ShopColossus 136 - The Judge Sums Up
March 1, 2012 by The Judge
Filed under Colossus Crosswords
in the shop
Let’s start with clue 169dn in the Stinker, which was a little ambiguous. ‘Stores’ suggests a few different answers including two that fitted the spaces on our grid; the noun SHOPS, places you buy things, or the verb STOWS, stashes away. We accepted both answers.
One of the world’s endangered animals is a Himalayan creature called a Hispid Hare. The hare is so named because of its bristly coat. Stinker clue 72ac was ‘Covered with bristles’ and needed HISPID as the answer. HISUID and HISHID were incorrect.
At 63dn the ‘Dramatist’ was ‘BERTOLT Brecht’ not BERTOIT or BERTORT. This German playwright and poet is perhaps best remembered for his collaboration with Kurt Weill on the satirical musical, The Threepenny Opera. One of the songs from the show, the murder ballad known as Mack The Knife, has been recorded many times since its creation in the 1920s.
Intrepid is a word that is quite well-known; an intrepid explorer is one who is fearless even while facing unknown dangers. The word comes from the Latin trepidus meaning alarmed or anxious and so the lesser-known TREPID was the answer to 35dn ‘Quaking’. TREVID and TREMID
were incorrect.
‘Jot’ was the clue at 87ac and while a simple little word, it did cause some trouble. Jot means to write down quickly and briefly. By extension it means a little bit, especially in the phrase, “I don’t care a jot”. WHIT has a similar meaning and was the answer we were looking for. CHIT means a voucher for food or drink, a memorandum, or an impudent girl.
For 136dn ‘Kin’ both RELATIVES and RELATIONS seemed to be suitable, but only RELATIVES would fit with 186ac APE for ‘Tailless primate’.
At 76dn the clue ‘Do penance’ needed EXPIATE. The second part of expiate shares its Latin root word pius with pious, which we might clue as ‘devout’ or ‘reverent’. EXPLANE, is unfortunately not a word , perhaps those who opted for this were thinking of EXPLAIN.
A few simple spelling errors to note include CHARLATON, which needed to be CHARLATAN for ‘Quack’ at 15ac, INADVERTANT, which needed to be INADVERTENT for ‘Unwitting’ at 129dn and USERER, which needed to be USURER for ‘Greedy moneylender’ at 291dn.
Over in the Giant Cryptic and 61dn was ‘Centre area of club is a candy store? (5,4)’. The answer was SWEET SPOT, the clue containing two meanings. A sweet spot on a golf club, tennis racquet or bat is the centre area from where the most effective shots are made. A sweet spot could also be a place to sell ‘candy’. A couple of entries had SCENT SPOT.
We had a lot of discussion about 63ac as many different answers appeared in entries including IFS, ITS and ILS. The ins and outs of something are the intricacies or details, so INS was the answer to ‘Half of the finer details’.
In Cashwords entries we noticed quite a few blank squares. This can easily happen when you leave a letter to check the spelling in a dictionary and then forget to go back and fill it in. It’s a shame to do all the work of filling in the answers to then be disqualified for one or two blank squares. So, a friendly reminder from our judges to recheck your entries before posting.
‘Narrow river crossing’ at 1dn was FORD not FEED and ‘Unlatch’ at 157ac was UNBOLT not UNBELT.
‘Be an omen of’ at 61ac needed BODE not MODE, RODE or CODE. I could say that this didn’t bode well for the rest of the Cashwords, but that would seem a bit cruel!
There were two acceptable spellings at 132dn. ‘Car’s petrol-mixing device’ was either CARBURETTOR or CARBURETTER.
‘Soundest of mind’ at 71ac was SANEST not SAFEST and 141dn ‘Happiest’ was CHEERIEST, not CHEEKIEST. For both these answers I am reminded of that strange idiom, ‘close but no cigar’, meaning your worthy efforts unfortunately fall just short and receive no reward.
The expression, which was used in the 1935 film of Annie Oakley, apparently comes from a time in the US when cigars were given out as fairground prizes.
I’m sure you eager-beavers are all as keen as mustard to tackle the next lot of contests. May you fare well in your quest for the sweet smell of victory!
BIG Crossword December - The Judge Sums Up
March 1, 2012 by The Judge
Filed under BIG Crossword
the clues
We were faced with a bit of a dilemma in the Bigcash. The usual English spelling for ‘Small handbill’ is FLYER but quite a few entries had FLIER. This is more common in American English, but as it is a variant spelling and does appear in some dictionaries, we had to accept it as correct as well at 10ac.
