Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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Although my college days were a very long time ago, the subject that I ‘studied’ (the inverted commas are entirely appropriate, I’m afraid) was already known as Chemistry, and my experiments involving transmutation were carried out solely on a multiplicity of alcoholic beverages, with results that were as predictable as they were consistent.
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Not that I pay any attention to TV ads, of course, but the name of our debutant setter immediately put me in mind of ‘the window to watch’ (that will make no sense whatsoever to younger readers), and the title of the puzzle has got me singing (sotto voce, thankfully for all concerned) the War song of that name (“All – my – friends – know the low rider” etc), used for several years as part of Marmite’s ‘Love it or Hate it’ campaign. Great to have a puzzle from a setter new to the EV series, this time perhaps with Russian connections or a fondness for The Brothers Karamazov. Demonstrating that setters are not unlike buses in their habits, another newcomer will be along in just two weeks’ time.
I asked Claude, “We are told that a themed crossword puzzle includes four notable examples of a ‘low rider’ and that one example must be illustrated ‘at a stretch’ in the completed grid? What might we be looking for?”
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A milestone for the EV is marked by a celebratory puzzle from our esteemed editor. I asked Claude, “A puzzle relating to 1700 is cryptically entitled ‘One hundred with seven inside’. Why might that be?”
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Between the title and the preamble there’s not a lot to go on, but I thought I’d see what ChatGPT could come up with. I asked, “A themed crossword puzzle asks us to identify a text containing an often repeated word. Can you suggest any possible texts?”
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Dave Hennings’ database at xwdb.info tells us that today’s setter has had at least 186 barred puzzles published under her aliases Chalicea and Curmudgeon, and that’s before any collaborations are taken into account. The first appeared in the Magpie magazine in October 2009, which indicates an average of something close to one every month since. Wow!
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I thought I’d give ChatGPT a chance to impress, asking “A themed crossword tells us that the grid will represent the situation approaching halfway through the final scene of an opera. Can you suggest some operas where this point might be significant?”
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This week I thought I’d do a search on Dave Hennings’ excellent database of themed crosswords (xwdb.info) to locate earlier puzzles that had a connection with the word ‘anonymous’.
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In contrast with the AI-fidelity of my fellow blogger, I decided to continue on my technologically promiscuous way by giving ChatGPT the chance to answer the question “In a themed crossword puzzle, we have to find the name, title and nickname of a person who is in some way connected with ‘nobs’. Any ideas?”
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I thought I’d give Claude another chance to impress this week, so I asked, “A crossword’s theme involves three spies and the focus of their attention. To whom and what might this refer?”
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This week I thought I’d see if Google could point me in the direction of some Good Advice for crossword solvers.