knew you'd get it!
― Neil S, Tuesday, 12 February 2013 10:48 (eleven years ago) link
It's not easy to be mostly shy and also appealing to a small group of devotees (9)
-----c---
Hilarious friend hugging Jim Morrison's woman and half weeping at a music festival (wotd 12)
--------o--a
― ledge, Wednesday, 13 February 2013 14:19 (eleven years ago) link
difficult
― Eyeball Kicks, Wednesday, 13 February 2013 15:20 (eleven years ago) link
The other's Lollaplooza, right? Lol +LA + pal +ooz(ing). Or something.
― Tim, Wednesday, 13 February 2013 15:35 (eleven years ago) link
ooz + a, yup. and yup to difficult too.
― ledge, Wednesday, 13 February 2013 15:40 (eleven years ago) link
admittedly i didn't have that much time to spend on it, but yesterday's guardian crossword continued my tradition of being unable to get even one single arachne clue - think this is the 3rd arachne crossword i've tried, and the 3rd time i've been left with a completely blank grid
weirdly i really like the way her clues are written, she's just obviously way too smart for me (contra bonxie, who i don't get along with either but who just annoys me)
― lex pretend, Saturday, 16 February 2013 11:17 (eleven years ago) link
unusually I was able to do some of Arachne yesterday. I enjoyed this clue:
Spooner's to kill writer and collect £200! (4, 2)
― Neil S, Saturday, 16 February 2013 11:42 (eleven years ago) link
that was the one i felt most close to getting, but...nope, no idea
already got about a third of today's araucaria though :)
― lex pretend, Saturday, 16 February 2013 11:52 (eleven years ago) link
think of a certain board game
― Neil S, Saturday, 16 February 2013 11:57 (eleven years ago) link
spoilers (written backwards)
(eoP saG)
― koogs, Saturday, 16 February 2013 18:43 (eleven years ago) link
I got that one! Unlike all others posted here recently :(
― kinder, Saturday, 16 February 2013 19:16 (eleven years ago) link
Todays newbie report:
Can't tell you how long it took me to understand "If this place grew corn, it might be a good sign" (5) even after I had the answer. Way too long. Sometimes punny/jokey solutions just lose me. Alas and alack.
Also, the only way I have ever heard that phrase is as I just typed it. "Alack and alas" is not a thing, is it?
― Nataly Dawn's echoey swamp sound (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 19 February 2013 18:57 (eleven years ago) link
google says "alack and alas" is more popular, which confirms what i kind of felt
― tochter tochter, please (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 19 February 2013 19:06 (eleven years ago) link
Following the recent Beyonce ref, another one for Lex in today's Guardian (took a while to realise how good this one is):
In foyer, a chair - American diva's reclining, is she? (6,5)
― jlgt, Tuesday, 19 February 2013 22:24 (eleven years ago) link
that's gotta take some chutzpah to even think about trying to make any kind of hidden word out of such a combination of letters.
― ledge, Tuesday, 19 February 2013 23:07 (eleven years ago) link
got it but not sure I get it completely
― kinder, Tuesday, 19 February 2013 23:47 (eleven years ago) link
'In'=hidden word, 'reclining'=backwards, 'she'=definition (ie american diva).
― ledge, Wednesday, 20 February 2013 07:35 (eleven years ago) link
Cheers
― kinder, Wednesday, 20 February 2013 08:14 (eleven years ago) link
Oh, that's nice.
― ailsa, Wednesday, 20 February 2013 10:19 (eleven years ago) link
heh, i got that one immediately. it perfectly captures her essence, too <3
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 20 February 2013 10:33 (eleven years ago) link
Her essence is a person who LOVES dolphins iirc, don't see that in the clue...
― kinder, Wednesday, 20 February 2013 13:02 (eleven years ago) link
may have back-combed hair and love for american diva (6,5)
yeah yeah 'have' should be 'has' for the clue reading to work, just messin' here.
― ledge, Wednesday, 20 February 2013 13:05 (eleven years ago) link
american diva might be full of love after back-combing hair
not a patch on 'foyer a chair american' i know.
― ledge, Wednesday, 20 February 2013 15:17 (eleven years ago) link
that's all-time
― Neil S, Wednesday, 20 February 2013 15:25 (eleven years ago) link
this was in the grauniad the other day, there are (at least) two answers that work perfectly, we put the wrong one in.
