Comments on: Guardian 24865 – Gordius

By: maarvarq

maarvarq — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 03:19:46 +0000

The Canberra Times in Australia seems to publish these 2 weeks late, but anyway… I did find the combination of an obscure British place name (Par) and an obscure ecclesiastical term (Ven) in the same clue to be a bit excessive, not to mention being expected to know the French word for “essence”.

By: sandra

sandra — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:58:59 +0000

I am late with this, so maybe no-one to resd it, but was shocked that there was so much negativity re Gordius. Not my favourite, often somewhat obscure but I always learn something. Heaven forbid that the guardian crossword should conform to someone’s idea of uniformity. having said that – thanks to all, especially Uncle Yap, for your insights – I had par and lenity from the wordplay/checking letters but now i understand.

By: Sylvia

Sylvia — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 04:15:06 +0000

24865 – 12a

Couple of days late in trying this crossword, but completed all correctly except for having ‘army road’ instead of Crayford! (I knew it was a roman road and thought this must be the answer.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:41:58 +0000

This time, Paul, I think I don’t agree with you.
What you know is probably not what I know.

And I really have no problems with guessing or filling in what’s most likely (once or twice), to discover afterwards that it was right (or wrong, of course). You’re never too old to learn something (… what a boring platitude, indeed, but even so …)

By: Paul B

Paul B — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:54:55 +0000

Well, sorry to labour once again the point I’m always labouring, but you ought to be able to solve a daily puzzle, even a difficult one, from what you know. You shouldn’t really need to look anything up, or make guesses (especially as to SI elements – the odd tricky entry in a themed puzz? Well, fair enough).

By: Paul (not Paul)

Paul (not Paul) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:55:31 +0000

This was a particularly poor Gordius.

But, I know its him and I know when to give up. There were half a dozen really crap clues today, 12 ac being pityful.

Bit its Gordius and I’ve learnt not to sweat over him.

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:29:45 +0000

A significant divergence of opinion today! It is always interesting to see what others find obscure. Par was the first cornish village I thought of and ven seemed straightforward, but I had no idea on 2d. Similarly I could have stared at the anagram for 5d for the rest of my life and been none the wiser. But that’s all part of the fun! I enjoyed today’s puzzle, and the debate it generated.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:23:42 +0000

Not even two weeks ago (Nov 13th) there was a lot of fuss about Gordius’ previous rendering. In one of the last posts I stated: “Some crosswords are extraordinary (like the recent renderings of Brendan and Crucible), some are ordinary (like this one).
But then so what, burn down the setter??”

It looks like I could repeat it today, after tweaking it a little bit.
Apart from the fact that this crossword was much better.

All this talking about Britishism is Much Ado About Nothing.
I guessed CLAYFORD from its construction, finding out later that I was right – Hurrah! In 17d PARVENU was quite obviously the right solution, after which I deduced that Par must be a village in Cornwall. Learned something today – Hurrah!!
I am not cynical, but I’m with Tom Hutton (#39) who says: “and I didn’t even bother with Par since the answer was obvious”.
OTOH (learned this abbreviation today from Paul B, thx!) I didn’t like Chunter’s remarks (#25) that he “for one wouldn’t be interested in solving puzzles aimed at an ‘international’ audience, even if Araucaria, Paul and the others were willing to set them”. Why not try to learn a bit more about the world outside the UK?

To start with Gordius and/or the Guardian editor …
Unbelievable, this Sarkozy blunder.

But let’s face it, there were some splendid clues as well.
I really liked 21ac, because when flying you cán have trouble with your ears.
And the nice surface of 19d.
The link between “crash” and “the ashes” is very satisfying for the setter – but perhaps solvers don’t look at a clue like that (but I do).
Just like the come-dancing combination in 5d – very nice.

Paraphrasing Bryan (#5), I agree with a lot of your comments but I really enjoyed it.
And if one doesn’t agree with that, well, tomorrow’s another day!

By: Eileen

Eileen — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:52:17 +0000

Hi again mhl

Slightly off-topic [but rapidly becoming less so!]: thanks for your post in the Chat Room general crossword discussion on the crosswords that have generated the most comments / controversy.

Next time you’re at a loose end [!], how about a gazeteer of places immortalised [à la Adlestrop] by an appearance in a Guardian crossword? Remember Pluckley almost a year ago? [No prizes for guessing who the setter was! ]

And again re PAR [and Uncle Yap's alternative suggestions for cluing it]: 13ac in the FT puzzle today: ‘Scratch society in Cowley plant [3,7]‘!

Tom Hutton – I’ve no recollection of having ‘ticked you off’ [sincere apologies]. I’m relieved to see that you are, in fact, still contributing!

By: alanjc

alanjc — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:38:37 +0000

One of those days when reading the analysis was far more enjoyable than ‘doing’ it but did learn CALOMEL. Has the look of a good scrabble word.