Comments on: Guardian Cryptic N° 25,813 by Araucaria

By: Sylvia

Sylvia — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 06:12:06 +0000

The only one I struggled with, absurdly, was ‘erase’, which took ages before light dawned!

By: Brendan (not that one)

Brendan (not that one) — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 23:28:20 +0000

As previously stated very easy for an Araucaria. (Possibly the easiest ever!)

4a was so obvious and the ellipsis gave 9a. This made the across clues almost a write in. The down were easy enough as they stood but with the added bonus of most of the across clues being solved the puzzle succumbed.

Thanks to PeterO and A although this was a little too easy for a Friday.

By: Vin

Vin — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 21:31:59 +0000

Thanks to Araucaria for a very enjoyable puzzle. The lovely, absurd humour of HOLINSHED made me laugh aloud, something usually only Paul’s risqué efforts can occasion. I remembered Holinshed from the annotations in my A-level Shakespeare textbooks.

Thanks, too, to PeterO for explaining the handful of answers I couldn’t fully parse.

By: Martin P

Martin P — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 21:31:41 +0000

Sorry: becomes -e.

By: Martin P

Martin P — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 21:30:36 +0000

Yep. Agree @10 about “lasagna”.

Just as “spaghetto” is Italian for a single strand of what we call “spaghetti”.

The feminine plural of Italian words ending -a generally becomes -a.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 21:25:16 +0000

rhotican and muffin

There has been recent talk of flogging a dead horse. I’m going to respond to you, if you’re still there, under General Discussion.

By: tupu

tupu — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 17:15:20 +0000

HI Chas@20

I think you are right. I missed the ‘associate’ bit myself and carelessly attached it to the ‘with’.

By: muffin

muffin — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 17:04:33 +0000

Sorry about the near duplicate – site hiccough. It didn’t seem to send, then blocked a second attempt, so I changed the wording.

By: muffin

muffin — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 17:02:52 +0000

[Fret not, rhotician - it works in Devon!]

By: muffin

muffin — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 17:00:14 +0000

[Worry not, rhotician - it works in Devon!]