ShopAsleep on the job – MEGA 3 Contests
January 15, 2010 by The Judge
Filed under The Judge Sums Up
The Mega Stinker was as smelly as usual in issue No. 3. It was enough to keep some of you awake especially at 47dn where ‘Wakefulness’ was INSOMNIA and not IMSOMNIA.
As you saw the sun come up you may have been tackling 134ac ‘Solar radiation (1,1-1)’. This was UV-B not USB or UBB. Ultraviolet means beyond violet in Latin. Violet has the shortest wavelength of visible light and UV is shorter again. We need UVB for vitamin D but it can also cause skin damage. To avoid this we all need to take care on sunny days.
If you’re lucky enough to be enjoying a sunny day on a beach holiday abroad, you might spot a whale passing by. At 61ac ‘Rorqual’ needed SEI Whale (not SKI or SHI). Rorquals are a group of whales including some of the largest, such as the Blue Whale and Humpback Whale. The Sei is the third largest of the group.
A POMANDER is a ‘Scented ball’ 12dn. The word comes from the French for ‘apple of amber’. Pomanders were used in the Middle Ages to counter bad smells and to try and ward off infections. A couple of misspellings included POMADDER and POMANDOR.
Christmas birds – BIG Crossword 204 Contests
December 31, 2009 by The Judge
Filed under The Judge Sums Up
Our clue for HALCYON was ‘Golden (past)’ but the word came from a Greek myth about a bird (no not a partridge) and has a Christmas association.
Alcyone, daughter of Aeolus, who controlled the winds, was married to Ceyx. When Ceyx drowned in a shipwreck, Alcyone threw herself into the sea and the gods took pity and turned them both into birds. Aeolus calmed the winds over the winter solstice (around Dec 17-27) so that the birds could nest. HALCYON came up a number of times when we surveyed readers’ favourite words a few years ago, however some still spelt it incorrectly at 48ac replacing the Y with an I.
The notion of an ideal place has always captured the human imagination. When in 1516 Sir Thomas More published his book mocking the English political and social system, he called his fictional perfect place, Utopia, from the Greek for ‘no place’.
Stories of a utopian place on earth have been around as long as literature and in 1933, British author James Hilton created such a place in his novel Lost Horizon and he called it SHANGRI-LA (Demon 141ac). Shangri-la is a hidden Himalayan valley of happy, long-lived people.
If you lived in Shangri-la I am sure you would not be concerned by the misspelling SHANGRA-LA but our Demon is not so laid back and forgiving.
Interestingly we had PARADISE in the same crossword at 12ac for ‘Heaven’. Of Iranian origin, it means ‘a wall enclosing a garden’. Greek soldier and historian Xenophon, who appears in our crosswords from time to time, used the word paradeisos to describe the large gardens of the Persian rulers. Centuries later it was used for the biblical garden. From there it gained momentum and we use it for everything from amusement parks to retirement homes to holiday resorts to casinos. Perhaps it’s time we had a Paradise Puzzle!
I wonder if they have the ‘Black diamond’ in paradise. It sounds like a most desirable thing -something that might be stolen in an Indiana Jones movie, but in fact the CARBONADO is used in industry to make drill bits and grinding and cutting tools. The name is easily explained as diamonds are chains of carbon. The word came into English from Portuguese. At 20ac in the Demon CABBONADO and CARBANADO were incorrect.
Star ANISE is a terrific spice to add to your Christmas pudding. Our clue at 110ac ‘Fruit, star …’ confused some who thought it should perhaps be apple. The fruits of the Chinese evergreen tree are star-shaped, hence the name.
As Christmas celebrates the birth of the baby Jesus, I thought I’d bring to your attention a nice crossing of words in October’s Demon. LULLABIES at 62ac met up with LAYETTE at 63dn. Layette comes from Old French for a box or chest of drawers and was traditionally all the items a mother knitted and sewed during pregnancy.
In the Goliathon we got in early with the first clue ‘Christmas month’ for DECEMBER.
At 103ac ‘Eccentric’ had as its answer one of my favourite words, BIZARRE, unfortunately easily misspelt as BAZARRE or BAZAARE, if confused with the Middle East market, or bazaar.
Another lovely word was at 129dn, but this one did not cause trouble to you wacky readers. ‘Wackiness’ was ZANINESS and zany comes from an Italian nickname for Giovanni, a common name for clowns in the Italian commedia dell’arte.
