Rookie Corner – 090

38 comments on “Rookie Corner – 090”

1. We had to wait until our visitors had left before we could get on to this one and what a delightful PANGRAM it turned out to be. Really loved the 1a 28a combination. How clever to be able to use exactly the same clue for two totally different answers, and then another empty page in 27a. Next we come to column headings……………. Not too tricky but heaps to keep us smiling all the way through.
   Many thanks Cyborg.

2. Another brilliant puzzle – bravo!
   I loved the grid, the pangram and virtually all of the clues – especially 5d, 23d and 17a, the last of which was a simply perfect; the puzzlement and the penny drop moment couldn’t be bettered. I also liked 10a, 12a, 13a, 30a, 2d, 4d and 22d.

   I do though have a question about the couplet style clue 1a/28d.
   28d is fine, clearly, and what you’ve done is definitely very clever, but surely 1a is a straight definition clue, with no element of disguise? It’ll be interesting to see what Prolixic makes of it, but for me it looks out of place in a cryptic crossword.
   As I can’t give an example of my own couplet clue (they’re really hard to pull off and I’ve never even attempted one!), here’s one from Klingsor which might be instructive:
   He’s captivated by girl on high note in opera (9)
   which gives both ‘Lohengrin’ – He in (girl on)* + n, and also ‘Rheingold’ He in (girl on)* + d.

   Thank you Cyborg – that was a really enjoyable solve.

   1. Hi Maize,

      In 1a, I think you need to read the clue as (7,2,1) in order to glean the wordplay.

      1. Ah-ha. Thanks Silvanus. In which case I retract the above and doff my capto you Cyborg.

3. A very nice crossword with the Cyborg trick of using the same clue twice for two different and with the added bonus of extra pieces of clue 1 scattered around, used in many different ways, which is a really nice way of doing things. Last time it was mentioned that this was a really nice device, but you had to make sure it worked. I can’t really parse 1, so I will have to wait, but 28 works, so I am really hoping 1 does too. It’s a brilliant trick.
   Lots of other lovely clues, though (with a slightly sciencey feel). I particularly liked 2d, 3d, 4d, 6a, 10a (although I’m without Chambers, so don’t know if s=special, and whether the hidden message is legit, they’re not in Collins) 12a, 18d, 22d (so many!) but my favourite was 6d. There are a couple that are only half-parsed, so I will find out later what is going on.
   There was perhaps a slight over-reliance on anagrams (I think you were well into double figures) but it was a really enjoyable and doable solve. Many thanks Cyborg.

   1. s for special is in brb – I wasn’t sure how that clue worked until you said that

4. I admire greatly the ingenuity utilised by Cyborg in his now trademark “couplet” style of identical clues, and his latest puzzle was a delight to solve as ever.

   Like Snape, I did feel that there were too many anagrams this time though (more than one third of all the answers) and a wider range of clue types would have been welcome.

   1a was a phrase I had never encountered before, but there were few if any other obscurities. I liked the slightly risqué 9d, but my two favourites were 17a and 8d.

   Many thanks indeed, Cyborg, that was great fun.

5. Many thanks Cyborg, a very enjoyable solve – my last one in was 9d (great clue and clinching the pangram, congratulations!). I think the same clue device is very clever though I found the repeated elements of the clue elsewhere, well, repetitive – though clever that they were always used differently. I hadn’t come across 1a before, so thanks for that new phrase. I have ticks against the clues for which everything including the surface worked very nicely for me – 12a (very nice I thought), 15a, 17a, 21a, 24a (I liked the 2 meanings of tablet), and especially 9a. Not bad!
   I did struggle a little with “apparently” as a homophone indicator in 20d (if i interpreted it right).

   Well done, a clever, technically very good and very entertaining puzzle – many thanks for sharing and looking forward to the next one

   1. Hi Dutch,

      Thanks for reminding me about 20d, I had forgotten to mention it earlier, but I share your reservation about the suitability of “apparently”.