A couple of other acceptable alternatives should also be mentioned. For 56dn ‘Medicinal inhaler’ both VAPORIZER and VAPORISER were okay and at 93ac ‘Cruel wisecracks’ could be GIBES or JIBES.
‘Argue’ at 14dn was DEBATE not DEBASE and ‘Strain’ at 17dn needed EXERT not ELECT or ERECT.
For 24ac ‘Perplexed’ only BAFFLED was correct. BAFFLES was the wrong tense. Similarly, 28ac ‘Carved into shape’ needed HEWED and not HEWES. 29dn ‘Judges’ was DEEMS not SEEMS.
A couple of entries misspelt HUSTLE at 28dn as HUSSLE and one or two of you opted for JOCKIES instead of the correct JOCKEYS for 82dn, ‘Horse riders’. JOCKIES made 109ac incorrect as well.
The word jockey comes from the Scottish name Jock, a colloquial equivalent of John. As far back as the 16th century the name was used to mean ‘a boy or fellow’ (compare the English Jack the lad, Jack of all trades, Jack tar etc.). Like most words, the path it took to reach the usage we now know, is not clear, but Jock gained use as a word for horse dealers and trickster and jockey was adopted for a person who rode a horse in a race around 1670.
Over in The Demon both AMEND and EMEND were accepted for ‘Revise’ at 73ac. For 82dn ‘Street vendors’ we wanted PEDLARS but also had to accept the US spelling PEDLERS, which appears in dictionaries. Not surprisingly in this age of computers and global industries English and American spellings are getting closer and there is more overlap. Most so-called American spellings have a long history in English anyway, from the time before Samuel Johnson put together his prescriptive English dictionary in 1755 followed by Noah Webster’s American version in 1828.
Another unexpected alternative answer was spotted at 97dn. For ‘Stretcher’ we wanted LITTER but a few entries had LIFTER. We first considered this incorrect, but in checking various dictionaries, a lifter was defined as ‘a person or thing that lifts’ and so we had to agree that by our definition of what a clue is, we had to accept that answer as well.
We did not accept TONG in answer to 36dn ‘Chinese dynasty’. You needed TANG. TONG is a word but describes a Chinese secret society.
Your Goliathon entries were almost error-free. Congratulations!
The few small errors noticed by our judges included INCER at 13dn instead of the correct INCUR for ‘Become liable for’ and TEEMED at 106dn instead of TEAMED for ‘Combined forces, … up’.
MEGA! 72 - The Judge Sums Up
bearing clues
One of my favourite tales from Ancient Greece is that of the wooden horse. Devised by Odysseus after years of unsuccessful attempts to enter Troy, Greek soldiers hid inside a large wooden horse while the rest of their army pretended to give up and sail away. The Trojans were persuaded to drag the gift into the city and after dark the Greek soldiers emerged, opened the gates to their comrades and the city was taken.
This tale has become part of our language. A Trojan horse is a devious ploy against one’s enemies. In business it is an offer that seems, and indeed is, too good to be true and in computer speak, it is a program that appears legitimate but is in fact destructive. We also get the expression ‘beware Greeks bearing gifts’ meaning ‘don’t trust your enemies’ from this myth.
After the destruction of Troy, Odysseus had a long and arduous journey home, as described in Homer’s The Odyssey. He faced the one-eyed Cyclops and sea monsters, encountered storms and was shipwrecked before returning after ten years to his wife, Penelope, who awaited at home in Ithaca, where Odysseus was king.
In the Mega Stinker 72 the most common error was at 128ac. ‘Odysseus’ home in Greece’ was ITHACA not ITHICA. This ancient epic was written in the 8th century BC and is still very much part of our culture. I wonder which modern tales will stand such a test of time. Odyssey is a word that also appears in our crosswords, clued as ‘Epic journey’ or ‘Lengthy adventure’.
A PYRRHIC victory is one at too great a cost. King Pyrrhus of Epirus sustained such devastating losses while defeating the Romans in 279BC that the victory was seen as fairly hollow.