Christmas can seem like a lot of rush and fuss but I am sure once the New Year routines settle in we all look back on these as ‘halcyon days’.
Peace and goodwill to you all this Christmas.
On the menu – Colossus Crosswords 215 Contests
December 20, 2009 by The Judge
Filed under The Judge Sums Up
The Oxford dictionary has simply – origin French ‘crayfish soup’. I found two versions of where bisque originated: from the French bis cuites ‘twice cooked’ or from the cuisine of the Bay of Biscay, which lies between France and Spain.
Perhaps the reality is that both are connected, as seafood abounds in the Bay of Biscay and the soup is twice cooked, once to make the stock and then to make the final soup.
Biscuit comes from bis cuites, as biscuits were a two-step process, baked and then baked again on a low heat to dry them out so they kept longer. In pottery, bisque, or biscuit, describes a piece of pottery fired but unglazed.
Another couple of Stinker words coming from French were at 207ac ‘Alto oboe, cor ANGLAIS’ and 217ac ARRIVISTES for ‘Upstarts’.
The cor anglais is also known as an English horn, but it is neither English nor a horn. The instrument has a horn-like curved shape and the name is thought to have been originally cor angle (bent horn) and somewhere along the way it changed – as language does!
Arrivistes seems more straight-forward coming from arrive. An arriviste is a person who metaphorically wants to arrive, that is, make a grand entrance.
Imp, scamp, rascal and little devil can all be ways of describing a ‘Boisterous child’ but none were the answer to Stinker clue 62ac. For this you needed HELLION, which sounds like a cross between a big feline and a place of eternal fire and torment! The word’s origin is unclear but it could be a useful addition to your vocabulary if you have any young hellions in your life.
A couple of small errors to note; 9dn ‘Physical strength’ was BRAWN not BRAIN which is mental strength. Edward the CONFESSOR (not CONFESSER) was the founder of Westminster Abbey at 124dn. Similarly at 1ac TRAITOR was correct for ‘Double-crosser’. A couple of you had TRAITER.
Churlish is a word quite well known but CHURL less so. It was the answer to ‘Boor’ in the Baffler but a few entries had THURL.
The WWII tank unit was PANZER not PANDER and some of our non-gambling puzzlers had trouble with ‘Baccarat card holder’ which was SHOE not SAFE or SALE. For any who have been to a casino dare I say it was a shoo-in?
In the Giant Cryptic contest 58dn was a clue split into two parts. ‘Tribe’ – CLAN, accepts ‘sovereign’ – KING gives you CLANKING for ‘armour rattling’. CLANGING was incorrect. 59dn was a clue using two meanings giving the answer STICK OUT – ‘Project’ and ‘last the distance’. STUCK OUT was incorrect as was STAND OUT.
Finally to the Cashwords and the trickiest word appears to have been at 296ac in answer to the clue ‘Tatty’. This is a hard clue for TAWDRY which means showy and gaudy but also of poor quality and Collins dictionary gives tawdry as one of the meanings of tatty. We did not accept TIDDLY nor any of the misspellings such
as TARDRY.
A couple of small errors found in the Cashwords were ANNAM instead of ANNUM at 72ac and 103dn was VIRILITY not VIRILATY.
Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and a happy, prosperous and puzzling
New Year. We’ll do our very best to find some new and interesting words for you to uncover throughout 2010.
Weird Spellings – MEGA 2 Contests
November 25, 2009 by The Judge
Filed under The Judge Sums Up
Ban is the family name and Ki-moon his given name. In Korean families it is usual for married women to retain their own names but for children to inherit the father’s family name. For example, the son of Ban Ki-moon and Yoo Soon-taek is Ban Woo-hyun.
The other spot for confusion was at 36ac where the ‘Sex determinant (1-10)’ was the Y-CHROMOSOME. A couple of you tried to fit PHEOROMONE, while a few had the misspelling CHROMOSONE.
In the Stinker we had a query about COUNTERSINK or COUNTERSUNK at 65dn for ‘Recess (bolt)’. We expected COUNTERSINK, reading ‘recess’ as a verb, but see that it is possible to read it as an adjective and therefore we accepted either answer.