Stick that's split (6)
― ledge, Thursday, 28 February 2013 10:38 (eleven years ago) link
that one fucked up our solving process for the longest time because the answer was so obviously BRANCH except it wasn't >:(
― lex pretend, Thursday, 28 February 2013 10:39 (eleven years ago) link
cleave?
― tochter tochter, please (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 28 February 2013 10:41 (eleven years ago) link
wd be my first thought because it's one of those words with oppositional meanings
― tochter tochter, please (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 28 February 2013 10:42 (eleven years ago) link
yeah it was extra-annoying when we realised because cleave is one of my all-time fav words for that exact reason
― lex pretend, Thursday, 28 February 2013 10:43 (eleven years ago) link
yeah it's an old chestnut, but obv when we thought 'branch' we didn't think on it any further.
so which meaning does 'cleavage' come from?
― ledge, Thursday, 28 February 2013 10:47 (eleven years ago) link
"split", obv
― tochter tochter, please (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 28 February 2013 10:48 (eleven years ago) link
yeah it's an old chestnut, but obv when we thought 'branch' we didn't think on it any further
but if you're stuck on the connecting words b/c you can't make the letters fit then you should always revisit the one you think you've got right.
― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Thursday, 28 February 2013 11:47 (eleven years ago) link
A few I've come up with that probably break some setters' rules or other but they make sense to me:
masturbate, half-mad for goddess (6)no more cold (6)lower ground for one such as Merkel (9)
― dat neggy nilmar (wins), Thursday, 28 February 2013 12:37 (eleven years ago) link
need help
― ledge, Tuesday, 5 March 2013 10:07 (eleven years ago) link
in the meantime
Hear cry of admonishment after paedo Jimmy exposes sausage (7)
― ledge, Tuesday, 5 March 2013 10:24 (eleven years ago) link
A+
I don't really know how to help! I'll put up the answers in a bit.
― dat neggy nilmar (wins), Tuesday, 5 March 2013 10:44 (eleven years ago) link
just give us some letters
― koogs, Tuesday, 5 March 2013 10:49 (eleven years ago) link
"i'll have a P please bob"
― koogs, Tuesday, 5 March 2013 10:50 (eleven years ago) link
Oh yeah, haha. It's early. Here goes:1. _ RI _ _ _2. _ U _ _ _ _3. _ A _ _ _ _ _ E _
― dat neggy nilmar (wins), Tuesday, 5 March 2013 11:00 (eleven years ago) link
the first one's Frigga i guess. had it when you posted it but not sure why
― a phenomenological description of The Eagles (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 5 March 2013 11:45 (eleven years ago) link
obv i get the "frig" part
"GA" half of GAGA?
― jlgt, Tuesday, 5 March 2013 11:57 (eleven years ago) link
Exactly.
― dat neggy nilmar (wins), Tuesday, 5 March 2013 15:28 (eleven years ago) link
Is the third one "Hamburger" (ground-up cow, i.e. something that lows)?
― jlgt, Tuesday, 5 March 2013 16:14 (eleven years ago) link
oh man that is evil!
― ledge, Tuesday, 5 March 2013 16:17 (eleven years ago) link
vg
― i don't have to be fair, i'm *right* (darraghmac), Tuesday, 5 March 2013 16:19 (eleven years ago) link
Haha, was completely thinking Una Merkel!
BTW, I encountered this recently:
Use and reuse pieces of souvenir, eating deer perhaps? (14) Although I eventually solved what appeared to be a made-up word, this was my first experience with a "letter-bank" clue. More below:
http://www.thenation.com/blog/172926/going-bank#
― It's All Posable Colaboration (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 5 March 2013 16:21 (eleven years ago) link
"hamburger" is tremendous, kudos.
i do not think i like the letter-bank, but i am wildly conservative so
― a phenomenological description of The Eagles (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 5 March 2013 16:59 (eleven years ago) link
Take it to the politics thread sonny
― i don't have to be fair, i'm *right* (darraghmac), Tuesday, 5 March 2013 17:22 (eleven years ago) link
> Use and reuse pieces of souvenir, eating deer perhaps? (14)
venison... and a bit more?
― koogs, Tuesday, 5 March 2013 17:51 (eleven years ago) link