CancelReport This Post

Please fill out the form below with your name, e-mail address and the reason(s) you wish to report this post.

 

Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

mooncow

29th July 2022, 00:34
lumen I think a *two-letter verb* was meant. When you add the sex you get a thing of little or no value (not a word I knew).
141 of 163  -   Report This Post

quixote

29th July 2022, 14:23
Got everything else a couple of days ago, but still totally baffled by the NW illustration (NWI), even after studying the long careful hints from #26 onwards to #103.

I'm confused by the statement way back that the cells involved 'are all non-contiguous' - I can see an obvious sequence for one of the parts of NWI - but the cells are all contiguous and in sequence (with an ambiguity at the end).

For the other thematic word I understand that the three -four-letter names are all ruled out, and that I should be looking for the longer name given in Wiki - and that the scale is important - but contiguous or non-contiguous, the only possible starting point doesn't appear to lead to any possible ordered sequence - and whatever the sequence is, it must at some point be contiguous with the other sequence, I'm told. I can see all the constituent letters of the long name in the NW quadrant, but not in order, and not forming a regular shape in any way that I can see.
Confusingly, there's a cluster of letters almost making up an alternative 6-letter version for this thematic word that isn't given in Wiki, but is used in the remarkable novel - one of my favourites - that is based entirely on this theme; but this is evidently a coincidence.

I'm taking it that it's the actual name that we're looking for, not some synonym, and that like the other three illustrations the letters are in their correct sequence, and forming a relevant shape.

I'm certain that I've got no mistakes in my entries, so it looks as though I'll just have to keep on staring, and it will miraculously pop out, as so many contributors have reported.

If anyone can think of a sufficiently discreet nudge I will be most grateful.
142 of 163  -   Report This Post

jordan

29th July 2022, 15:08
Post 96 directs you to an image that illustrates what you will end up with in NW
143 of 163  -   Report This Post

dsc

29th July 2022, 15:21
quixote, discreet is difficult at this stage, especially after all the hints given but does this help?
You need to look at the illustration of the NW group whose name you now know (on Wiki or indeed anywhere online). The second half of your paragraph 4 is correct and the name is one of the two where the last letter joins with the first to make a complete shape. The thematic word strays a little out of the quadrant, consists of one line (remember the W analogy earlier?), is non-contiguous and doesn't ever touch the (outer) illustraton.
Hope this doesn't get me into trouble! (Well, it's been nearly a week...)
144 of 163  -   Report This Post

quisling

29th July 2022, 15:39
Be aware that you are replying to Quixote, who berated me on thread 7219, post 67, for giving too much information in helping to parse three clues. I never gave any of the endgame away, as I never do. The man is a total humbug!
145 of 163  -   Report This Post

mooncow

29th July 2022, 16:51
I think we’re all doing quite well at keeping hints within reasonable bounds, and I think it’s fair to be a bit freer with hints to the *technical* completion of the puzzle/endgame than with hints to the theme or answers themselves. Let’s all play nicely :-)

quixote, as the numerous posts illustrate, the NW illustration is tricky. All the others comprised words in contiguous sequences, and that’s not the case for the fourth one. The contiguous sequence you mention for the associated item with an ambiguous end is *not* what you’re looking for: sneaky Shark! You’re correct that there is only one starting point for the long word itself. Once found, the NW illustration is perfect and delightful: no compromise. It took me a while to find all four illustrations but the search was rewarding. Good luck all!
146 of 163  -   Report This Post

muraria

29th July 2022, 17:32
I mentioned this earlier in the thread but, for the item word, start at the obvious first letter and proceed CLOCKWISE until you return close to where you started.....the shape you depict is symmetrical
147 of 163  -   Report This Post

jollity

29th July 2022, 19:14
I have completed this - I think - but there are two things I am not quite happy with, so confirmation or otherwise would be appreciated please. My inner shape in the NW quadrant is not perfectly regular, and 2) I cannot parse 14 ac. Meat 'chopped' gives me the last 4 letters, but where do the first two come from? And what I take to be the definition being a different part of speech to my answer worries me too.
148 of 163  -   Report This Post

muraria

29th July 2022, 19:42
Jollity

My shape is a little 'low-slung', bu symmetrical too. Guess it's a product of the discrete block nature of the cells.

On 14A, the parsing is 3,3, rather 2,4....for 'chopped' see definition 3 in Chambers.
149 of 163  -   Report This Post

quixote

29th July 2022, 21:34
Thanks Jordan, Dsc, Muraria, Mooncow et al for your generous hints - I now hope to crack it.

Quisling - BAH!! to you too!
You had posted:
"38a is a splendid clue. You need to think of two different spheres of primate. 41a requires the replacement of the last letter of the alphabet in a Buddhist priest. In 1d a stop is a woodwind instrument where an o is replaced by a Scottish (from Moray) word for search"
I thought that these hints were rather more than gentle, blowing open the subleties of Tutu, Bonze and Moravian - but let others judge - I rest my case.

(...but we pedantic Q's really ought to stick together...)
150 of 163  -   Report This Post