A couple of entries had CYRRHIC for ‘Hollow (victory)’ at 85dn and COLEMIC at 85ac. POLEMIC, the answer to ‘Doctrinal dispute’ at 85ac, also comes from Greek, from the word for ‘war’. If you put PALEMIC for 85ac, 69dn was also incorrect. ‘Ballroom dance, … doble’ was PASO not PASA. The name of this Spanish dance translates as ‘double step’.
The ‘German diacritic’ at 56ac was an UMLAUT not UMALUT. This is the two dots placed above a vowel to alter its sound (e.g. like the difference between mice/mouse or man/men). Führer is an example, which without the umlaut is sometimes seen as Fuehrer.
Finally for the Stinker 69ac ‘Hunts, … upon’ was PREYS not PRAYS.
ATTILA the Hun appeared in the Mighty Mega at 56ac, unfortunately for some of you ATILLA is incorrect. Known as the Scourge of God, Attila and his army overran much of Roman Europe in the 5th century and have gone down in history remembered for their barbarity. Attila died on his wedding night in 453, perhaps at the hand of his new bride.
The NAPA (not NAFA, BAJA or TAPA) Valley is the ‘California wine valley’ (Mega Mix 38ac) famous for Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot and other varieties of wine.
‘A person between the ages of 50 and 59’ (23dn) is a QUINQUAGENARIAN, not QUINQUAGINARIAN. For 54dn ‘Title of the wife of the Aga Khan’ both BEGUM and BEGAM were acceptable. Begum Inaara Aga Khan was the second wife of Prince Karim, His Highness The Aga Khan IV, until they divorced in October 2011.
So many interesting bits of information hiding in our clues! Enjoy the next batch of contests and see what you can learn.
MEGA! 71 - Judge Sums Up
January 31, 2012 by The Judge
Filed under MEGA!, The Judge Sums Up
for a Stinker
A simple spelling mistake caught out some Stinker-lovers at 1dn. ‘Prophetess’ needed SIBYL not SYBIL. Sibyl’s were depicted as old women who lived in caves making prophecies. The most famous was the one who assisted Aeneas in his journey to the underworld.
Another often misspelt name caught out others of you at 103ac. ‘Othello plotter’ needed IAGO not LAGO.
Interestingly a sibyl appears in Shakespeare’s play. Othello gives Desdemona a handkerchief which he says was woven by a 200-year-old sibyl. The handkerchief is a symbol of loyalty, but Iago uses it to convince Othello of Desdemona’s infidelity.
The conniving Iago could perhaps be described as a roué, but not as a roux! ROUX not ROUÉ was the answer to 49dn ‘White sauce base’. Roux comes, like many cooking terms, from French and is related to the word russet, coming from the Latin russus, meaning ‘brownish’.
Our clue at 42dn was ‘Box-shaped solid’, but what is a box-shape? Our compiler was thinking of a regular cube-shaped box, but surely a box can have other than six sides. This was something we had to consider when faced with the answer DECAHEDRON instead of the expected HEXAHEDRON. Should we allow it? So back to maths class we went.
Hedron is a suffix meaning a solid with a specific number of faces. A polyhedron is a solid bounded by polygons, that is, closed planes of at least three sides (e.g. triangles, squares, rectangles). So far so good. A hexahedron has six faces, i.e. is a cube when those faces are squares. But a tetrahedron is 3-sided, a pentahedron is 5-sided and a heptahedron is 7-sided. Are they not still boxes? None of these fitted the space in our grid but DECAHEDRON did, and as it can be argued that you can have a 10-sided box, after due deliberation we accepted it as an alternative answer to our clue.
Imminent, coming from the Latin for ‘project over’ means ‘impending’. Immanent, coming from the Latin for ‘remain in’ means ‘existing within’. Our clue at 139dn ‘Inherent’ needed IMMANENT not IMMINENT. One little letter, but a whole world of difference!
The answer to 167dn, while perhaps not immediately obvious, was a ‘light bulb’ moment once realised. ‘Southerly’ was AUSTRAL. DUSTPAN and QUETZAL fitted the space but can only be described as wild guesses.
The Greeks used the word australis to mean the southern part of the world and terra australis incognita was the ‘unknown southern land’ that became Australia.
Austral is used for things relating to, or from the south, so an austral breeze or austral summer. It is used quite a lot by southern hemisphere businesses; Austral Gold, Austral Bricks, Air Austral are examples.
