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jigjag - my problem with the FIGURINE wordplay is that a 'fig' is not a 'leaf' any more than an oak or an ash is; "Its leaf" is an attempt to get round this problem, but how can "Its leaf" equate to FIG? The context established in the clue makes this equivalence seem somehow reasonable (fig leaf on statuette), but it doesn't stand up to any sort of close inspection.

However, I realise that the Guardian is right at the libertarian end of the clueing spectrum, and, whilst from my different spectral standpoint I may consider this sort of clue unsound, if the regular solvers find it both acceptable and enjoyable to solve then that's fine (and really none of my business, since I stopped doing the Guardian puzzle years ago). I do draw the line at a clue I saw the other day, 'Cold in prison" for CAGED, as to me this seems to open the floodgates for all manner of Dingbats/Whatzits masquerading as crossword clues. Yes, I'm not just a captious compiler, I'm a grumpy old captious compiler.

And all statuettes are 'wee'...it's in their nature...

ASetter, thanks for your Figurine stuff - interesting and accurate, in that the clue doesn't work when you dismantle it. I don't often see Guardian clues, so I don't know if this sort of thing (clue) is common for them. The 'cold in prison' clue is just awful, I don't even fully understand it - but whatever it is, it doesn't work!


Jigjag, glad you didn't mind the Incidentally stuff... The only problem is that I will have to recheck every word in my posts now, to make sure there's not a single typo! I'll need to work on your clue in the other thread...

'Cold' = C + old = C + aged = CAGED.

Simples! But COLD isn't C + OLD any more than it's COL + D = DEFILE + D = DEFILED ("Cold turned foul"). Hmmm, I might use that one...

Thanks again, Asetter. The Cold = C+old is … basically nonsense, so I'd never have entertained that to start with!

Asetter

My thanks also for the analysis. As you say, in some puzzles accuracy is not compulsory. I saw the "Cold in prison" clue and thought it was completely unacceptable.

Apologies for my late attendance!

Have only read about a quarter so far ...

@tyke: postcodes, yes ... Years ago, when BT shares were first offered to the public, I rang to register my name and address. My then postcode included 8s. So I began letter-letter-8, and back came letter-letter-haitch. Several attempts, same result. (And where in the UK do postcodes begin with 3 letters?) BT, a communications company - oh the irony.

Asetter

I went back to “Daves’ (sic) Barbers” this morning and showed him your analysis. He was thrilled at having the apostrophe in the right place in his “Haircut’s £9 sign”, but he wanted to know why there was sudden interest in his sign.

“A bloke from Yorkshire came in this morning saying it should be removed and he knew someone who could do it. And yesterday one of my regulars who is German said that they don’t have apostrophes in his language.”

“What was his name?” I asked.

“Herr Kut’z” came the replay, Ha! Ha! Ha!

I don’t know why, apostrophe-abuse is no laughing matter.

Re: dismantling of clues: remember the Irish philologist at a conference on humour who said that dismantling a joke to see why it was funny was like dissecting a lark to see how it sings so beautifully.

I have no desire to join P.U. but I do have a general question: I looked at a recent thread on the daily i cryptic crossword and found some people citing tricky clues and other people promptly supplying the answers in a fashion that is best described as blurting. Surely it is preferable to guide people towards the answer on the 'teach a man to fish.....' principle.

jigjag - that made me laugh!

gerba - I'd agree about jokes and larks, but a crossword clue is rather like a suit of armour in that it needs to be dismantled before it can be used - and if it falls apart in the process, or there's a gaping hole when you put it back together again, it really isn't doing what it was intended to do. But if you're not too fussed about that, then you could still have a good laugh along the way. As, no doubt, would the museum curator.

Regarding your question, personally I prefer that hints are given (where feasible) rather than answers, and where answers are provided that they are accompanied by explanations. The thing that seems most pointless to me is giving an answer to someone who has got one (or more) of the checked letters in the entry wrong - there's every chance they would be able to solve the clue themselves if the previous error were corrected, and there's nothing to stop them asking again if they can't crack it once they've had a proper chance. There is another web-based forum where "Fastest Finger First" seems very much to be the cardinal principle.

Oh dear! I can see where one of my betes-noir has arisen when the letter "H" is mispronounced and now even spelled "haitch". O tempora! O mores!