Comments on: Guardian 25,869 – Gordius http://www.fifteensquared.net/2013/02/12/guardian-25869-gordius/ Never knowingly undersolved. Wed, 22 May 2013 00:36:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Rowland http://www.fifteensquared.net/2013/02/12/guardian-25869-gordius/#comment-220666 Rowland Fri, 15 Feb 2013 10:25:05 +0000 http://www.fifteensquared.net/?p=55551#comment-220666 How can I be expected to know what clue you like Sil?

Cheers
Rowly

]]> By: Davy http://www.fifteensquared.net/2013/02/12/guardian-25869-gordius/#comment-220532 Davy Wed, 13 Feb 2013 09:38:56 +0000 http://www.fifteensquared.net/?p=55551#comment-220532 Just to keep things simple, I totally agree with Sil. It’s so easy to destroy things and much more difficult to create them.
I liked GRATEFUL which made me smile and IAMBI was well-constructed. Yes the crossword was quite easy but I still found it
enjoyable. Maybe it’s because I don’t have a head the size of a planet.

]]> By: RCWhiting http://www.fifteensquared.net/2013/02/12/guardian-25869-gordius/#comment-220516 RCWhiting Wed, 13 Feb 2013 00:29:22 +0000 http://www.fifteensquared.net/?p=55551#comment-220516 Sil
Your lofty cathedra needs to produce some new criticisms.

]]> By: vinyl1 http://www.fifteensquared.net/2013/02/12/guardian-25869-gordius/#comment-220514 vinyl1 Wed, 13 Feb 2013 00:12:16 +0000 http://www.fifteensquared.net/?p=55551#comment-220514 It should be noted that Ming the Merciless, along with the Piranha brothers, have seeped into popular humorous business writing. Ming is the CEO, of course, and the Piranha brothers usually take the role of ruthless consultants bought in to cut costs.

]]> By: Sil van den Hoek http://www.fifteensquared.net/2013/02/12/guardian-25869-gordius/#comment-220511 Sil van den Hoek Tue, 12 Feb 2013 22:40:50 +0000 http://www.fifteensquared.net/?p=55551#comment-220511 So, now – late in the evening – we come to the main point , dear RC Whiting and Rowland.

“This one was so bad that on several occasions I looked at the grid, a couple of crossers and wrote in the solution without reading the clue.
This is just not on, especially on a non-Monday (last one was on a Wednesday).
How much must the genuine setters resent seeing someone being paid for this when they so obviously exert themselves considerably for our pleasure” [RCW @19]

You really surpassed yourself, dear friend.
Yes, this was an easy crossword, but why was it “so bad”? Because it was too easy? If it was “so bad”, surely more than 50% of the clues must be rubbish. Name them!

“Whilst that might be a BIT strong RCW, I would certainly say that this is pretty bad. So badly written that it’s not always easy to solve!” [Rowland @21]

Another one who didn’t make clear why it was “pretty bad” / “so badly written”.

When I criticise a crossword (and indeed, sometimes I do) I always point out what I do not like before I draw my conclusion.
Here we have two examples of people burning down a setter (or a setter’s crossword) without giving us detailed information.
It is very easy to give a yes/no comment, anyone can do that.
Apparently, it is not always very easy to explain why it is yes or no. For some, that is.

Some comments were rather insulting towards solvers like Michelle, but happily she fought back!

And oh, dear RCW & Rowland, you will probably be appalled by the fact that this easy, friendly, innocent crossword contained a clue that will perhaps be my “Clue of the Month”.
I will leave it up to you which one it was.

Many thanks to you, UY – and a Happy New Year!

]]> By: Morpheus http://www.fifteensquared.net/2013/02/12/guardian-25869-gordius/#comment-220506 Morpheus Tue, 12 Feb 2013 21:42:50 +0000 http://www.fifteensquared.net/?p=55551#comment-220506 Thank you Uncle Yap and Gordius for quick and enjoyable solve, which is what we needed having started dinner a bit late.

Co-incidentally I know someone who was Head of Department in Engineering or something similar at the University of Hertfordshire – might they know one of your offspring?

You have me a bit baffled re Pembroke though – do you mean Pembroke Comprehensive School?!

Morpheus

(alumnus of Fenland Comp, as the oiks from the other place used to say…)

]]> By: Giovanna http://www.fifteensquared.net/2013/02/12/guardian-25869-gordius/#comment-220505 Giovanna Tue, 12 Feb 2013 20:57:34 +0000 http://www.fifteensquared.net/?p=55551#comment-220505 Michelle @ 25

You are welcome. We all need some encouragement and plenty of humour to go with it.

wolfie @ 35.I thought we might have some Oxbridge rivalry!

Buona notte a tutti e sogni d’oro! Sleep tight.

Giovanna x

]]> By: slipstream http://www.fifteensquared.net/2013/02/12/guardian-25869-gordius/#comment-220504 slipstream Tue, 12 Feb 2013 20:53:16 +0000 http://www.fifteensquared.net/?p=55551#comment-220504 Miche @ 8:

25a: surely the US word for an academic term is “trimester”? We had semesters at my UK university, too, but they’re not the same as terms.

I’m in the US. US colleges with two academic terms a year call them “semesters.” Colleges with a different schedule, three terms a year, call them “trimesters” or “quarters” — the fourth quarter being summer vacation.

]]> By: Dave Ellison http://www.fifteensquared.net/2013/02/12/guardian-25869-gordius/#comment-220503 Dave Ellison Tue, 12 Feb 2013 20:47:32 +0000 http://www.fifteensquared.net/?p=55551#comment-220503 “In response to urologist @9, I wondered the same and then thought that ‘the month…where it all happens’ just runs together.”

I toyed with this thought, too, but “where” should really be “when” ? and that would destroy the clue.

Still can’t fathom it

]]> By: Brendan (not that one) http://www.fifteensquared.net/2013/02/12/guardian-25869-gordius/#comment-220500 Brendan (not that one) Tue, 12 Feb 2013 20:36:53 +0000 http://www.fifteensquared.net/?p=55551#comment-220500 Quite enjoyable but perhaps a little too easy to follow a Monday! (However I would much prefer this on a Monday to our usual fare! JMHO ;-) )

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