Comments on: Guardian Prize 25,718 / Paul

By: Paul B

Paul B — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 14:50:10 +0000

Ah, if only people, or identities, or whatever they should rightly or accurately be called here, would look in a dictionary occasionally. That’s clearly what the compiler has done, as we are able to confirm when we look for and compare the available definitions for WOODEN and LUMBERING in Collins. Gor lumme, there’s no need even to progress to the thesauri. You lot should be strung up by the Congalese.

By: Biggles A

Biggles A — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 04:35:59 +0000

Thanks PeeDee. You are right of course and no other answer is possible but I do like to be confident of the reasoning. I wonder if the final clause might not have been better as ‘then everyone lumbers about’ but then I suppose somebody like me would complain about a missing apostrophe.

By: PeeDee

PeeDee — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 14:32:48 +0000

Hi Biggles A,

Wooden and lumbering both indicate an actor is bad. The literal meanings are not synonymous (as you say) but as metaphors they can mean the same thing. Given the context is strongly indicated in the surface reading of the clue, is this not enough to provide a clear unambiguous definition?

By: Biggles A

Biggles A — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 23:09:50 +0000

Eileen @ 7. Thanks again and no need for any apology. I’m still not entirely happy though. Even if the adjective ‘heavy’ can be applied to both WOODEN and LUMBERING I doubt that makes them synonymous. Indeed, since WOODEN conveys a sense of immobility (lacking animation!) and since LUMBERING entails movement they can express very different meanings.

I know this is another quibble but I have a reputation as a pedant to uphold.

By: Paul B

Paul B — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 11:31:02 +0000

‘Never’ means ‘not ever’ in its most basic form, so the ‘not’ is fine. We then look to Collins under ‘once’, and find that (at 4) it can equate to ‘ever’. Simples.

Well done shag, btw.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 10:52:32 +0000

I know what you mean, Neil. There is a similar problem with blogging: I do the puzzle on Saturday and like to write the blog straightaway – and then I spend the rest of the week ‘reflecting’ and making amendments to it!

By: NeilW

NeilW — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 10:41:00 +0000

Just to be clear, @2 I wasn’t intending to suggest my reasoning was sound but just illustrating the problem with prize puzzles where you have too much time to reflect on any clue that doesn’t seem quite “right.”

By: Gervase

Gervase — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 09:09:19 +0000

Thanks, Eileen

i enjoyed this puzzle, though I don’t consider it to be one of Paul’s best. His surface readings are usually much better – they’re all over the place in this one.

Some fun wordplay, nevertheless – but (author) AMIS has become more of a crossword cliché than (Princess) DI.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 08:58:28 +0000

Thanks, PeeDee – yes, that works. In fact, I think I thought along those lines myself last Saturday [it seems a long time ago!] but then thought, “Why ‘once’?”. It works just as well without it. [I didn't like the 'to' either - it's not the best of clues all round! ]

By: PeeDee

PeeDee — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 08:48:25 +0000

Sorry Eileen, I meant NOT=’never once’.

The example that sprang to mind when I was solving the clue was “I have not been to Blackpool” / “I have never once been to Blackpool”.

I have been to Blackpool many times, so its a bit odd why I would think this anyway.