      1. I rather liked ‘apparently’ as an indicator – worked for me!

6. Most enjoyable, Cyborg, although I have to admit to being none too keen on the couplet – probably not helped by the fact that I didn’t know the 1a phrase. Finding the pangram certainly helped with 9d – I’m blind to most IT references!

   My own long list of ‘ticks’ includes 17,21&23a plus 4,5,18,22&23d. Special mentions for the misdirection in 21a and the great surface read of 23a. Not quite sure that I’ve nailed the parsing of 6a – ‘special’ is causing me a problem, but doubtless Prolixic will let me know in due course.

   Thank you for an excellent puzzle, Cyborg – will look forward to the next one.

7. My beloved BRB helped with unknown in 1a and I struggled valiantly with the rest. My first attempt at a Cyborg so had nothing to go on. Off go try cryptic crossword but at least I have MPs to help me.

8. Very well done, Cyborg. I really enjoyed this pangram including your trademark doublet and nice surface readings. Like Jane I am struggling to parse 6a fully, and look forward to the explanation when the review appears.

   1. You need to take a word that means copies, and replace the abbreviation for special with a letter that represents 10.

      I’ll be interested to find out whether the cryptic grammar would require an ‘in’ or something similar between the special and copies (which would ruin the surface, of course) or whether it is fine as it is.

      1. Yes, I can see that, Snape – but doesn’t that leave the wordplay ‘arse about face’ as it were?

         1. Yes, I thought of that but rejected it as a possibility as the wordplay didn’t make sense to me. It will be interesting to see the review tomorrow.

         2. There’s something not quite right about it, yes – maybe ‘elbow about face’, I find it difficult to tell sometimes.

            1. Oh dear, Snape – elbows and backsides are decidedly different and one does need to be able to distinguish between the two. I’m sure that either Mr. Google or your local GP will be able to help you.

         3. My intention there was to use ’10 for special’ as an adjectival phrase. I’ll also wait for the review with interest!

9. That was fun and not too difficult.
   When I first read 1a and 28a I thought it was a mistake.
   I decided early on that it might be a pangram and then when I’d almost finished had a look round – no H – there was but it looked like A – oh dear!
   Now that the number of anagrams has been pointed out I suppose there were but I didn’t notice at the time.
   23d took me ages to sort out.
   I liked 23a and 9 and 22d. My favourite was 17a.
   With thanks and well done to Cyborg.

10. Last one to fall was 1a.
    Only came to me with the checkers and because we use that expression regularly in France. D’oh.
    Very clever crossword and a real joy to solve.
    Had to use the Thesaurus only once for “shamble” in 5d and it gave me stagger and straggle next to each other. That was very lucky as I didn’t know that word at all.
    Loved so many clues but 9d and 17a are favourites.
    Thank to Cyborg.

11. Thanks everyone! Big Dave has fitted me in very promptly with this one, which is nice because I can still remember what on earth I was thinking while setting it.

    I’m glad to see words like ‘solvable’ and ‘enjoyable’, and I hope I’ve passed the minimum requirements there. I’m happily wandering off into increasingly weird crossword territory, so it’s also great to have some criticism when I wander into the weeds.

    The answer to 1a was my starting point, having emerged from my notebook of phrases that I like the sound of. I’ve badly misjudged its obscurity level though; I rated it ‘medium’ and figured it would be OK as long as the intersecting answers were not too hard. For unsuspecting solvers meeting it here for the first time, 1a is a beast of a clue though. My humble apologies, Jane, I wouldn’t enjoy that much either.

    Snape and others, I entirely agree that I’ve got too many anagrams today. While I was working my way through the down clues I could see them mounting up, but I ran out of talent and eventually threw my hands up in despair and used them anyway.

    Maize, I like your point about repetitive repetition. Three uses of a phrase is perhaps more fun to set than to solve; I don’t think I’ll use that trick again.

    I’ve got one more dual purpose clue in there: 23a is returning a name check from another setter here. The wordplay leads to a second answer with enumeration (4,4,4). Unfortunately, I couldn’t come up with much of a definition for it.