At 1dn PATOIS and not PATIOS was the answer to ‘Jargon’. The word comes from French. In France patois has been used in a slightly derogative sense to refer to non-Parisian French. English dialects, pidgins or creoles such as those spoken in the Caribbean are also called patois. In fact patois is used to describe any non-standard language. In an article from London’s The Times newspaper about animals having regional accents, the birds in Buckingham Palace were said to be ‘developing a distinctly urban patois’.
At 59ac was the unpleasant sounding clue ‘Lethal nerve gas’. SARIN was developed by the Nazis during World War II. It made it into the news again in 1995 when members of a Japanese sect called Aum Shinrikyo, used it in a terrorist attack in the Tokyo subway, killing eight people and injuring thousands.
TARIN and SABIN were incorrect. TABUN is a nerve gas but didn’t fit with DISLIKE at 55dn.
On a brighter note, if you have seen the film The Devil Wears Prada starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway, you might remember a scene at a function where the junior assistants have to provide their boss with the names of any famous folk before conversation begins.
This is the role of a nomenclator, or ‘name crier’. In Ancient Roman times a slave announced visitors and prompted his master with the names of people encountered.
Nomenclature was a list of names, then a system of naming and now means the ‘Terminology used in a particular field’. Clue 41dn required the answer NOMENCLATURE not NOMENCULTURE.
No pain no gain, and the Stinker can be a bit of a ‘Painful journey’ (120dn), or via DOLOROSA at times, but of course is always a very rewarding experience. A few entries had DOLOROMA. The Via Dolorosa, or ‘Way of Sorrow’, was the path that Jesus followed to his crucifixion. Oxford also lists via dolorosa without initial capitals.
Mighty Mega clue 45ac ‘Lens opening’ needed APERTURE not APETTURE and 100ac was GAWK not GAUK for ‘Gape stupidly’.
Clue 106ac was ‘An OLDIE but a goodie’ – some of you didn’t remember this expression and put an ODDIE, perhaps thinking of TV Goodie, Bill Oddie.
We accepted both DEMILITARISED and DEMILITARIZED at 159ac (but not DEMILATARISED) and both FAMILIARISE and FAMILIARIZE for 132dn. At 58ac ‘Drench’ could be either DOWSE or DOUSE.
A slip of the pen at 76dn saw a couple of you put RENIMISCE instead of REMINISCE for ‘Remember’ – oops! Similarly BLANCMAGNE appeared at 36dn when BLANCMANGE was correct for ‘Wobbly dessert’.
Enjoy the new MEGA! challenges, with best wishes to all for a happy and peaceful festive season.
Fishy Folk? Collection 34 Contests
November 15, 2009 by The Judge
Filed under The Judge Sums Up
Much of the story is hidden in the depths of history, but Egypt was invaded a few times by groups from across the Mediterranean. It is thought they were perhaps displaced people fleeing famine, hence were spurred on by a desperate need to find a new home.
Ramses III recorded how he defeated the invasion in 1191 BC, “Those who came forward together upon the sea, the full flame was in front of them at the river mouths, and a stockade of lances sur-rounded them on the shore.” The Egyptians were not known for their seamanship but Ramses had archers lined along the shore, shooting out barrages of arrows, before sending out ships with grappling hooks to haul in the enemy craft.
While they were completely defeated by Ramses III, others of the Sea Peoples did manage to settle in Palestine.
The next clue along was a lot more whimsical in nature. ‘Prancing clumsily’ 136ac was GALUMPHING, a wonderful word that entered our language thanks to Lewis Carroll. It is thought to be a mix of gallop and triumph. Carroll was very fond of using these portmanteau words, a name he also coined for them. Other examples are slithy and chortle.
The clue at 124dn ‘Louis XV’s mistress, Madame de …’ wanted POMPADOUR in answer. For twenty years this lady, who gave her name to a hairstyle, had great influence in France and was a patron to artists and writers.
Coming off this was OGHAM at 167ac for ‘Ancient Celtic alphabet’. This earliest form of writing in Irish used straight lines and notches. Ogham inscriptions can still be seen, particularly in Kerry and Cork, and especially on standing stones.
We had a few queries about ‘Dice’ as a clue for CUBE. Die was the original singular form but, probably because of the confusion this word caused, dice has been used as a singular noun as well as a plural. Its meaning of a small cube (singular) is first in modern dictionaries.
