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jolan

10th July 2012, 12:34
I’ve just purchased a new book of crossies. The Daily Telegraph Bumper Beach book of Cryptic Crosswords (Pan Books) - £6.99 and wish to post a possible warning.
Crossword 1.
Leaving aside some of the clues (subjectively, not great),
1A has:- Y for Yankee holiday (2,6,4). Quite a good clue BUT, the answer is:- Fourth of July (6,2,4)

OK, so it’s a wee misprint. It can happen to anyone. Then I went on to no. 2.

Crossword 2.
5D reads;- SECOND PART OF 4 (9) [stet the capitals];
25D reads:- ‘THIRD PART OF 4 (4).

4D reads:- What demolition gang did caused much amusement (7)

The answer to 4D (at the back) = Brought
The answer to 5D = The house
The answer to 25D =Down.

21D reads:- SECOND PART OF 19 (8)

19D reads:- Not in routine? That’s unusual (10)

The answer to 19D is:- Out of the
The answer to 21D is :- Ordinary.

Crossword 3.
5D. Routine procedure of interest to racing stewards? (16) {It’s a 15x15 puzzle)

The answer to 5D is:- Matter of course. This is actually (6,2,6.)

At this stage, having only reached the beginning of Crossword 3, I gave up attempting the puzzles. I had completely lost confidence in the edition. I’ve never seen such carelessness of editing before in a reputable crossword book. The Daily telegraph and Pan should be ashamed of themselves. Dunno whether or not to consign to the recycling bin or to write to Pan and the DT asking for my money back.
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mrs trellis

10th July 2012, 13:01
Hi Jolan,
This must have been really frustrating for you but turns into an amusing read for the rest of us! Perhaps it's a new genre of fiendishly difficult crosswords with countless red herrings to trip the solver up. Seriously, I think you should definitely write to them - there's no excuse for this. Who do they think they are, the Grauniad?
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jolan

10th July 2012, 13:12
Ha, ha! Mrs T. Love the Grauniad! Methginks I will write/email them and see what they say.
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rosalind

10th July 2012, 14:32
Definitely ask for your money back. A book like this should have zero mistakes of this kind and the 16 one (actually 6,2,6, from memory)in inexcusable
If we do not all complain with reasonable demands, we will get the service we deserve. I once took photo of the black, disgusting inside of just one spud in a bag of potatos. Was sent a large box of them!I'd have been quite happy with one replacement bag and since then have baked an extra potato if I have guests.
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jolan

10th July 2012, 15:56
I rang Macmillan and they obviously had had many complaints about this dreadful book. The person I spoke to instantly offered to send me two books of replacement cryptic crosswords (one of which, I definitely have not had previously. I'm satisfied with that.
Don't really wish to cut the "Grauniad knot".
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rosalind

10th July 2012, 16:01
That sounds reasonable and you can always donate the duplicate to a charity!
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