Comments for Fifteensquared

Comment on Guardian 25977 by Shed by Martin P

Martin P — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:12:35 +0000

Apart from the odd bit of tushery, and the distasteful 26a no grumbles.

I liked 13d too.

Thanks all.

Comment on Guardian 25977 by Shed by dave h

dave h — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:41:06 +0000

Solved 2d and thought this clue totally out of order and refused to do any more. To link the answer tsunami witth sri lanka is so bad taste I am really pissed. If shed had ever bothered to visit the orphanage as I have done and seen how the children are coping then I am sure he would never have written this clue and he should be ashamed to have done so. As for hugh allOwing this I really do wonder

Comment on Cyclops 496: Pseudonymous by lemming

lemming — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:36:33 +0000

I’ve a more ambitious parsing of 25ac. No doubt about the “unlikely” as anagram indicator. But I think it’s also doubling, implicitly, as part of the definition. The parenthetic “(being in these)” functions as “unlikely being in these”, and refers to the whole of the (or any) headline. It’s quite an adventurous clue, but it works for me.

I was less happy about “dark brown” (22ac). I think “threatening”=>”dark” is pushing it a bit, if it’s relying solely on the association with dark storm clouds. Have I missed something?

Comment on Guardian 25977 by Shed by Andy B

Andy B — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:28:44 +0000

This was another puzzle that I really enjoyed, and I wish we saw more of Shed. Even though he often uses archaic or obscure words I find that he usually clues them clearly enough. TUSHERY is a very good example of this.

BIG TOP and STRING VEST both made me smile as I entered them. I have to confess that sometimes I completely ignore surface readings, especially in the Guardian where they sometimes lack the elegance of, say, The Times, so I didn’t even notice how 26ac read. I had no issue at all with Tamil for Sri Lankan in the context of the clue.

Finally, if INEBRIATE had been clued that way in The Times I would have had a problem with it, but with the Guardian’s more libertarian style I don’t have a problem with it. It’s not like the clue wasn’t solvable.

Comment on Guardian 25977 by Shed by claire

claire — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:10:29 +0000

Re: 6 down I first came across ‘Palimpsest’ more years ago than I care to remember in a crossword by…Shed. I couldn’t solve it at the time and had to look it up (pre electronic word checks etc). Funnily enough, I’ve never forgotten the word, nor its meaning, to this day, which was only the second time I’d ever encountered it in use…in a Shed crossword.

I’ve no idea what this signifies.

Great crossword – thanks to all.

Comment on Guardian 25977 by Shed by Robi

Robi — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:29:04 +0000

P.S. 26a could have been more PC by just: ‘Still wearing old baby’s outfit.’

Comment on Guardian 25977 by Shed by Robi

Robi — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:25:01 +0000

PeterM @34; as RCW @29 said ‘inebriate’ is a verb: [Chambers] ‘to make drunk, to intoxicate.’

Comment on Financial Times 14342 Phssthpok by AID

AID — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:28:15 +0000

With regard to clue 24D, another meaning of table is to hold back until sometime later, ie the same as to shelve or put on shelf.

Comment on Guardian 25977 by Shed by chas

chas — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:03:36 +0000

Thanks to UY for the blog.
I had managed to fill in everything but was short of several explanations – you provided what I had missed.

I know that the Tamils are a minority people in Sri Lanka so I think that was a bit of a weak clue for 2d.

Comment on Guardian 25977 by Shed by Rowland

Rowland — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:54:14 +0000

Ans if it is??