‘Downward slope’ at 164ac was DECLIVITY not DECLINITY, which appeared a few times. For 217ac ‘Mountaineering stick’ ALPENSTOCK was correct. A few entries had ALPINSTOCK.
Clue 286ac left some wondering. The answer was RUBRIC. Ancient Romans highlighted important events in red on manuscripts and this gives us the phrase a red-letter day. RUBRIC was the name of the red earth used for colouring.
The meaning of rubric has stretched over time to mean direction or rules, or ‘Document heading’ as we had in this Stinker.
Finally for the Stinker 298ac ‘Arranging, … up’ was TEEING and not TYEING.
In the Giant Cryptic 43dn was quite a test if you don’t know of the hot chilli sauce TABASCO. Here’s how you unravel the clue; ‘Running bar total (TAB) as (AS) company (CO) gets on the sauce’. TOBACCO was incorrect.
Once you had this then 43ac ‘What you may be in when overcome with emotion’ TEARS slipped easily into place. If you didn’t get either of them you may have been left crying!
In the Collection Contest 134dn had some thinking. ‘Transplants’ had nothing to do with medical genius in replacing body parts, rather it was more about gardening or migration. The answer was UPROOTS.
‘Howl’ at 209dn was BAWL not BAUL or BALL and 299ac was SENATOR not SENATER.
In the Monster Colossus we had a few phone calls about 66dn as many thought ‘Indian woman’s forehead mark’ was TILAK, but this didn’t fit. You could make note of BINDI in case it comes up again. The word comes from the Hindi language.
‘Self-importantly’ 233dn needed to be POMPOUSLY and not POMPOSITY to be correct. The latter also made 268ac impossible to solve. ‘Bounce-back’ was UPTURN.
I must wish you all the very best for the Christmas New Year season. May all the words you have learnt from our crosswords be on the tip of your tongue to impress friends and family. We are looking forward to entertaining you with more brain-teasing clues in 2010.
Thunder & lightning – BIG Crossword 203
November 10, 2009 by The Judge
Filed under The Judge Sums Up
Many of you had references which had ‘fear of lightning’ only and listed ‘fear of thunder’ as BRONTOPHOBIA. Can I say one right does not make a wrong?
Brontophobia, keraunophobia and tonitrophobia can all be found as terms for this common childhood fear, though none of them appears in our dictionaries.
People who make up names for phobias have a lot of fun. Perhaps you have a fear of getting your competitions in late – we could use the Latin agon ‘contest’ plus tardus ‘late’ and coin the word agontardophobia. Do you think it will take off?
In the age of the Internet new coinages spread quickly and some gather credibility. A similar thing happens with collective nouns, call a group of politicians ‘a puddle of pollies’ on your weblog one day and see it in someone’s list the next.
However, when it comes to our crosswords, we still rely on the proven large edition print dictionaries as our authority – so no gremlin in our Wordygig.
Over in The Demon, clue 116ac ‘Influential film director‘, proved troublesome for some. While a few tried to fit ARTAUD, for the French director Antonin Artaud, others fitted answers such as ARTHUR, AUTHOR and ATTOUR.
The answer needed was AUTEUR, coming from the French autor (author) and describing a director who keeps close creative control over the whole movie-making process. Recognised auteurs include Woody Allen, Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock and George Lucas.
If you had this incorrect you may also have had 95dn ‘Elephant handler’ wrong. MAHOUT (and not MAHOOT or CAHOOT) comes from Sanskrit and means ‘one who has great measure’.
In India, a mahout often starts out as a young boy, who is assigned to a young elephant and the two remain together throughout their lives.
The Demon showed off his poetic side at 58ac with the clue ‘Wax lyrical’ and the answer RHAPSODISE (or RHAPSODIZE). A few of our less poetic readers stumbled here. In Ancient Greece a rhapsodist, or rhapsode, was a professional reciter of poetry, especially of Homer’s epics. The word means ‘to sew together a song’ – how lovely! Let us know if you slip this wonderful word into conversation – or indeed if you rhapsodise over our crosswords!
The Demon is sometimes a stretch for the mind but the Goliathon is a little gentler. ‘Inconsiderately’ at 196ac wanted the answer SELFISHLY but perhaps some of you thought this too straightforward as incorrect answers included SUFFUSELY, SWINISHLY and SLAVISHLY.
