Comments on: Guardian 24,696 – Rufus

By: Barnaby Page

Barnaby Page — Tue, 12 May 2009 13:26:06 +0000

One quibble with this generally pleasing crossword: what are the words “Name for” adding to 10ac? Wouldn’t the clue work just as well reading “Stones, when placed round an entrance”?

By: muck

muck — Mon, 11 May 2009 19:17:49 +0000

24dn: D(IS)C. The Quick today has Direct Current as one of the answers. Probably a coincidence.

By: ray

ray — Mon, 11 May 2009 17:23:23 +0000

I thought 25d was REGS – abbreviated ‘regulations’, which are often quoted to support something, and the R from the rex/regina abbreviation.

By: sidey

sidey — Mon, 11 May 2009 16:23:02 +0000

Who still use phone boxes?

In the UK, drug dealers.

Sorry, anyway, nice Monday puzzle after a hard weekend’s solving.

By: Derek Lazenby

Derek Lazenby — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:46:33 +0000

Same comments as above.

I got stuck on one. I’d got all the way to LOSES ?E?R? and couldn’t see it for looking! I have no idea why I should go quite so brain dead on something quite so obvious. But common though the phrase is, I hardly ever use it in the romantic sense, so maybe that is why. Perhaps I should wallow in some Mills and Boon for a while? Yuck, maybe not!

By: petero

petero — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:14:45 +0000

“As I was going to St. Ives”… it’s one of those close calls which dictionaries tend to sanction, but one has the feeling there is a slight shade of difference.
The last time I tried to use a phone booth, near Carlyle, it turned out to be acting as a greenhouse for a fine crop of stinging nettles.

By: Gaufrid

Gaufrid — Mon, 11 May 2009 14:39:52 +0000

JimboNWUK
25d sovereign = pound (sterling) = L (or £)

By: JimboNWUK

JimboNWUK — Mon, 11 May 2009 14:33:30 +0000

To C. G. Rishikesh…. having recently returned from Goa, I can confirm that there are still plenty of phone boxes, mainly used by tourists bcause it is cheaper than by mobile. Having said that, ‘er indoors rang our bank (First Direct) only to be told by the shop bloke that the time was spinning faster than the prices at the petrol pumps…. it seems that the call was being routed Goa -> UK -> Indian Call Centre -> UK -> Goa thus incurring 4 x the inter-operator charges.
TO get back oon-topic, I thought FIDDLESTICKS was fine but have still to see a decent rationale for NEGLIGEE. Also the last one I filled in, 25D, what has ’soveriegn to do with it? (I put PEGS)

By: smutchin

smutchin — Mon, 11 May 2009 13:01:01 +0000

Rishi – “as” and “when” both mean something like “at that time”. You could also equate either with “while”.

By: C. G. Rishikesh

C. G. Rishikesh — Mon, 11 May 2009 12:32:38 +0000

Any opinions on Ciaran’s comment on our getting AS from ‘when’?

I think this thing has been used by other setters as well, so we had better resolve the issue.

I must confess that the first time I came across this use, I was a little surprised. But later I reconciled myself to it.

Bradford’s lists ‘as’ under ‘when’.

Chambers has ‘when’ as one of the meanings under ‘as’.