Comments on: Guardian 25,817 / Araucaria

By: Edward

Edward — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 18:20:52 +0000

Barrie Rutter was previously unknown to me but got it by clear clueing and some Internet searching. It's interesting to look at Wikipedia stats when there's a slightly obscure answer - see http://stats.grok.se/en/201212/Barrie%20Rutter to get an idea how many are doing the crossword and at what delay.

By: FlutterBy

FlutterBy — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 19:35:33 +0000

Paul W @3
and Ian SW3 @6 … I have the same clutter appearing on my Browser (Firefox) whenever I select ‘Print Version’ of any crossword.

I’m guessing it’s a glitch on the Guardian’s website, or worse it might be deliberate! I’m managing to NOT print it by selecting (click and drag) the area of the page with grid and clues and then, when the print dialog box appears, clicking ‘Selection’ rather than ‘All’. Bit of a pain but worth it for a nice ‘clean’ print-out.

By: Huw Powell

Huw Powell — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 01:47:03 +0000

What a little delight! When the Rev comes through, he does it in style.

Just like RCW @ 24 and Brendan (NTO) @ 35, I had bits and pieces of this puzzle solved all over the place. I think this was due to the gentle setter including a handful of “easier” clues to help us untangle the linked ones.

And then I was stuck (since I couldn’t figure out 10/4 on my own, and I have even seen them once!).

So I used OneLook to solve b?r?e? r?t?e? and realized how smooth that clue really was. Looked him up on wikipedia (the only link provided at OL) and saw “Northern” instantly. Then I “solved” the second half of the puzzle, bit by bit.

First answer guessed in was TEMPLE, last but not understood was PEANUT.

Thanks Araucaria for the excellent Wednesday workout, and Eileen and everyone else for the great blog!

PS, I have been getting that extra stuff at the bottom of the “print version” randomly over the last few days. Not on this one, but on the one before and the one after. As I understand it, the Grauniad has been tinkering/tampering with their blog for the puzzles, so some bright young person probably is in the middle of an edit war to get their “related links” mongrel adopted by the rest of the team. Sad, since it wastes a sheet of paper if the user is not careful, and we don’t go to the print version to get links to other things.

By: andym

andym — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 21:56:39 +0000

After a bit of googling it seems Barrie rutter once played prospero

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 19:00:28 +0000

Robi @36
That’s a very poetic dictionary you are using.

By: Robi

Robi — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 12:29:59 +0000

My @36 might make more sense if I typed it correctly, viz: 'In all senses inquire and inquiry are the more usual forms in US English, whereas enquire and enquiry are chiefly restricted to British English.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 09:51:50 +0000

Hi Thomas 99

How diplomatically put! No, I hadn’t spotted it, so well done and thanks for pointing it out.

By: Thomas99

Thomas99 — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 09:45:20 +0000

I’m sure lots of people noticed it but nobody actually seems to have pointed out that “six” appears directly below the “double” of “double-click”, marking the 66th birthday.

By: Robi

Robi — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 09:41:04 +0000

Just in case anyone is still out there and is interested:

I know that enquire and inquire are interchangeable; I tend to use the former for ‘ask.’

My ODE says: ‘The traditional distinction between enquire and inquire is that enquire is used for general senses of ‘ask’ while inquire is reserved for uses meaning ‘make a formal investigation.’ In practice, however, there [is] little discernible distinction in the way the two words are used today in British English, although inquiry is commoner than enquiry in the sense ‘a formal investigation.’ In all senses inquiry and enquiry are the more usual forms in US English, whereas enquire and enquiry are chiefly restricted to British English.

By: Brendan (not that one)

Brendan (not that one) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:21:18 +0000

Wow. Got there in the end as all answers were well clued.

Couldn’t parse a couple and Barrie Rutter only went in when I’d worked out Northern Broadsides and Googled it. No problem as far as I’m concerned as I don’t think the name of the director of this company nor indeed his birthday would be expected to be known by a significant percentage of the population.

Enjoyed this puzzle immensely. Like RCW I had a large percentage of the puzzle filled in without a completed corner.

Thanks to Eileen for filling in the missing parsings and to A for an extraordinary puzzle.