Independent 10,482/Skinny

17 comments on “Independent 10,482/Skinny”

1. This was light and good fun.   I particularly liked the generally brief cluing and smooth surfaces.

   I would have said that RUNDOWN in 15d is an American expression.  Collins agrees, Chambers does not.

   FULSOME in 11a is a remarkable word which provides an interesting (but not necessarily good) example of the development of language.    Throughout the 19th century and for most of the 20th, it had a negative nuance – fulsome praise was intended as an exaggerated and distasteful comment.  However, in the late 20th century, our politicians and journalists, in their unceasing search for ever stronger superlatives in order to glorify their latest piece of sensationalism, adopted a different meaning for fulsome.   It came to mean “celebrated” (as required for the definition for 11a) and, in the context of praise, “very generous”.

   Due to this potential ambiguity, it has become quite a risky word to use as there are some contexts where it is not obvious if the intention is to be damning or complimentary.

   Thanks for the fun, Skinny, and the opportunity to get on my soap box.  Thanks too to Pierre – I see you agree with me about fulsome!

2. That’s a good summary, Rabbit Dave, of fulsome and its (mis)use.  I personally never use it in my own writing for exactly the reasons you cite, because sooner or later you are going to come across a reader who is as soap-boxy about its usage as you and me.  The clue is fine though, because that’s what most people now choose it to mean.

   RUNDOWN an Americanism?  I personally wouldn’t have said so.  But if you want another soap box experience, you can join me on the one from which we persuade people that when you want a wee, you go to the toilet.  If you have a guest from the US, I suppose in extremis you could invite them to go to the bathroom.

3. My guess is that people have got ‘coruscating’ hopelessly confuses with ‘excoriating’.

4. *confused

5. Indeed, Rog.

6. I came to a grinding halt halfway through and needed a little bit of word-search help to get going again, but enjoyed it nevertheless.  Even though I put ‘nominee’ at 19D, I couldn’t see how it worked as I was fixated on ‘Skinny’s’ = ‘mine’.  I loved the clue for ‘Saturday’!  Thanks Skinny and Pierre.

7. I haven’t tried a Skinny puzzle before and I’m now realising what fun I’ve been missing. I thought this was a splendid puzzle – very witty and entertaining, as Pierre says.

   My particular favourites were MECHANIC, STALAGMITE, VIOLINISTS, SATURDAY, and PRIEST – clever constructions and surfaces – but there wasn’t a dud clue to be seen.

   I’d like to join the FULSOME club. [Another word I avoid using, for fear of being misunderstood, is ‘egregious’.]

   Thanks for a great blog, Pierre [congratulations on the spot of the extra anagram at 14ac] and to Skinny for a most enjoyable crossword. I look forward to the next one.

8. I love crisps

9. Crisps are not spam

10. Indeed not, James – apologies for originally categorising your comment as such.  You were gently pointing out that we have SALT and VINEGAR, ROAST BEEF and CHEESE and ONION.  Which nobody else spotted – so thank you.

11. All done and dusted over our morning coffee.  Favourite was VIOLINISTS for the surface.

    In the circumstances we won’t offer fulsome praise to the setter, but congratulate him on a coruscating puzzle.

    Thanks, Skinny and Pierre.

12. No probs.  Thanks for explaining the second confusing comment, as I was looking a bit, er, nuts.

    Very nice puzzle, as usual from Skinny. SATURDAY, ONION and VIOLINISTS my picks.

     

13. Well, you can rely on me to be the naysayer, Pierre.   A friend had to point out the wordplay of SATURDAY and when he kindly did so my opinion of the puzzle immediately plummeted.   I should know by now that filth and football are the keys to getting the editor onside!

    As for ‘coruscating’ I think it’s a word that Peter May must have come across at the time of writing his Lewis trilogy – the waters around the Hebrides are invariably coruscating in his settings!

    Well done to James for spotting the crisps – is there really a roast beef flavour?   Probably taste like Oxo cubes……..

    Thanks to Skinny for the puzzle and to Pierre for the blog – I shall be cautious about using FULSOME in future.

     

14. Jane, you’ve done enough of these Indy puzzles to not be a million miles off in your assessment of the editor’s tastes and tolerances …

    You carry on getting wound up about filth and I’ll carry on getting wound up about too many golf references (and language misuse).  And, as they say in Derbyshire, we’ll be reet.

15. Hello to all, and well done James for spotting the crisps.

    I think in an early puzzle I said I don’t go out of my way intentionally to use toilet-humour – if they’re there, then they parts of the jigsaw. However, on this occasion I have to plead guilty as charged, as I was making use of a ‘letter’ from Viz some time ago, the link to which is here… http://viz.co.uk/2014/09/25/895/

    Don’t go off-piste after following that link if you don’t like similar content.

    As for fulsome. It’s a funny one. We all know what we think we mean when using it without necessarily knowing what it actually means.

    Thanks for all the comments, and in particular to Pierre for the blog and the roubust defence of Chambers-inhabiting-vernacular. I’m happy to be alongside Hoskins, Eccles and Paul in using such lingo.

    I’m reminded of a clip from Round The Horne (which I’m very fond of) – there was a sketch where they listened in on the BBC censors, whose job it was to “…force out hidden dirt”

16. Thanks Skinny

    Must look to Viz more for inspiration. Lovely puzzle, all the more with crisps

    Thanks pierre

17. Lovely crossword (and blog) to brighten up a grey day. I didn’t spot the crisps but I did think that some of the pairings in the grid ran together nicely – such as the teary priest following Sarong Saturday.

    Thanks to Skinny and Pierre

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