‘More extensive’ at 106dn needed to be LONGER to fit with LAHORE for 115ac ‘Pakistan city’. If you put LARGER then LAHARE was incorrect.
Bigcash errors included the misspelling CATAGORISE at 18dn (CATEGORISE is correct) and at 104dn ‘Demoralising loss’ was ROUT not RIFT or RENT.
Well done to all our clever entrants. Your brains must be feeling fit and healthy and ready for some more mind-tickling exercise.
Fantastical! Puzzle Collection Contests 63
November 10, 2009 by The Judge
Filed under The Judge Sums Up
Cryptic clues have the ability to take you into a fantasy world where ageing can be reversed, where Sue keeps her horse in a backstreet and where Eisenhower put a ban on floral art. What fun!
In the Giant Cryptic contest ‘Why age son, when it can be reversed with a bouquet?’ at 7ac gave you NOSEGAY (‘y age son’ reversed).
The horse at 31ac was a gee-gee (GG) which is kept by Sue (SUGGE) on southern (S) backstreet (St going back =TS). SUGGESTS is the answer to ‘Proposes’ – the straight part of the clue.
IKEBANA is a type of floral art from Japan. US President Dwight Eisenhower was known as IKE and ‘put BAN on A’ gives you the rest at 29dn.
Over to the Stinker and at 19dn TROPE was the answer to ‘Figure of speech’. TROVE doesn’t seem to exist as a word on its own – rather it is short for treasure trove.
A ‘Knight’s armour tunic’ 78dn was a SURCOAT (not SIRCOAT). This calf-length garment was a fashion item worn in the Middle Ages by men and women. For knights the surcoat had the added purpose of showing the coat of arms – important when you need to tell friend from foe!
Nimbus is Latin for cloud and the plural can be nimbi or nimbuses. In the Stinker at 142dn ‘Dark rain clouds’ were NIMBI not NYMBI of NIMBY.
Over at 239ac the ‘Elixir’ was PANACEA not SAGETEA or SPIRAEA. Crossing at 217dn ‘Collect and compare’ was COLLATE but a couple of entries had COLLECT.
MONSIGNOR at clue 72dn is an ‘Ecclesiastical title’ conferred on some Roman Catholic priests. It means ‘my lord’. If by a slip of the pen you had your G and N transposed (MONSINGOR) you also had 104ac incorrect. The ‘Indian loincloth’ is a LUNGI not LUGNI or LUGGI.
The Stinker took us into the world of divination at 148ac. Divination is the attempting to foretell the future by reading omens or signs, such as the position of the planets, the flight of birds, tea leaves or Tarot cards.
GEOMANCY describes systems of scattering pebbles, sand or earth and interpreting patterns and positions. It was the answer to ‘Divination using scattered dirt’ at 148ac. MYOMANCY is divination involving rats and mice. GEOMANCE was simply incorrect.
Moving down to the bottom of the grid where 268ac didn’t seem to give much of a clue, but most of you worked out FELDSPAR was the answer to ‘Common mineral’. A few incorrect spellings were noted including FELLSPAR and FELLSTAR.
Use your noggin – MEGA Contests 01
November 10, 2009 by The Judge
Filed under The Judge Sums Up, Uncategorized
a wondrous toy,
Made for a girl and boy;
We’ll turn Manhattan
Into an isle of joy!
So go the lyrics to this much-covered song about the famous ‘New York borough’ that appeared in the MEGA Stinker at 53ac. Unfortunately for some entries, MANHATTON and MANHATTEN were incorrect spellings.
In 1626 the Dutch paid the local Lenape Indians a few trinkets for the land. The name Manhattan comes from the local language meaning ‘island of many hills’. What was New Amsterdam was renamed New York in 1664 when the British took over the settlement.
Welcome to the MEGA! Judge Sums Up. In each issue I will happily chat about the words in the competition puzzles from MEGA two issues back, the solutions for which will be printed in the back of the magazine along with the prize winners.
You always have to use your noggin to solve the Stinker clues. Perhaps best known as a slang word for head, it also means a small cup or liquid measure and NOGGIN (not NUGGIN) was the answer to ‘Nip’ at 56ac. We have lots of terms for the head, including brainbox, conk, dome, nut, and perhaps the oddest, noodle. Noodle is probably adapted from noddle, (perhaps because it nods?).
