Comments on: Independent 6789/Phi (19-07-08)

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:38:13 +0000

SKEWER I read in the cryptic part as the comparative of SKEW (twisted) without being 100% sure.

By: beermagnet

beermagnet — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:59:38 +0000

I see, thanks. Good ideas are GEMS and original ideas are GERMS. So the G doesn’t come from Good (which is what was confounding me) and I find the “Goodidea”/Gem relationship a bit of a stretch.

By: Harris

Harris — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:43:08 +0000

Re. 8D: Ge(r)ms.

Where a ‘germ’ is a new idea.

By: neildubya

neildubya — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:42:06 +0000

I didn’t understand 8 either but I guess I must have forgot to write about it my post. Odd that. Anyway, could an original idea be a GERM? Bit of a longshot but it’s all I can think of that would work with the wordplay.

By: beermagnet

beermagnet — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:30:00 +0000

20D I too wondered about this and considered SKEWED and SLEWED before plumping for SKEWER even though the clue is simply a detailed description of the object. Does adding a question mark make it a cryptic clue?

8D Given the Nina, I was left with GE-S and eventually opted for GEMS on the grounds that it is probably the most common word that fits, but even if it is right I don’t understand this one at all. Clue:
Good ideas, original ideas, but not right (4)

Coincidence corner: HOPI here so soon after its appearance in the Guardian the previous week.

By: Paul B

Paul B — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:04:28 +0000

PS 45 minutes, which we had quite recently, is HOU. Or, by the same token, OUR.

By: Paul B

Paul B — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:03:16 +0000

House is HO, old city is UR. It’s the old half-hour joke!