Comments on: What’s DA On About? (from the 27/28th of November)

By: AS

AS — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:32:14 +0000

You know, if I actually solved 8A, I probably wouldn’t have said anything.

By: MF

MF — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 09:47:48 +0000

Sorry, AS, but I agree 100% with AL.

By: AS

AS — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:20:12 +0000

I’d say that to interpret “for” as “in order to get the word”, you’re doing something that isn’t really a definition and more akin to wordplay.

A definition should not include wordplay or interpreting words as a collection of letters. That’s my beef.

The you = thou thing is no big deal and not something I would have mentioned if not for the “for a brothel” thing.

By: AL

AL — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:24:04 +0000

re 8A: I really enjoyed this clue and don’t understand the gripes. “for” can be interpreted as “in order to get the word” which is quite precise….and that sets up the “you” = THOU dressed in “suit” = CASE….CATHOUSE. A nice little recipe.

By: AS

AS — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 04:40:25 +0000

I reckon if the first or last word is not included in the definition, you’re breaking one of the sacrosanct cryptic crossword rules.

And DA seems to have done that on a clue that’s not particularly well-constructed or clever.

The thou = you I’m a bit dodgy about, but the “for a brothel” business crosses my dodginess line.

By: Ian

Ian — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:22:22 +0000

22a: RB is spot on, it is a gum in the lee, therefore sheltered from the wind. No extraneous words, no double duty, just neat.
8a: “For a” is just permissible fill in words to allow for surface reading. No problem there. Thou = you is common in Shakespeare and the Mighty Thor. Perhaps he might have said “you old” but I don’t think it necessary.

By: Dave R

Dave R — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:51:47 +0000

Thanks, RB, for the explanation of 21A. I figured it had to be ‘rots’, but DA was too tricky for me with this one.

By: John Carney

John Carney — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 14:04:47 +0000

RB, re 13A: Thanks. I would never have got that…

By: RB

RB — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 13:39:49 +0000

AS, re 8A: you=thou seems OK to me. It’s archaic (is that your beef?), but at least it’s accurate (2nd person singular subjective pronoun, so we’d use “you” nowadays). I agree with your objection about “for” or “for a” at the beginning of the clue – its only purpose seems to be to aid the surface reading.

MF, re 22A: the function of “sheltered” has me confused too. Is it doing double duty? My brain’s hurting, but I’ve come up with this plausible (I hope) explanation:
In the lee means on the sheltered side.
So, “sheltered from wind” => in the lee
So “tree sheltered from wind” => GUM in the LEE => LE GUM E

By: MF

MF — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 13:00:43 +0000

22A: is “sheltered” doing double duty here? as both a containment indicator AND part of the definition of “lee”? i’m confused…