Now I feel in need of some refreshment, how about you? Look no further than 177dn where you’ll find ‘Drink, mint …’. A mint JULEP (not JULIP) originated in Kentucky as a mix of bourbon, ice, sugar syrup and mint. According to Oxford the word julep comes from the Persian gulab or ‘rose water’. A similar drink is a mojito, which has the addition of lime.
In the Mega Mix ‘Ireland’s new PM since March 2011’ (70ac) proved hard to find for some. One reader even told us she rang the Irish Consulate and was told Brian Cowen, who was in fact the previous leader. ENDA KENNY leads the Finn Gael party and heads a coalition government formed on March 9, 2011.
It is no surprise that Iran and Iraq are often mistaken, as they are neighbours and differ in English by just one letter. The ‘Gulf War nation’ was IRAQ at 55dn in the Mighty Mega, not IRAN. The United States invaded Iraq in 1991 following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. This is sometimes called the First Gulf War because of the coalition invasion in 2003, usually known as the Iraq War. Just to confuse things further, both are sometimes referred to as Desert Storm. And if that wasn’t enough confusion, there was also a conflict in the 1980s between the two nations known as the Iran-Iraq War.
Not much else to mention from the Mighty Mega I’m pleased to say. Just a couple of AVIARIES instead of APIARIES for 72ac ‘Bee farms’ and one or two ABASE instead of ABATE for 12dn ‘Diminish’.
I would like to wish you all the best for the festive season and I look forward to joining you in 2012 to make it the best puzzling year yet.
Holiday Collection 77 - Judge Sums Up
January 31, 2012 by The Judge
Filed under Holiday Crossword collection, The Judge Sums Up
The Double Monster is one of your favourite contests, combining the fun of cracking the code in the Monster Starhunt, with the challenge of unravelling the clues in the Monster Colossus.
With so many clues to solve it is no surprise when a few errors appear.
At 33dn the clue ‘False doctrines’ needed HERESIES and not HERETICS, who are the people espousing the doctrines.
‘Concert venue, … Square Garden’ (83ac) needed MADISON and not MADISAN, which also made 118dn incorrect. ‘Became threadbare, … out’ was WORE no WARE.
Clue 121dn ‘Quaff’ needed GULP as the answer. Quaff is defined as ‘to drink heartily or in one draught’ so I’m sure you will agree that QUIP, ‘a sarcastic or cutting remark’, didn’t fit at all.
At 310dn ‘Hangers-on’ was RETINUE and not RESIDUE and 243dn ‘Claim’ was ASSERTION not ASCERTAIN.
Over in the Stinker at 72ac the ‘Short-stemmed clay pipe’ was a DUDEEN; a word to note if you couldn’t find it. Dudeen comes from a Gaelic word for pipe. ‘Torn asunder’ (74ac) was RIVEN. Quite a few incorrect answers were spotted here including RILED, RISEN and RIPER.
The word NEVE has been known to crop up in our puzzles, usually with a clue like ‘Glacial snow’. A NENE, on the other hand, is a ‘Hawaiian goose’ and was the answer to 283dn. As you can see the two are not interchangeable!
While once common on the islands, the nene is now the world’s rarest goose and is sadly threatened. Conservation and breeding programs have been successful in saving the goose from the brink of extinction.
The Greek island of Santorini is also known as THIRA or THERA, but not PHIRA, as a few of you had for clue 77ac. Interestingly, this tourist haven is the remains of a volcano that erupted 3600 years ago. The island is very steep and its whitewashed towns perched high on its rocky slopes make for picture postcard views.
Giant Cryptic clue 1dn ‘Honey, jacket will make things appear more attractive (5-4)’ needed SUGAR-COAT but a few instances of SUGAR-WRAP appeared. You can sugar-coat unpleasant news to lessen the negative impact. Politicians are good at sugar-coating policies they think will be unpopular.
A couple of entries had ADOLESCENCE instead of ADOLESCENTS for 49dn ‘Al does distribute money to youths’ (the CENTS are the money referred to). If so, you also had 72ac incorrect. ‘The kind of stockings anglers use?’ was FISHNET, of course!
In the Collection Contest at 307dn quite a few of you had a different answer to ours, with a completely different meaning. For ‘Downfall’ we wanted RUIN but many entries had RAIN. We checked our dictionaries and agreed that you were correct, so we accepted either answer.
However, at 111ac ‘Adversaries’ needed FOES. We couldn’t make FEES work.
