slaney
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(14:03 on Mon 15/Mar/10)
Afternoon turnerjmw and all.
I agree - much more difficult than usual. It's taken me an age to finish - with the exception of 3d.
I now see what you mean.
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dr b
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(14:38 on Mon 15/Mar/10)
Hi "all" (although "all" is a rather small number this week!) I can only natter & chatter this week as I did not get to the puzzle until late yesterday and have made virtually no progress so far - about half the clues, some obvious grid clashes which shed no light on any alterations that might be needed, and not enough of the quote to search ODQ! With the work week started I may just have to punt* on this one.
*in the sense of "N. Amer. colloq., To avoid, defer, or give up on."
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devadolly
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(14:56 on Mon 15/Mar/10)
Good afternoon all, I am so pleased you are finding it difficult drb, I have only started it this am (Himself's b/d yesterday so of course he had to be taken out for lunch) and am not getting along too well, haven't even managed to comprehend any clashes so have a feeling I am trotting swiftly down the wrong road.
Many thanks to all for the suggestions for next week, have decided on The Forge for the 'table for two' so will let all know in due course of our findings!
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AndrewG-S
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(15:06 on Mon 15/Mar/10)
Spent ages on this making no progress, with the theme and the quote eluding me. I think I now have the quote, but it has not really helped as much as I had hoped (other than to solve a few more clues from identifying the missing letters). Can anyone comment as to whether all entries are real words and (if so) whether the way to treat the answers is a fairly standard manipulation?
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ulysses100
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(16:18 on Mon 15/Mar/10)
I have filled most of the grid and have the quotation bar three missing middle letters which elude me. There are 16 clues which have a special property which you may gain with a bit of spark., and these are all entered in jumble fashion. Suffice to say these are the ones that are la creme de la creme.
At present I also have "T" as the third letter of 3d.
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slaney
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(17:07 on Mon 15/Mar/10)
Hi ulysses - I'm probably well past it after that slog, but I make it 14 clues to be treated.
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ulysses100
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(17:14 on Mon 15/Mar/10)
Sorry slaney , I miscounted -- but I make it 15 to be treated.
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turnerjmw
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(17:54 on Mon 15/Mar/10)
Question Author
I'm with slaney on 14.
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ulysses100
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(18:15 on Mon 15/Mar/10)
My head hurts !!! I still make it 15 with 10 across answers treated along with 5 down ones.
I cannot yet solve a few in the top half which include 1 and 19 across -- any hints as to the answers would be appreciated.
I also have a problem with the quotation letters for 43a, 1d,3d and 4d which should read "youm" but the "m" applies to 3d and not 4d.
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slaney
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(19:14 on Mon 15/Mar/10)
I make it 9 across and 5 down clues treated.
The quotation letters are 43a 1d, 2d and 3d - I didnt think 2d had an extra letter but it can have.
1a - definition is the first word - 6 letter word meaning refined minus its last letter + a 5 letter word meaning office with an extra letter removed. I would have said the latter was a word of exclusively Scots origin without checking in Chambers.
I can only make the wordplay in 19a work by putting an A at the start of the clue.
"A person's life story...."
The definition in the last 5 words, thinking "Daily" in front of Express.
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turnerjmw
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(19:27 on Mon 15/Mar/10)
Question Author
I agree with all that, slaney, except I think 19a is just about okay as it stands (though it would certainly work your way), as the three letter abbreviation of the first word is in Chambers
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slaney
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(20:28 on Mon 15/Mar/10)
Yes, of course it is - thanks!
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dr b
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(22:46 on Mon 15/Mar/10)
DD, I'm happy that my struggles bring you joy, but I'm afraid I finished. Everything certainly fell into place fast once I had the quote. Agree that there are 14 "treated" clues.
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turnerjmw
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(23:05 on Mon 15/Mar/10)
Question Author
dr b, can I ask if you're happy with 3dn? If so, perhaps you'd care to enlighten me.
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Christiana
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(23:12 on Mon 15/Mar/10)
Good evening all. Have not really had time to look at this much except for half an hour yesterday - enough time to register a gulp or two and not much else. Will probably have to give up before I've really started as I leave tomorrow for three weeks in what will eventually be my new home in Lincolnshire. So my contributions are likely to be at best intermittent for a while.
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dr b
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(23:19 on Mon 15/Mar/10)
turnerjmw: I also have the conflict you mentioned. I'll look at it again tomorrow to see if something strikes me, but both clues seem straightforward enough. An error in the EV? What is this, the Sunday Times?
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Jogler
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(09:53 on Tue 16/Mar/10)
We have had a bit of a look and made a stab at it - but as yet not finished. Just checking the posts quickly before we go walkabout for a couple of days - I do hope you have resolved 3dn by the time we get back! Certainly the most difficult thus far this year and we are looking forward to a pdm...
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serpentinew
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(10:52 on Tue 16/Mar/10)
3dn is a big of an anomaly 1ac and 15ac both seem to yield the same letter - only one of which is required for 3dn. So even though I can't resolve 11ac, I can't see how the whole is going to fit together. any pointers on 11ac gratefully received.
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ulysses100
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(11:32 on Tue 16/Mar/10)
Thank you - at last completed. Complicated by the fact that I was trying to treat 1a and 1d as jumbles and forgetting that 2d was to be mixed up instead (thus giving 14 treated answers).
I agree that there is a mistake with 3d ; there are two immovable "Ts" (I presume that we all have sister as the answer from si ste(m) r ).
And the trouble that I had with 2d was to assume "lie" for the definition "place" instead of "lieu".
Serpentinew : you are looking for for some obsolete coins from the Eurozone.
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serpentinew
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(17:02 on Tue 16/Mar/10)
ulysees100 - Thanks, i suspect it's what I though it was, but I can't for the life of me see it in the wordplay minus an "n"
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