    I really appreciate all the comments, especially while everyone is on holiday. I’ll check back in once the review goes up.

    1. No need to apologise, Cyborg, others don’t seem to share my woeful lack of knowledge! The answer was so obviously that for 28a that I couldn’t see beyond it.
       Now then – about that name check in 23a. I’m guessing that Beet may have something to do with it, but perhaps you’ll enlighten us when you pop back in?
       It really was a great puzzle, please don’t get too ‘weird’ – we like you just the way you are.

    2. . . . but I like anagrams, however many there are of them.

       1. Maybe we could get BD to commission a puzzle as a ‘welcome home’ present for you after your world tour – comprised entirely of anagrams and Spoonerisms.

    3. Oops – sorry Maize and dutch, just realised that I’ve misattributed the repetition comment. I’ll blame mobile for that one.

       1. no worries, we knew what you meant and it’s great that you are responding so much

12. Thanks a bunch Cyborg. I’m a rookie solver but I found this to be the perfect level of difficulty. I managed all but 3. The few that I couldn’t parse are unlikely to be as a result of imprecise cluing. Those can wait for Prolixic’s blog.
    I wonder if Pangrams are by design or just a coincidence.

    *I have been having difficulty in accessing this site of late. I prefer doing it from my phone but it demands I download WordPress to continue reading. I’m not the one to download an app because my phone says so. To access the page, I have to switch off my data before the page completely loads. Is this particular to me?

    1. Welcome to the blog Kim

    2. Pangrams are by design – an extra challenge for the setter

13. 9d made me laugh – perhaps Benny Hill lives on!? Nice gentle yet accurate and high-quality puzzle – many thanks. Some nice deception too, e.g. the article in one of your column/table clues, two of your ’empty page’ clues, amongst others. The surface in one or two – e.g. 16d – are perhaps a little ‘crosswordy’, otherwise very good overall – thanks again.
    -ENCOTA-

14. Many thanks for the review, Prolixic – I certainly share your view that it would be nice to see a puzzle from Cyborg free from his self-imposed restrictions. I think I’d possibly also appreciate it if he ditched the ominous sounding ‘notebook of phrases’ which he mentioned!
    Thanks again, Cyborg – sorry my Latin isn’t up to scratch!

15. Many thanks for the review Prolixic – i thought “regularly stutters with a text from India” was a good tip and a smooth rewrite.

16. Another excellent puzzle from Cyborg. My favourite was 9d because I’m easily amused. Unlike some I had heard of 1a, because it is the name of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode. Buffy is very educational.

17. Hiya – sorry to be a bit late to the party on this one.

    I thought this was terrific – excellent surfaces throughout, plenty of smiles to be had, and the very clever trick with the paired clues (I did need Prolixic’s help to parse 1a though). My only (very minor) quibbles would be the slight overuse of anagrams, and I’m also in the camp of not particularly liking ‘apparently’ as a homophone indicator.

    Loads of great clues to pick a favourite from, but I’m going to go with 9d as my favourite.

    Thanks Cyborg!

18. Thanks, Prolixic. If the crossword currently in progress goes to plan, it’s going to be a hideously complicated affair for submission number four, but I’ll throw in a vanilla one after that.

    For 23a, Jane is quite right that the vegetable is a Beet. ‘Cooked a lot’ is the remainder: WELL DONE.

    Thanks again all, with a particular mention to Kim: I’m delighted that you’ve broken cover to comment here, and that the crossword itself didn’t scare you off. I’m sorry that I’ve got no IT advice to offer. The mobile site has been well behaved for me.

19. Thanks very much for my “shout out”! Completely over my head so thanks for spelling it out. Looking forward to the hideously complicated one.

20. Thanks Cyborg.

    I did this when it first came out but once again I got distracted when I was about to comment and then never got round to it – so sorry about that.

    As I recall I didn’t have any quibbles. I found it on the easy side of medium – presumably the intentions it was well loaded with anagrams.

    Making puzzles that aren’t too hard interesting for solvers generally is not something everyone finds easy – I think you achieved that here.

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