tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Aug 22 13:08:42 2000

Back to archive top level

To this year's listing

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]

Re: your "crosswords"


ghunchu'wI', bIQIpbe'chu'.
chaq vIQIjlaH.

In message <l03020900b5c86f7c4e15@[208.158.58.143]> Alan Anderson writes:
> >So, 1 Across isn't {mIm}, it's {X m X I m X}: first, third and last square
> >occupied, and {m} and {Im} belonging to definitions one and two: "The end
> >of the greater part" and "Milk without head".
> 
> You listed them both under definition one, and now I'm even more confused.
> It looks like there are multiple answers for some of the rows, and I still
> can't figure out how you're picking the parts of the words to put in the
> squares.
> 
German crosswords are nothing like American/British ones, and
it seems Cataln ones are another beast altogether...

It looks to me like a full stop seperates clues for different
entries in the same line.

> >Across
> >1.The end of the greater part (m > HochHom). Milk without head (Im > mIm).
> 
> I don't get it.  I thought I was starting to with the first clue, where
> the phrase "end of" hints that you only want the last part of the word
> and "greater part" tells which word you're talking about.  

that's how it seems to work, {m} is "the end" of {HochHom}

> But then the
> (Im > mIm) totally loses it.  You said that 1 Across *isn't* {mIm}, so
> I'm completely baffled at this point.
> 
> If it's a typo for (Im > nIm), 

I'm convinced, it is a typo for {nIm}

> then I can try to interpret the "without
> head" as a clue to remove the first letter, but that doesn't seem to be
> how the other ones work -- {toDuj}, for example.
> 
> >3.Unlimited courage (oDu > toDuj).  Just a bit more and it would be
> >special (le > le').
> 
> Do these have anything to do with each other, or are they two separate
> clues?  

seperated by the full stop

> In the original puzzle, they sound like a single statement, but
> the answers don't bear that out.  And I still don't see a pattern at all
> in the letters you're dropping.  They don't all fall on black squares or
> off the edge of the puzzle, they're not in an obvious sequence of first-
> last-both, sometimes it's only one letter missing and sometimes more...
> 
I'm not sure what confuses you here. the letters are dropped *before* the
leftovers :) are placed on the grid

> My thought about "headless {nIm} -> {Im}" fails here, since "unlimited"
> implies that there is *nothing* removed, but you have dropped both first
> *and* last letters, so I'm obviously still missing the pattern.
> 
maybe because I'm not a native speaker either, I get this one better
than you. "unlimited" is meant as "without any limiters", that is
you are supposed to remove both "limiters", i.e. the first and the
last letter

> >5.Your rubble is jumbled (IjaDr > DIraj).
> 
> Is there any pattern to the scrambling, or must one try things at random
> to find a fit to the puzzle?
> 
I would guess the latter

(in the following, I'm not going to repeat the "clues are seperated
by full stops" part, as I'm sure you got it now :)

> >Down
> >4.You have just heard someone hiccup because he has drank too much beer
> >(Iq > HIq). Prey without vowels (ghD > gheD).
> 
> This is *definitely* two clues tossed together in one, and there's nothing
> in it that says which part of {HIq} you're looking for. 
I assume {Iq} is supposed to be the sound of someone hiccupping,
although I would have expected {'Iq} there; also "beer" is a really
weak clue for {HIq} (which seems to be provided for "sounds like" 
guidance - the "you have just heard" part hints to that) as we have
several special words for types of beer

so, you're not really to blame for having trouble with this one, ghunchu'wI'.

> >6.Klingon musicians squeeze and strech out their windbag instruments
> >(rey). We start (m > maH).
> 
> Again with the clues just mashed together without apparent reason, and I'm
> even more confused than usual about how "we start" turns into {maH} and how
> anyone is supposed to know to throw away the {aH} from it.
> 
{m} is the "start" of {maH}, "we"

did you ever read rec.puzzles.crosswords?
there are some weird clues popping up now and then
for the various contests; really helps to mess up 
your brain :)

hope I could help
                                           Marc Ruehlaender
                                           aka HomDoq
                                           [email protected]

Back to archive top level