Comments on: Guardian 25,760 / Araucaria

By: mikewglospur

mikewglospur — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 10:44:37 +0000

jvector@24

You were not alone! How reassuring for us both!

By: jvector

jvector — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 23:48:23 +0000

loved this; I did mistakenly have BRIDLE (you never can tell which way the homonym goes) with THREE STARS (which does sort of make sense

Thanks mhl,

By: Eileen

Eileen — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 21:10:23 +0000

I meant, of course, an anagram of Chile Pine, the monkey puzzle tree.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 21:09:14 +0000

Miche @21 re the pseudonyms: I originally thought that, as a Classicist and a film buff, Rev John had made up the name Cinephile but I see it’s in Chambers and Collins. The fact that it’s an anagram of Araucaria, the monkey puzzle tree, I’ve always found mind-blowing: I’d love to know which occurred to him first – perhaps it was one of those amazing Serendipity moments and they arrived simultaneously. I certainly treasure it as one of the treasures of Crosswordland.

By: Miche

Miche — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 20:31:02 +0000

Thanks, mhl.

Proof, if proof were needed, that one solver’s write-in is another’s head-scratcher. I found this easy enough for a Saturday, with only Hayley Mills taking a while to get. Believe me, I have often enough struggled over puzzles that others dismissed as trivially easy.

22a is beautiful.

Chas @8: AFAIK Araucaria named his alter ego, Cinephile, from an anagram of Chile Pine, another name for the monkey puzzle tree.

By: Martin P

Martin P — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 16:08:19 +0000

I have it. It’s from the European Parliament in fact:

“…One classic story is about a debate when a member from Normandy came up with just the right compromise at the right time. One of the French MEPs, using an old French expression, said that this was thanks to “la sagesse normande” (the wisdom of the people from Normandy). The English interpretation rendered this as being “all thanks to Norman Wisdom”…”

By: Martin P

Martin P — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 15:58:51 +0000

I enjoyed this.

Didn’t someone making a speech re the D-Day landings cause mirth, by saying something along the lines “…the Allies were assisted by Norman wisdom…” or words to that effect?

Rings a bell somehow.

By: r_c_a_d

r_c_a_d — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 15:58:37 +0000

Thanks for clearing up Irma – I couldn’t see why she was supposed to be sweet.

EDIT was a cracker, I thought.

By: ancient fish

ancient fish — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 15:51:30 +0000

Nice puzzle, though ‘I’m leaving Jewish acolytes’ I thought just a wee bit esoteric. Well, a LOT esoteric!

Cheers guys.

By: Robi

Robi — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 11:18:17 +0000

Enjoyable puzzle. Roddy McDowall was originally famous for the Planet of the Apes films. Had to check on the Jewish acolytes, but I liked ONE THING AT A TIME. As a shameless piece of self-promotion, I have a puzzle today on Big Dave's NTSPP. Any comments please there rather than here.