‘Outshining’ at 125ac was ECLIPSING not ECLIPTING and ‘Cattle parasite’ (singular) at 209dn was TICK not TICS, which are muscle twitches.
We’ve put together another collection for your enjoyment. There’s hours of fun and plenty of brain-boosting exercise,
so dive in! Wishing you all a very happy 2012!
BIG Crossword November - Judge Sums Up
January 31, 2012 by The Judge
Filed under BIG Crossword, The Judge Sums Up
judges honest
Judging the competition entries always results in much discussion around words and meanings. Sometimes things get a little heated, but we always come to a decision and are as kind as we can be, while still being fair to all entrants. This month’s entries provided much brain-stretching for our team.
At 1dn in the Goliathon ‘Originated’ was BEGAN but a few entries had BEGUN. Testing out our lexicological abilities, we realised that in an example such as ‘Language may have originated in Africa/ Language originated in Africa’ BEGUN and BEGAN replace the single word ‘originated’ – so both answers were okay.
The clue at 10dn ‘Widely’ wanted BROADLY. However quite a few entries had GREATLY. As greatly can mean extensively and widely can mean largely, we had to admit that, while in general use the two words are different, there is enough overlap that it was also acceptable for this clue.
Another dilemma arose at 3dn ‘Hanker after’. We wanted CRAVE and most of you had this but CHASE appeared a few times. Looking up ‘hanker’ it definitely means ‘have a yearning for’ and so we only accepted CRAVE.
ELLIPTICAL means ‘Egg-shaped’ (123dn). Eclipsis is a rare word for ellipsis, but this is unrelated to the shape. It refers to an omission in a sentence or the three dots that indicate this (…). We often use ellipses in our clues. The entries that had ECLIPTICAL for 123dn were unfortunately incorrect.
The Bigcash was not without its pitfalls. ‘Ponder’ at 9ac suggested CONCENTRATE to some of you. This seemed okay until you came to 12dn ‘Slowly removed, … out’ which was PHASED. To make all fit you had to come up with CONTEMPLATE for 9ac.
UTILISE and UTILIZE were both fine for ‘Put to work’ (77ac) but you needed NEWSMEN, not NEWSMAN, for 32dn ‘Journalists’. ‘Maintains positively’ at 56ac was ASSERTS not ASSENTS, which means ‘agrees’.
At 8dn in The Demon was the clue to a ‘Textured upholstery cloth’ that many of you had not heard of. The answer was DIMITY, a word that comes from Medieval Latin, originally from the Greek di- ‘two’
and mitos ‘thread’, i.e. double-threaded. The cloth has fine raised cords or ribs running as stripes, squares or diamond patterns on the warp. It was originally silk or wool but is now made of cotton. This pretty fabric and dainty word have inspired some to call their baby girls, Dimity. Perhaps there is a Dimity amongst our puzzlers.
At 69ac ‘Knave’ needed the answer VARLET. A couple of entries had HARLOT, which we immediately thought incorrect. However we always check alternative answers in a few sources and to our surprise under ‘harlot’ in Oxford, the original meaning is listed as a ‘promiscuous woman or man’. It comes from the French for knave or vagabond, so we had to concede that this answer was, while borderline, now acceptable.
The ‘Gated canal sections’ at 28dn were LOCKS not LOCHS and ‘Fertilised ova’ at 77ac was ZYGOTES not ZYGOTIS.
The ‘Medieval outer petticoat’ at 119dn was a KIRTLE. A few of you had found this as KYRTLE, so we accepted that also. For men the kirtle was a knee-length tunic but for women it was a full-length garment. As a petticoat it was worn by upper class women over a chemise, with a formal gown over the top. For the less well-off, a kirtle would have been worn as a dress.
Where else would you come across so many wonderful words?
Colossus 135 - Judge Sums Up
January 31, 2012 by The Judge
Filed under Colossus Crosswords, The Judge Sums Up
the clues
In the Cashwords, for ‘Arranged, … up’ at 170dn, we accepted both TEED and TIED. Tee comes from the sporting world. A tee is a stand for a ball, perhaps the best known being the golfer’s tee. A golfer tees up and tees off.
Arranged can also be to tie up, especially loose ends! Tie up loose ends is thought to come from the world of sailing, but what about ‘to be at a loose end’, meaning having little to do? I found this relates to the fact that a captain would order his crew to repair the loose ends of ropes only when there was nothing more pressing to be done. Now let’s press on.
