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Malone & Brendan

I had to consult my constant companion, Anne Bradford, to `crack` the clue.
Pronunciation varies so widely that setters should at least consider this before using homophones. I know people who would pronounce one word as `flooer` (to rhyme with sewer) and the other as `flore` (to rhyme with gore)

Tyke
Yes, the wide variations in pronunciation makes me think homophones should be avoided if possible!

PU Members and Dippers In

As I heartily disliked that homophone clue, I'll redress the balance with this one I really liked. It's from today's Everyman, so many of you may have seen it.

Nub? (6-4,4).

I don't like that one at all. Surely it would have to be

n
u
b

in order to work? Even if it's a down entry, the word 'Nub' is horizontal.

Yes, Spoffy, the clue definitely isn't totally accurate, but I think '?'s cover a multitude of sins in crosswords. I'm not a regular Everyman solver, but I believe it's recently had some quirky clues, little funny bits here and there. I think it's good for a regular crossword to have an identity of its own. Azed, for example, is (usually) very rigidly constructed - and I don't think there are fun elements in it. If all crosswords worked to exactly the same rules, there would be very little character.
Even if the Nub clue falls down on several counts, it still made me smile.

We'll agree to disagree on that one, I think, which is perfectly reasonable given that different solvers like different types of clues, and there are puzzles out there to cater for all tastes.

What you see as fun I see as laziness on the part of the setter, using a rebus (an inaccurate one at that) instead of a cryptic clue, and providing no secondary means of verifying the solution. One could equally, I guess, use:

"Cam?" for APPLE TURNOVER
"MAC?" for HAMBURGER
"Cma?" for PLASTIC MAC
"Mac?" for CAME UP SHORT
"Cam?" for TURNCOAT

Yes, Spoffy, I'd probably disapprove if this device was used on a regular basis in one of my crosswords (the ones I solve regularly). I seldom see Guardian crosswords, only occasionally look at the Observer ones - so some things, devices, styles have a certain novelty value. I agree that we can all find flaws in different areas - I stopped looking at the 'new' Everyman puzzles initially as the 'definitions' were … very stretched at times.

I think perhaps I'm particularly sad to see a clue like that in an Everyman puzzle because it's the crossword that I always used to recommend to novice solvers as having an exemplary 'straight' style. As such, it allowed relative beginners to get a good understanding of how conventional clues worked before moving on to puzzles which included unconventional ones.

Spoffy, I think the previous Everyman setter was one of my favourites - he set other puzzles which I did and really enjoyed. The puzzles immediately after he left were the strangest I'd ever seen, which seemed a terribly sad state of affairs.