Comments on: Guardian 25728/Orlando

By: Huw Powell

Huw Powell — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 22:11:52 +0000

Pierre, re the two possibilities for BACUP, and the general nature of this puzzle, I’m willing to bet he meant both.

SONIC was, of course, amazing. Remove any part of the clue, and the surface doesn’t work. Put it all together, and it’s a bit odd but certainly does make sense.

After getting the second Cleese reference I was surprised not to see more.

Thanks for the blog Pierre et alia, and to Orlando for what turned out to be a nicely unique and striking puzzle!

By: Pierre

Pierre — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 15:28:59 +0000

Hello Norah. One of us is still listening (we get an update if someone comments on our blog).

Having reread the clue, I can see what you mean; I guess it can work both ways. I read it as BACUP is a town in Lancashire, coming from BACKUP when the king is removed. ‘Providing’ is, I agree, a bit ambiguous.

Anyway, thanks for commenting! (And I still like John’s suggestion of BRA CUP for ‘support’. I wonder which one Orlando intended? Perhaps we shall never know.)

By: Norah

Norah — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 22:53:55 +0000

probably no one will now be reading this, but I’m in Australia so only saw the puzzle when Guardian Weekly arrived-can anyone explain why 26 across has king abdicating-shouldn’t it be when king returns?

By: Pierre

Pierre — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 20:10:47 +0000

You beat me to it, Susy …

By: Pierre

Pierre — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 20:09:35 +0000

Hi Susy

I didn’t explain COMFREY very well: it’s a medicinal herb, and one of the definitions of ‘simple’ is ‘a medicine made from only one constituent, esp from one plant; a plant used for medicinal purposes’. My SOED marks it as ‘archaic’. I think this is what muffin was getting at in comment no 7.

Is this your first comment? If so, welcome; if not, welcome back!

By: SusyT

SusyT — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 19:57:46 +0000

PS apologies – have now read earlier comments which answer my question

By: SusyT

SusyT — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 16:08:10 +0000

I understand the 9ac how but not the why? What is connection between ‘comfrey’ plant and ‘simple’?

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 15:11:35 +0000

Robi @29
Precisely.It is like the ‘contains no chemicals’ claims.

By: William

William — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 07:38:26 +0000

Thanks, Pierre, nice save.

Perfect puzzle from Orlando, if one turns a blind eye to the reversed NIGER in a derived word.

Much more, please.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 22:39:34 +0000

A real gem.
A clue like 25ac (SENSATION) is, although a familiar anagram, really brilliant because of the ‘Feeling (def) sorry for (anagrind)’ combination – and this is just one of many great clues.
Well done Pierre!