A couple of grammatical errors to mention; at 207ac for ‘Re-evoked (memories)’ you needed AWAKENS not AWAKING and for 147dn ‘Gained victory’ you needed WON not WIN.
We expected SOAR for ‘Skyrocket’ at 178dn but some entries had STAR, perhaps more poetic, but sadly, incorrect.
‘Harassing’ at 215dn was HOUNDING, giving you HEMISPHERE for ‘Half-ball’ at 215ac. SEMISPHERE and SOUNDING were not suitable alternatives.
Over in the Baffler the ‘Ancient Greek region in Anatolia’ was
IONIA not IONIC, which is an architectural style.
The ‘Anti-communist’ was Joseph MCCARTHY not MACARTHY. McCarthy was famous for his spurious claims that there were many Soviet spies within the US federal government and armed forces.
A few entries had GREY for ‘Anatomy author’ but the textbook was written by Henry GRAY.
Just to confuse things, the
American medical drama is called Grey’s Anatomy.
If you had GREY then ‘Neoclassical style’ ended up as the cheesy EDAM, instead of the correct ADAM. This style was named after Robert Adam, a Scottish architect and designer.
In the Giant Cryptic 61dn ‘Announce hotel has slice I made’ was PUBLICISE; PUB coming from ‘hotel’ and LICISE being a mix of the letters from ‘slice I’. A couple of entries had PARTITION.
The Brenner Pass has been used as a route between Northern and Southern Europe since before Roman times. Once a mule track, it is now a major motorway providing a way through the Alps.
In the Stinker, clue 16dn ‘Austria/Italy’s … Pass’ needed BRENNER and not BREMNER as some
of you put.
A plutocracy is government by the wealthy, not by that Disney dog! So the ‘Members of the wealthy elite’ at 20ac were PLUTOCRATS not PLUROCRATS.
A GILLIE is a ‘Scottish hunting guide’ (7dn). This is also spelt ghillie or gilly, but these didn’t fit. We couldn’t find the variant GILLEE.
Clue 146ac proved a bit tricky. ‘Caving hobbyist’ was SPELUNKER not SPELUCKER. Is not spelunker a wonderful word? It comes from the Latin spelunx ‘cave’.
Coming off the P was ‘The golden ratio’ (147dn) or PHI (PYI and PSI were incorrect). Phi comes from the first letter of the name of Greek sculptor and architect Phidias, whose buildings seemed to reflect the golden ratio, which is an aesthetic ideal relating to the ratio of the base to the height of a rectangle.
‘Cosa Nostra mobster’ at 192ac needed MAFIOSO, not MAFIOSA, to fit with LOW for ‘Trough’ at 184dn. One clue over at 185dn, ‘Israeli-designed sub-machine gun’ was UZI. According to Collins this weapon was named after Uziel Gal, the officer who designed it.
Ossuary is a word that appears in our Stinker from time to time. It is a vault to contain bones. In this Stinker at 265dn was the related word OSSEOUS (not OSSUOUS) in answer to ‘Bony’. The base word is the Latin oss ‘bone’. Perhaps we should rename our Skeleton puzzle The Ossa!
Hopefully there are no bones of contention there. Make no bones about it, I’ll be back in the New Year! Wishing you a fantastic fun-filled festive season.
Demon Aficionados - Jan BIG Contests
February 25, 2010 by The Judge
Filed under The Judge Sums Up
Most of you Demon aficionados had no trouble with this answer but a few of the less canny crossworders had AFICIANADO, AVICIANADO or even OFFICINADO. The latter caused more problems in across clues, ’Slipstream’ (21ac), which was WAKE not WORE, ‘Japanese martial art’ (29ac) was AIKIDO and ‘Heather’ (42ac) was ERICA.
If you had HILT for ‘Axe handle’ at 56ac then you also had AFICIONADO incorrect. A hilt is also called a HAFT. So it seems being an aficionado has many possible pitfalls.
Our compilers found a couple of new challenging words for our Demon.
At 18dn ‘Dealer in hides’ was a FELLMONGER, a word some of our more senior crossworders might remember from the days when carts carried skins to where the fellmonger expertly separated the wool from the pelt. FELTMONGER appeared in a few entries.
Even more of a challenge was 74dn. ‘Opera singers’ coach’ threw up a new word for many of you. Originally from French, REPETITEUR is sometimes shortened to ‘rep’. Reps are highly skilled musicians who play piano at rehearsals and advise singers on vocal technique. This word proved elusive and a few guesses and blanks were noted.
