The Bullshit from the last of Jan, 2010
4 down: I crack baseball side, well trimmed for online photo (9)
Awkward and bullshit in my book: I crack baseball side, well trimmed = me gap IX well - wl = megapixel = online photo.
A pixel is a little dot that gets coloured to portray an image. Get a whole bunch of them together coloured in a certain way and you have a photo.
The problem: Humans are a collection of atoms. Arrange them in the right way and you have a human. Nevertheless, if I saw human = atoms, I'd say bullshit, just as I say online photo = megapixel is bullshit too.
6 down: Flag emission source (7)
This one is flag = exhaust = emission source.
Not sure about whether flag = exhaust is bullshit or not, though. I think yes one minute, then no. Either way, it's debatable.
Bullshit Query from DA’s 4th of 2010
16 down: Largely tense bunch of doctors animated comedy (8)
A tough one if you've never heard of the show: largely tense bunch of doctors = largely future ama = Futurama = animated comedy.
My peeve: tense = future. I've seen that kind of thing before, for instance black = jet, and not complained, but I reckon that it's not quite right. Future and jet are merely adjectives that can't really be substituted for the noun they're modifying, otherwise we'd have big = house because you often read big house, or light = blue for a similar reason.
I'm pretty sure, though, that this kind of thing is a common feature of cryptics, but, like ellipses, I think I'll have to grin and bear it while thinking their use questionable.
The Bullshit of DA’s Third of the Year
6 down: Fund inquiries for how today's theme translates to diehards? (5, 5)
This is very almost a great clue: how today's theme translates to diehards = means tests = fund inquiries.
The problem: a means test isn't really a fund inquiry as far as I can tell. I reckon funds inquiries might have been OK, but fund inquiries is not right for mine.
11 across: A virtual game with 50/50 participation? (3-7)
It's rather inelegant: a virtual game with 50/50 participation = a virtual rounders with ll = a rounder with ll = all-rounder = cricket theme.
What's not quite right: I don't think the clue does enough to explain how the ll can appear between a and rounder.
22 across: Caught yours truly (6)
It's cheeky and presumptuous and obscure: caught yours truly = c Astle (DA's surname) = castle (the wickets apparently, but not in Chambers at least) = cricket theme.
24 across: Bond writer christened Murray (4)
I had never heard of the author, but the triple definition just breaks the rules unnecessarily: writer christened Murray = Bail = bond = cricket theme.
18 down: Cloud over (zero degrees), obscuring face of watch instrument (8)
Sometimes DA stretches things too far: cloud over (zero degrees) obscuring face of watch = duolc - o + timer - t = dulcimer = instrument.
The problem: the zero degrees. To make that mean get rid of an o is quite a stretch, especially when you consider zero degrees would be represented as two zeroes, or 0°.
4 down: Sounds mentally focus lean rider (7)
Another almost great clue: sounds mentally focus lean = sounds psych list = cyclist = rider.
My problem: even though Chambers only says "usu with up" and not always with up, to mentally focus is to psych up, not to psych.
Update: RB's moment of divine inspiration, as described in the comments, makes 4 down no longer bullshit but gold!
New Year Bullshit from the 1st of Jan
2 down: Offload, even times in the ultimate 11-across (tanker) of ill-repute (5, 6)
It's supposed to be offload even times in the ultimate = off loadeven xx in z = exxonvalde z = Exxon Valdez = tanker of ill-repute.
The clear problem: times is just x, not xx.
The questionable: ultimate = z seems a bit weak a connection (although I'd pass that, just).
8 across: Nothing 7-down (robs), apparently (3)
Apparently ain't no aural indicator: robs apparently = nicks apparently = nix = nothing.
The Bullshit (from 11/12th of December)
2 down: Sport broadcast causing rift (4)
Here, the clue is meant to work: sport broadcast = golf broadcast = gulf = rift. The problem: gulf is not homophonous enough with golf.
