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smellyharry

24th March 2025, 12:31
Still not happy with 15. I understand the butter reference. But there's no coherent wordplay for the last 4 letters of the answer as far as I can see. And you can't do wordplay for half the answer. So unless I'm missing something, it's a straight definition with no wordplay, where the straight definition includes the reference to the butter?
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jono

24th March 2025, 12:44
SH, yes I agree. The whole clue is a cryptic somewhat whimsical/amusing definition.
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micky

24th March 2025, 12:46
... and there's even less justification for my failure to get 7d. I actually thought of the correct meaning of the definition, but didn't remember that particular name. Goodness knows why I didn't do a quick search for holders of that post, which would of course have given me the answer, and then the wordplay was perfectly easy. For some reason I didn't follow that idea up, but instead wandered off onto trying to figure out the wordplay without knowing the answer, which led me nowhere. 🥴
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quisling

24th March 2025, 12:48
Sh, there is no wordplay. It’s just a “quirky” definition relying on a play on an alternative meaning of butter mountain. John Henderson is regarded as crossword royalty, so he makes his own rules, much as Araucaria used to. See last Friday’s Times puzzle for more of the same.
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micky

24th March 2025, 12:54
I don't agree with the criticisms of 15d. A cryptic definition is a perfectly acceptable clue, and doesn't need any wordplay. This is a cryptic definition which also contains words which double up as a cryptic reference to part of the answer; i.e. a cryptic definition (which alone would be enough) plus more.
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quisling

24th March 2025, 13:02
That’s fair comment, micky. I was being unduly harsh
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smellyharry

24th March 2025, 18:56
Thanks. I agree that's a perfectly fair clue. I was just trying to make sure I wasn't missing anything.

And I was perfectly happy with 22, which seems to have caused others some concerns.

Still don't like 2d though.
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