A repetiteur would probably be able to give you the answer to 45ac. ‘Resonant’ was OROTUND, which comes from the Latin for ‘with rounded mouth’ – sounds quite fitting for an opera singer.
Back at 13ac a few errors were spotted. PLAGIARISM is ‘Literary piracy’. This fitted with SKIVE for ‘Malinger’ at 4dn but if you had SCAPE or SKATE or SHAKE you ended up with the incorrect PLAGAIRISM.
Finally for The Demon, 132ac ‘Stamp of approval’ had some of you stumped. The answer which comes from the Latin for ‘let it be printed’ was IMPRIMATUR (not IMPRIMATER).
In the Goliathon 17ac clue ‘Make known’ was IMPART not IMPACT or INPART.
Clue 58ac was unexpectedly controversial. For ‘Seediest’ we had SLEAZIEST but other answers were spotted in entries. Seedy means sordid, disreputable, shabby, squalid, unwell or full of seeds. Looking carefully at these definitions we decided not to accept STEAMIEST, SNEAKIEST or SWEATIEST.
Other clues that caught out a few of you included ‘Early harp’ at 173ac, which was LYRE not LUTE and at 194ac ‘Revitalised’ was RESURRECTED not RESSERECTED.
Not much to note in the Bigcash. At 12dn for ‘Lag behind’ one entry had DRUDGE, perhaps thinking of TRUDGE, but DAWDLE was correct (not DAUDLE).
‘Mount’ at 102ac needed SCALE but a couple of entries had STAGE and we realised that this was also correct. As well as climb, mount can mean organise so you can mount or stage an event. Thanks to reader Linda Martin who emailed us to point this out as well. If our judges find an answer other than the one we expected, they always check the dictionaries to see if it is a valid alternative.
Another BIG month’s contests are waiting to be tackled so sharpen those pencils and dust off those reference books.
Phineas returns - Dec BIG Contests
February 12, 2010 by The Judge
Filed under The Judge Sums Up
Anthony Trollope was a very successful and popular novelist in Victorian England. One of his famous series of books was the Palliser novels, including Phineas Finn written in 1869. When it came to our Demon clue, ‘Trollope novel, Phineas …’ at 27ac, many of our puzzlers not surprisingly tried to fit FINN, but this caused trouble for the crossing words and there were five spaces, not four.
The fourth in the Palliser series was the sequel, Phineas Redux. REDUX, meaning ‘brought back’ or ‘restored’ fitted our Demon space perfectly. Phineas is not to be confused with Phileas Fogg, Jules Verne’s character who attempted to travel around the world in 80 days.
Clue 58dn also caused some bemused looks. ‘Futile (task)’ needed SISYPHEAN, a word once well known, but now of obscure meaning to most of us, as we are not so familiar with classical references. Sisyphus was a bit of a bad boy of Greek mythology, known for deceit, murder, lechery and all manner of evil. On his final demise he was condemned to roll a big stone up a hill for all eternity. This is where the meaning of futile comes from, associated with his name.
If your bracelet matches your hair clip, matches your earrings, matches your brooch, matches your belt buckle, then that is a PARURE, coming from Old French for ‘adornment’. Our clue for this was ‘Matching set of jewellery’ at 98ac.
At 136ac ‘Upper jawbone’ wanted MAXILLA not MAGILLA, which sounds like a gorilla (quite a mouthful!). If you like to keep an eye out for aliens then you could call yourself a UFOLOGIST (not UFOLIGIST), the answer to ‘Flying saucer researcher’ at 56dn.
SAPIENT was an answer familiar to the ‘Wise’ who tackled 86dn. This word comes from sapiens meaning wise and yes, is the same as in homo sapiens, or ‘wise man’.
On the top line of the Goliathon our judges spotted a couple of CLARAFIEDs, but CLARIFIED is the correct spelling in answer to ‘Explained’ (6ac).
The ‘Hot water springs’ (104dn) are GEYSERS not GEESERS or GEEZERS making ‘Barks shrilly’ (118ac) YAPS not EEPS. Geezers are men, the word is thought to come from a dialect form of guiser, someone who takes on a guise.
