ShopWell-armed – BIG Crossword 199
July 2, 2009 by The Judge
Filed under The Judge Sums Up
Working the BICEPS for a crossworder is most often done by lifting your hand from the page and scratching your head in thought. Our clue is not incorrect, as queried by some, as the BICEPS is so named because it is a two-headed muscle (triceps has three points of attachment). We did not need a plural clue.
Another query came at 31dn where for ‘Inlaid border of violin’ we had PURFLE and some of you thought it should be PURFLING, which of course did not fit. I think this is one of those cases where we are both correct. Oxford lists PURFLE as ‘an ornamental border, typically one inlaid at the back of a violin’ but both Oxford and Collins make a note of purfling as a noun also. Whichever you prefer they are both great words, don’t you think?
Whereas today Pilates, boot camps and body building are fitness fads in the 1920s INDIAN CLUB exercise classes were all the rage. Originally used by wrestlers in India for strength training, British soldiers introduced them into England in the 1880s. Jugglers soon put similar clubs to good use, hence our clue ‘Juggler’s tossing pin’ at 22dn.
Back at 2dn the ‘Floating White Nile vegetation’ was SUDD not SUDS (which, if you had, also meant 17ac was incorrect; ‘Gulf War missile’ was SCUD). The sudd (coming from an Arabic word meaning ‘block’) is a swampy region that acts as an obstacle to navigation. For me it brings to mind Humphrey Bogart as Mr Allnut, dragging the African Queen through the swamps to get to clear water and sink the German gunboat.
Putting your heads together for a powwow can help come up with the answers. The more formal answer to ‘Informal conference’ at 74dn was a COLLOQUIUM not COLLOQUIAN. The M was needed for ‘Smashes into’ RAMS at 125ac (not RUNS).
America’s Cup winners are not the only ones with winged keels! Birds have a keel on their sternum where their wings are anchored. Those without this keel have a flat or raft-like sternum and are known as RATITES. The emu and ostrich are examples.
Also from the animal world the MANATEE was the ‘Whale-like mammal’ at 79dn. MANTARE and MANTITE both appeared, making RATITES incorrect as RATTANS or RUTTIES.
FIREDAMP sounds like an odd name for combustible gas but the damp here comes from the German dampf meaning vapour.
The Parliament of India consists of two houses the upper, or Rajya Sabha and the lower, or Lok SABHA (96ac). Representatives in the Lok Sabha are chosen by direct election. Indian democracy has a long history. The Sabha, as an assembly of people for making decisions, is mentioned in the Ancient Vedic texts. SABBA was incorrect.
Over to the Goliathon and ‘Throaty’ was GUTTURAL not GUTTERAL at 60ac.
‘Levels’ at 96ac was STRATA not STRATO, which you had if you put MEGOLAMANIA instead of MEGALOMANIA for 80dn ‘Craving for power’.
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