Comments on: Huh? for the First DA of Feb, 2010

By: RB

RB — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:47:35 +0000

No I didn’t. But now I see what you mean. My first reaction is YUUUUUUCK! “The chandelier suspends from the ceiling”! Quick, pass the 22D bucket!

This seems like another one of those recent, ugly (and probably American) usages of transitive verbs forced into an intransitive context. TV shows used to be screened; now they screen. A new show would be launched; now it launches. Someone will probably inform me that this usage was quite common in 17th century England, but until then I’ll just keep ranting.

By: AS

AS — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 02:27:52 +0000

Did you put “suspends from the ceiling” in quotes?

Like so:

http://www.google.com.au/search?q=%22suspends+from+the+ceiling%22&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a

By: RB

RB — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 08:42:53 +0000

No, I haven’t (seen Pulp Fiction). I did try googling “suspends from the ceiling” just now, and got a msg asking if I meant “suspended from the ceiling”! Which doesn’t help your cause at all! And the links shown were all for suspended ceilings! You must be using a different Google!

Re 20A and the “cat/tiger” or “general/specific” theory that was mentioned on this blog a few weeks ago (I think it was in relation to the eccentric/dag clue): I agree – it seems stringent to me too. Yet, I have the feeling it’s mostly obeyed.

Thanks for the tip on “morisco” as architectural style. I can nearly accept it now. It’s a bit like 20A in that it’s going from the specific (Alhambra) to the general (Morisco).

By: AS

AS — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:00:38 +0000

Haven’t you seen Pulp Fiction, RB? Classic film, classic gimp!

The Google search for “suspends from the ceiling” is fruitful.

Interesting, though, that suspends as intransitive only gets partial dictionary support.

The Random House dictionary at dictionary.com certainly likes it.

On 20A, I think that’s too stringent a condition on writing a clue. I think Etna => mountain is fine, just as I think mountain => Etna is fine.

Morisco is often used to describe an architectural style, like so http://www.globusz.com/ebooks/Alhambra/00000014.htm

By: RB

RB — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:23:52 +0000

21A may have some dictionary support but I can’t remember hearing/seeing suspend used intransitively. AS’s example just doesn’t work for me. Maybe I should get out more. (I don’t even know what you mean by “gimp” in your example!)

20A: We’ve had this sort of discussion a few times recently. I remember someone writing that cat => tiger is OK, but tiger => cat isn’t: it needs to be tiger,say => cat.

I wasn’t previously aware of this principle but it seems sound to me: when going from the specific (selfish protagonist) to the general (antihero), the clue needs “say” or “for example”. So, on this basis, I say 20A is still dodgy!

19D: Ian, I’ll accept Morisco = Moorish (Chambers, my copy of The Shorter Oxford, and Wikipedia all agree on that). And I’ll accept that the Alhambra is Moorish. But this clue still doesn’t work for me. It’s like saying “regarding Buckingham Palace” is an acceptable clue for “English”. Or “regarding the MCG” is OK for “Australian”.

By: Ian

Ian — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:38:11 +0000

Sorry to be a dictionary bore, but Chambers and Collins (the usual authorities) don’t list an intransitive form of suspend. On the other hand, Macquarie does, defining it as “to come to a stop, usu. temporarily.” Close enough to hovering.

By: AS

AS — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:50:50 +0000

As for 21A, SUSPENDS can be intransitive and HOVERS is intransitive.

- The gimp suspends over the table
- The gimp hovers over the table

I actually think this week’s is bullshit free.

By: AS

AS — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:45:49 +0000

I’m with you on 11A, RB, but I’m willing to cut DA some slack this week given the theme.

By: Ian

Ian — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:50:42 +0000

19d: According to Chambers, morisco as a noun means a Moor, especially a christianised one; morisco the adjective means Moorish, which the Alhambra certainly is.
26a: Contract = get, as in “to get the swine flu, ” Go is the game, get-go is the start. No double duty. RB is right.
20a: A selfish protagonist would be an antihero; perhaps not all antiheroes are selfish (they may be flawed in other ways) but that doesn’t stop the clue working.

By: RB

RB — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:44:40 +0000

Didn’t quite “get” (pun not intended!) your explanation, AL. It looks like contract is doing double duty. But you’ve put me on the right track, I think. I Googled again and discovered that, as you say, GO is a Japanese game. So I now think it works like this:
Start = GET GO (American slang)
contract = GET (as in get/contract an illness or virus etc)
game in Japan = GO