Thanks to Ellen Dean, who emailed us with her concerns over the clue ‘Two-by two craft (4’1,3)’ at 149ac. The clue was a reference to the animals going in two-by-two and so the answer was NOAH’ S ARK. Ellen thought this clue was too obscure for a Goliathon. What do others think about this? You can email us on postbox@lovatts.com.au about this or with any other queries or comments.
One clue that did catch out a few in the Bigcash was at 50ac. ‘Conforming, … the line’ was TOEING not TOWING. This is a not uncommon mistake but most of you lexicon lovers did know the correct choice of word.
As with many expressions, the origin of ‘toe the line’ lingers somewhere in the haze of history. Royal navy sailors were lined up for group punishment with their toes along the decking boards (toe the crack), early boxing matches had boxers ‘toe the scratch’ and the British parliament had lines separating the opposing front benches. If debate became heated, they would be told to toe the line, that is, keep their toes on or behind the line.
For those of you who did get this wrong, I hope you have now learnt something interesting. Unfortunately if you did have this wrong it made 40dn impossible. ‘By and large’ was OVERALL.
Our judges also spotted EULOLY instead of the correct EULOGY at 9dn for ‘Tribute’ and AMBIGUTTY instead of AMBIGUITY at 56dn for ‘Uncertainty of meaning’.
Happy Valentine’s Day and happy puzzling!
Aim High- Nov BIG Contests
February 2, 2010 by The Judge
Filed under The Judge Sums Up
The highest mountain in North America is in Alaska and in 1896 was named in honour of President William McKinley. These were the days when Europeans thought they were making new discoveries, but of course such landmarks had been known to the locals for thousands of years. The Native American name for the peak was Denali meaning ‘The Great One’ and this is now recognised in the same way that Ayers Rock is also known as Uluru.
The next clue along, ‘Grump’ at 8dn, wanted MISERY not LIVERY or VILELY, and a couple more clues over at 12dn ‘Absorb’ needed INGEST not INJEST. The correct answer fitted with GOTHS (not JUTES) at 21ac for ‘Roman Empire invaders’.
For 69ac ‘Woollen overcoat cloth’ we expected KERSEY, a coarse fabric named after the southeast England town. Many of you put JERSEY, which is named after the largest of the Channel Isles. Jersey was originally made of wool and the island was famous for exporting its knitted goods. As you can have a jersey overcoat, we accepted this answer as well.
For the next clue across ‘Sycophantic group’ (71ac) CLAQUE and not CLIQUE was the answer. The latter made 57dn BOI but the ‘Fluffy stole’ was a BOA. Claque comes from the French for applaud or clap. A claque was originally a group of people hired to applaud so the audience would be encouraged to join in.
NOISOME sounds like it might be loud but in fact it is related to annoying and means offensive or foul. It was the answer to ‘Malodorous’ at 76ac. A few incorrect answers appeared here including NAUSATE, ABUSIVE and IRKSOME. The initial N was needed to fit with 73dn ‘Virus’ genetic material (1,1,1)’ or RNA (ribonucleic acid).
The ‘Nutty gelato’ at 78ac was CASSATA, not CASSAVA, a shrub with starchy roots used as a food staple in Central America. A couple of other incorrect answer here were PASSATA and MESSAVA, meaning 58dn was also incorrect. ‘Opportunist’ wanted CHANCER and not TRAPPER or CHALMER. There was a TV series called Chancer starring Clive Owen as conman Stephen Crane.
BÊTE noir is used to describe a ‘Dreaded thing’. It came into English from French a couple of hundred years ago. Perhaps your bête noir is a clue you don’t know the answer to! A few entries had BENE at 86dn.
A couple of vexatious vowels to mention -16ac was TINEA not TINIA, 26dn was SANGRIA not SANGREA and 82dn was ELAN not ELIN.
The Goliathon seemed to cause few problems this time. So well done to all our clever entrants!
Our judges did spot an INJUSTLY instead of UNJUSTLY at 60ac and a KNEEDED instead of KNEADED at 197ac – but that was about it for errors.
In the Bigcash the main thing to mention is clue 77ac. For ‘Magnify’ we wanted ENLARGE but also accepted ENHANCE.
A few entries had EMAIL for 88dn ‘Microsoft spreadsheet software’ but the answer was EXCEL. I agree this one was a bit tough but some who didn’t know it asked around their more computer-savvy friends or contacted a computer seller. Good to see you were all determined to not let the Demon OUTFOX you! (And not OUTFIX as some had at 81ac).
