September 03 2010
Q&A (and Bees)
The cool literati at Spike – the blog attached to Meanjin magazine – put me through the mill this week, asking five questions about my crossword career. Regulars to this site, or the old Cassowary nest, will anticipate most of the answers, though you may not know such cult figures as Garson Hampfield, or Loroso, or Brendan Emmett Quigley.
Hop on over for the Big Five Questions, and follow the links to find your own black-and-white treasures.
And while in the literary vein, check out a book called Sleepers Almanac #6, just released with too much Guinness and too little beauty sleep last night at Trades Hall in Melbourne. Among a pantheon of rising Aussie talent is one misfit called Astle who writes about insect sex for some reason. I can’t figure out why either – just seemed an itch in need of scrathcing. Like head lice.
And while I have your attention: a big thanks to all of you for making the leap from blog to website. It hasn’t been the smoothest segue, but your input and patience and all-out camaraderie has been one princely fillip. Little by little, this new address will prove a great playground for all of us. I can feel it in my waters.
Comments
Mr X — 03 September at 08:07PM
Just bought "Puzzled". Before dipping into the prose I thought I'd knock off the overarching crossword. One unfortunate typo in my copy - an incorrectly filled in black square in 3 down. Something to fix up for the next printing. Also, maybe in the 2nd edition you could include an Index. I looked in the back to see if I got a mention (can't be too many Xs I figured ) but it seems I'll have to check the entire tome ;).
DA — 03 September at 09:29PM
Spot on, Mr X. That pesky square in 3-Down of the Master Grid should be white not black, and most copies [not yours] have an accompanying spare grid - or the edition has been reprinted correctly. Ironic really, given the gist of Chapter 6.
Hope you enjoy the solve, and the read. (And don't fume if omitted...)
DA — 04 September at 09:52AM
PS Mr X - to help my product tracking, can you tell me where you bought that Puzzled copy? And to clarify, it didn't come with an erratum slip? This kind of info is very helpful for the publisher - and their fix-it reps.
Mr X — 05 September at 04:41PM
Bought at Borders, Canberra Centre with no errata slip (does that mean there's more typos to come ?)
DA — 05 September at 04:56PM
No, that's the first + worst. While any book will have the odd typo, that one errant square is a clunker that has [largely] been fixed with an erratum slip, and an urgent reprint beyond the first release.
Thanks for the datum, Mr X. And hope you enjoy the book and puzzle beyond the glitch. Almost every copy to follow is flawless, so you do have the Collector's Item.
DA — 07 September at 07:10AM
PS Mr X, and all - if you hit the Allen & Unwin website on the address below, you can download your own renewed grid for the book. (Though most future copies will have the error erased, or this slip inserted.)
http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=94&book=9781742372785
Jacqui Davie — 09 October at 02:04PM
Like Mr X, I was surprised to find such a clunker as 3-down in a book by such a perfectionist/wordsmith as yourself; found while happily working my way through the Master Puzzle....not yet finished, but determined NOT to cheat! So haven't read the rest of the book yet, though very much looking forward to it. I wonder whether you 'let us in' to the process of grid-making (which to me is THE hardest part!) I have little trouble making up clues, which I do constantly, but it's the grid that defeats me. Would love to hear from you on that score......
DA — 12 October at 06:16AM
Jacqui, that clunker-copy has pretty much vanished from the shelf [with or without erratum] which means you have a more valuable artefact.
As for grid construction, I speak about soft/hard letters in the book, the tyranny of symmetry etc, but you make a good point. Perhaps a future piece about the applied mechanics of interlocking for a Wordplay column, one I'll later post here onsite.
Hope you could look past the niggling glitch and enjoy the read. DA
Penny Gerner — 23 January at 07:51PM
David,
Just read your column in the SMH regarding changing some words in 'Puzzled' (which I am enjoying). I had a book published in the UK, but set in Oz and I mentioned 'blue bottles' on the beach. It was suggested I change to 'stingers' but I resisted as most of my readers were Australian children and would know what those blue beach bubbles were. Keep challenging us! Kind regards, Penny Gerner.
Glendon Smith — 29 January at 11:26AM
Dear David,
I read your article in Spectrum this morning and am puzzled by the use of the term hash marks. Please tell me the origin of this term.
Louise Kobler — 23 February at 08:13AM
I heard with shock this week on Letters and Numbers that you said 'between you and I' when speaking to Richard Morecroft about bromance. Has this now become correct?
Yesterday you spoke about 'shebang' and mentioned that it was a carriage of sorts. I wondered if the derivation could possibly have been a mishearing of 'charabanc'. What do you think?