On to 62ac where SCILICET in answer to ‘That is to say’ proved hard to find. It comes from Latin for ‘it is permitted to know’. In English we are more likely to say ‘namely’ but scilicet is sometimes used, especially in academic writing.
ESOTERIC is often used to mean ‘difficult to understand’ or ‘obscure’. In philosophy it means ‘understood only by a few’, so was the answer to 72ac ‘Only for the initiated’. EXOTERIC and ECOTERIC were incorrect. Exoteric is in fact the opposite, meaning ‘suitable for the public’.
At 126ac ‘Nicked’ was FILCHED not FINCHED (perhaps you were confused with PINCHED) and at 138ac ‘Squashed (rumour)’ was SCOTCHED not SCORCHED. Scorch can be used metaphorically but means to criticise harshly not squash. A couple of other incorrect answers were STOUCHED and SMOOTHED, which also made 139dn wrong.
COLOPHON comes from the Greek kolophon ‘finishing touch’. It was the answer to 139dn ‘Publisher’s emblem’ and refers to an identifying imprint or trademark on the title page of a book. A colophon was originally a description written into the back of a book with information relating to its production.
This crossed with 149ac ‘Hominid hoax, … man’. The PILTDOWN man was seen as the possible missing link between apes and humans, when a skull was discovered in Piltdown, Sussex in 1908. By the 1950s it was conclusively shown to be a fraud. Someone had fooled the scientific community for over 40 years with bits of ape and human bones. If it had been found on April 1 perhaps the joke would have been spotted sooner!
In the Mega Mix clue 6dn ‘Is Tibetan monk wicked in Pakistan’s capital?’ gave you ISLAMABAD (Is lama bad?). A couple of entries had ALLAMABAD.
Finally, we had a query about the clue in MEGA! No. 3 ‘Cinch’ for SHOO-IN. This is a tricky clue but is referring to a sure thing or certainty. It comes from the world of racing where a horse seen as a certain winner was said to be a shoo-in. Cinch also has this meaning.
See you next time – happy puzzling!
Gung-ho & kibosh -BIG Crossword 202
October 10, 2009 by The Judge
Filed under The Judge Sums Up
A lackey was a uniformed manservant, the word later taking on the meaning of a toady or sycophant. At 60ac it was a clue to MINION. PILION, PINION and SIMIAN were incorrect.
Aurum is Latin for gold and ‘Of gold’ at 72dn was AURIC or AURUC. Our judges spotted ARAIC in one entry where ‘Young salmon’ at 79ac was entered as PRAT. You needed PARR.
MUREX proved hard to find for some of you. It was the answer to ‘Tyrian purple dye source’ at 93ac. Murex is a genus of sea snails which were the source for the very expensive royal purple dye first produced by the ancient Phoenicians. The snails were collected and the animals either provoked to release the substance or the shells crushed. Thousands of shells were required to colour even the hem of a garment. The dye gets its name from the Mediterranean city of Tyre, which was a centre for the production of the
purple dye.
KIBOSH is a great word and was at 100ac in answer to ‘Stymie, put the … on’. The origin of this expression is lost back in history somewhere – Dickens used it, spelling it kye-bosh. Collins also spells it as KYBOSH so we accepted that as well.
Sharing quite a few letters with kibosh is another odd-looking word not heard so much nowadays, AKIMBO at 111ac. ALIMBO was incorrect for ‘Hands on hips’. The word is usually used in combination with ‘arms’ – “She stood with arms akimbo” and suggests a defiant stance.
‘Shackle’ was FETTER not GETTER at 121ac, ‘Brilliance’ was ECLAT at 123ac and ‘Crass’ was BOORISH not BOARISH at 139ac.
A WIMBLE sounds like something a nun wears (or maybe a Womble?) but is in fact a ‘Hole-boring tool’. WIMPLE is the medieval headdress and so was wrong for 109ac. WINBLE was simply incorrect.
The ‘Short-tailed Old World monkey’ at 136ac was MACAQUE, which took a bit of hunting as you weren’t helped by the first letter crossing with another word. A couple of incorrect answers were noted by our judges including TALAPUE and SALATUE. We could not find either of these and assume they were wild guesses. We also couldn’t find MACACUE as an accepted alternative spelling.