It's a situation we've encountered before with DA, one that we've complained about before, and I just don't reckon it's good enough. Haiku's suggestion that South Australians pronounce them homophonously has some weight, but even then it's a very marginal bunch of people who would call those two words homophonous.
I also conducted a little experiment: I asked SSG, my sister's partner who's from South Australia, to say there's a gulf in our golf game and the two words were clearly distinguishable. Granted, one flawed experiment on a South Australian that's lived in Melbourne for a long time proves little, but I'm still claiming that it's a shitty homophone that not even many South Australians would say identically.
22 down: Picked up dull 26-across (TRIO) in Düsseldorf (4)
The clue works as follows: picked up dull = picked up dry = drei = trio in Düsseldorf. The contentious point: Is picked up a decent-enough homophone signifier?
AL mentions that it's probably a reference to radio station broadcasts that you pick up, and that seems to have some support as a decent way to interpret it as a homophone indicator, but for me, it's not good enough. You pick up radio stations, not words, so for mine pick up doesn't cut it as a homophone indicator.
Update: RB's my seconder on this one:
15 across: Stage VIPs curse about prompt ushering (9)
Here it's curse about prompt ushering = ucers prod ushering (put into position) = producers = stage VIPs. I quite like the use of ushering, but that definition is highly dodgy
The Bullshit (from the 30th/31st of October)
9 across: Roger in late 60s UK band? (3)
Almost a great clue again: roger = yes = late 60s UK band.
I'm with TT in objecting to late 60s UK band referring to Yes. Sure, they formed in the late 60s, but they are definitely more famous for their work in the 70s and should have been referred to as such.
Interesting sidenote: Yes had a Roger associated with the band. Roger Hodgson was their occasional singer from their post-70s work.
The Bullshit (from the 23rd/24th of October)
7 down: Milne creature warms heart, Pooh's?
It's warms heart, Pooh's? = warms heart Pooh = Roo = Milne creature.
Some say the use of heart both backwards and forwards is OK because of the question mark or because of the implication in the sentence meaning that Pooh's heart is being referred to.
I say: bullshit!
The Bullshit (from the 9/10th of October)
22 across: Skipping task after a third of booze (3)
I'm not exactly sure of the explanation, but it goes something like this: task after a third of booze = mission after a third of booze = mission after o = omission = skipping.
The problem: skipping and omission don't match.
Sure, skipping and omission are both nouns, but they're different types of nouns. Skipping is a mass noun, while omission a count noun. That means you can have five or many omissions, but only much skipping.
Thus and therefore, bullshit.
Golden or Bullshit or Does DA Need to Weigh In On This One? (from the 2nd/3rd of October)
21 across: Setter is crazy to retreat, grabbing spades for disaster (7)
This could be brilliant, but the two explanations put forward seem to me to be lacking something.
My own incomplete explanation, which is not the greatest, goes like this: setter is crazy = nuts am i, which somehow becomes tsunami.
A far better approach put forward by Timbo is the following: setter is crazy to retreat, grabbing spades = I'm a nut to retreat grabbing spades = tunami grabbing s = tsunami = disaster.
The reason I'm not completely happy with the Timbo explanation is the plural form of spades. Shouldn't spades mean that two esses are inserted into tunami? Is that a valid criticism? Or am I -- perhaps we -- missing something?
The Bullshit from 26/27th of September
26 across: Just combine gout? (4)
Here, it's combine gout = merge g out = mere = just.
Some consider the use of gout in this clue to be crossing the line into ridiculously difficult territory, but I'm OK with these kinds of clues (after I had some initial frustration) and consider them pretty easy to spot once you know to spot them. (I still consider part of words as the direct clue going too far, though, an example of which can be found in a DA crossword from December of last year).
No, the bullshit here is in the direct definition, for mere and just are not substitutable in a sentence. You might say "it's a mere cigar", but you have to say "it's just a cigar" rather than "it's a just cigar". Conversely, you'd have to say "it's merely a cigar", not "it's mere a cigar".
Hence, bullshit.
Update: In what's becoming quite the tradition, I'm corrected in the comments, this time by AL!
