118 Thanks, Simon.
I was surprised to find rooks are crows (24a) as I was taught ‘if you see a rook, it is a crow; if you see some crows, they are rooks’.

]]> By: Thomas99 http://www.fifteensquared.net/2012/06/16/independent-8004-by-radian/#comment-196113 Thomas99 Sat, 16 Jun 2012 12:25:26 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=45428#comment-196113 lizard-
That’s what I was wondering. This site suggests something of the kind: “She [Sarah Bernhardt, no less] was one of the bevy of beauties seated in the King’s box at the Abbey during his coronation.”

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