14 comments on “Guardian 24436 – placeholder”

  1. Andrew's avatar
    Andrew
    #1 - Wed 9th Jul 08, 16:03

    Mostly pretty easy, I thought, but I was puzzled by 5ac:

    Indirect strike only half completed (5-2)

    to which the answer must be KNOCK-ON, but “strike” seems to be doing double duty in the definition (“Indirect strike”) and the wordplay (“strike” = KNOCK, plus half of ONly). or am I missing something.

    Also in 29ac:
    Different girl, one in Italy, to approve of (7)

  2. Andrew's avatar
    Andrew
    #2 - Wed 9th Jul 08, 16:04

    Oops, finger trouble there. Was going to say, in 29ac “girl” and “one in Italy” both define UNA in the wordplay, which is a bit unusual.

  3. Thiefinni's avatar
    Thiefinni
    #3 - Wed 9th Jul 08, 16:06

    If KNOCK-ON is an adjective, then ‘indirect’ is a good definition on its own.

  4. conradcork's avatar
    conradcork
    #4 - Wed 9th Jul 08, 16:07

    5 across. ‘Indirect strike’ could be a way of describing a knock-on effect.

  5. muck's avatar
    muck
    #5 - Wed 9th Jul 08, 16:07

    Fairly straightforward puzzle.

    29ac has duplicate indciations, ‘girl’ and ‘one in Italy’, for UNA.

  6. muck's avatar
    muck
    #6 - Wed 9th Jul 08, 16:11

    Gosh. 4 comments came in while I was typing mine!

    5ac: KNOCK-ON means indirect as in ‘knock-on effect’; strike=KNOCK + ON(ly)

  7. Rich's avatar
    Rich
    #7 - Wed 9th Jul 08, 16:15

    I think the girl reference in 29a is to specify una rather than uno both are one in Italy

  8. Rich's avatar
    Rich
    #8 - Wed 9th Jul 08, 16:18

    Can anyone explain 7d to me? I have corkboard as the answer but don’t get the ‘C’ the rest is perhaps OR K(ING) and BOARD is food as in board and lodging, but really don’t see it yet!

  9. manehi's avatar
    manehi
    #9 - Wed 9th Jul 08, 16:23

    Rich: CARDBOARD – with kings and queens being playing cards

  10. Eileen's avatar
    Eileen
    #10 - Wed 9th Jul 08, 16:24

    7dn: I had CARDBOARD

  11. beermagnet's avatar
    beermagnet
    #11 - Wed 9th Jul 08, 16:24

    7D I have CARDBOARD as “(food) without substance” from “Maybe king or queen” giving CARD then “food” for BOARD, though as you see it relies on “food” doing a linky kind of double duty.

  12. Andrew's avatar
    Andrew
    #12 - Wed 9th Jul 08, 16:25

    Rich, it’s actually CARDBOARD
    Def: “Without substance”
    CARD (King or Queen) + BOARD as in Board & Lodging

  13. Eileen's avatar
    Eileen
    #13 - Wed 9th Jul 08, 16:28

    Sorry, Manehi, you just beat me to it. we seem to be all falling over each other today!

    So 29ac would work perfectly well without ‘one in Italy’, though a bit weak.

  14. Rich's avatar
    Rich
    #14 - Wed 9th Jul 08, 16:43

    Thanks All, feel pretty daft not seeing that!

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