If you put DENSE for ‘Luxuriant (growth)’ at 76ac you had 54dn and 62dn incorrect. ‘Huge’ was ELEPHANTINE and ‘Cruel’ was MERCILESS.
Over to the Goliathon where at 62ac some of you tried to fit FILES for ‘Rubs with emery’ but this made for headaches at 48dn and 49dn. ‘Compassionate’ was HUMANE and ‘Wove (one’s way)’ was WENDED, but for these to fit you needed SANDS for 62ac. This may seem like a difficult clue for SANDS but we couldn’t say ‘Rubs with sandpaper’, as that would take all the fun out of the search. Both CRAMPS and CLAMPS were accepted for 118ac ‘Workbench vices’.
The ‘Recollections’ at 159ac were REMINISCENCES not REMANISCENCES or REMINISCENSES and ‘Spangle’ at 134dn was SEQUIN not SEQUEN.
The trickiest spelling in the Bigcash was at 21ac where ‘Wigs’ were TOUPEES not TOOPEES.
Comrades in Clues – BIG 201
September 30, 2009 by The Judge
Filed under The Judge Sums Up
The comradeship may have been stretched a bit thin at 9ac in The Demon when we had to disqualify a few entries because of the misspelling COMARADERIE. For ‘Friendship’ you needed CAMARADERIE, coming from the French camarade, the same base as for comrade. Collins says the word means ‘the spirit of familiarity and trust existing between friends’. But how can we trust our own language which keeps an ‘a’ in one instance and makes it an ‘o’ in another?
Roald Amundsen named an area of Antarctica Dronning Maud Land or ‘Queen MAUD Land’ (Demon 44ac). This area has been Norwegian territory since 1939. Most of you got this answer correct, but do you know how a once English princess came to have a Norwegian Antarctic territory named after her?
Maud of Wales was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Her father, the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, was married to Princess Alexandra of Denmark. Maud married her first cousin, second son of Alexandra’s brother, Prince Carl of Denmark. Carl became King of Norway when Norway ended its 100-year union with Sweden and offered their throne to Carl. He accepted and became Haakon VII.
Clue 69ac was ‘Forgivable’ – well it was if you had VENIAL as the answer. In the Roman Catholic Church venial sins are opposed to mortal ones, which can result in eternal punishment if not repented. GENIAL and MENIAL were not acceptable as alternatives.
‘Twilight-feeding’ was a clue to a word describing animals that prowl at dawn and dusk. The domestic cat and dog are among them and this is the reason we are now encouraged to keep our domestic pets inside as the sun sets. CREPUSCULAR creatures may also be active on a night with a full moon; perhaps this is where the idea of the werewolf came from. The word has nothing to do with creeping but comes from the Latin meaning twilight. An unfamiliar word to many of you, so various incorrect spellings appeared in entries.
Believe it or not a FROG (not FRUG or FRIG) is a ‘Spiky floral-arrangement holder’. Why this handy florists block is called a frog remains a mystery but they seem to have been around for a few hundred years.
We had a query on ZEALAND for ‘Copenhagen’s area’ at 66dn but the Collins, Oxford and Britannica all use this spelling and not ZEELAND, as suggested.
When it comes to amour we look to the French for the right words – not to mention the champagne! Fiancé and fiancée retain their markers for gender, something we English speakers are not used to. The answer to Goliathon clue 1ac ‘Bride-to-be’ therefore was FIANCEE and not FIANCCE, as a few of you had.
For 38dn CARP or HARP seemed like possible answers to some of you, but we did not agree. You needed BARB for ‘Caustic remark’ to make 54ac correct as ‘Monitors, keeps TABS on’.
GLUM was the answer for ‘Depressed’ at 234ac. Many puzzlers wrote GRIM, but cheer up we decided to accept both.
There was more merrymaking at 39ac with the ‘Festive occasion’ or GALA. For some, I suspect the good times must go on for a long time, as we spotted SAGA a couple of times.
SHIH TZU translates as ‘lion dog’, though pussy cat might be more apt! These cute tiny pooches came from Tibet and have a history going back to ancient times. While the pups are now at home in the West their name remains foreign and we spotted a few misspellings at 78ac in the Bigcash.
Finally, a couple of you were stung at 12dn where ‘Bee farm’ was APIARY and not AVIARY. Now I’ll buzz off!
