September 24 2011
Top Quality Fruit's
Alee, Eremite, Okra and Ha-ha walked into a bar. Along with RA and Clueless, Model T and To Wit, not forgetting We Hear, Ewer, Tup, Isla Fisher and the Prince of Squares. Quite a crowd for a weeknight.
The aim of the evening was to puree some low fruit into six spectacular flavours. (If you’re lost, don’t worry. Just read the classy clues to come.) In fact, let’s all do that:
CLUELESS: Sells cue – broken, lacking a tip [Canny regard for the overall story by To Wit, who shares the honours with another anagram clue:]
CLUELESS: Doctor uses cell Emma reproduced [Eremite this time. The Emma reference, also adopted by We Hear, is the Silverstone chick flick, while not a word is blown in a compelling clue. Honourable mention to Tup’s DA dig, We Hear’s alternation trick and the glorious rebus of Isla.]
EDAM: Fromage d'Amsterdam?! [Three cheers for We Hear, who uses the from part of fromage in a mind-bending twist. And a nod to Tup’s hidden & lit, plus To Wit’s hidden, and Isla’s play on block. Also admired Model T’s attempt to keep things financial, while Ewer’s splice of Eve and Adam was ingenious.]
NOSTALGIA: Soviet leader takes off from A-1 glasnost assembly: aahhh for the good old days! [RA uses an old buzzword to revive that retro sense. But no less tidy and compact are:]
NOSTALGIA: Remembrance at a losing battle [Isla, and…]
NOSTALGIA: AA lost gin cocktail longing […ha-ha. As for alee’s lyrical treatment, all you lacked was a signpost – but lovely nonetheless.]
PROVERB: A bird in the hand, perhaps, to show the guts of bowerbirds? [Brilliant work from To Wit. Ghoulish and elegant all in one. Though wait, there’s more:]
PROVERB: Forgive and/or forget?! [Completely Clueless is a complete renegade. Think it through pro-verb, the whole being proverbial. It’s insane, and I love it. But I cannot ignore:]
PROVERB: Saying “Bowled!” after spin bowler’s turn [We Hear again. Check it out: PR/OVER/B. Mwwah. While Okra warrants a wave, though I had trouble with ‘made it’]
SCRAMBLED EGGS: Dashed to works on the illustration of military rank [Ha-ha must know some defence slang, as scrambled eggs are the pips and regalia on your epaulettes. It reads very well. And I salute To Wit for the SC(rambled)EGGS idea, an old LB gag in fact. While Okra’s Save Rio – as in ovaries – is a resounding hoot.]
WEEKNIGHT: Around eight, knew it was time for bed! [Peerless work from Clueless, a gem. And huzzah to Tup who tried something wonderful, with Ken Done in ‘import’, though the deceit was just a fraction deficient.]
Totting up the points, with 3 for a verbatim citation, and one for a nod, the Starfruit is To Wit on 8, with We Hear the Second Banana on 7, while Ha-Ha and Completely Clueless came up cherries on 6. Here’s hoping there are no sour grapes from the rest of you. With just one favour to ask: Who Are You?!!
Comments
RA — 24 September at 12:41AM
Excellent works people! Thanks DA.
RobT — 24 September at 06:13AM
PS RA=RobT
RobT — 24 September at 06:14AM
DA: Should your apostrophe be at t'end of "fruits"?
Boniface — 24 September at 07:03AM
To Wit was me. Thanks DA and well done All.
Em — 24 September at 08:27AM
Congrats Boniface, and those of you yet to unveil your secret identities! And thanks DA for more fun and for taking the time to judge; definitely no sour grapes here.
Signing off, alee
Anthony Douglas — 24 September at 09:31AM
Ewer was I, though I suspect that was guessable.
Well done all. I still like The King's Speech as a definition for proverb, if anyone wants to repair my effort :)
RobT — 24 September at 10:33AM
Ever the tinkerer, I had a brainwave overnight
"Soviet leader takes off from A-1 glasnost assembly for a walk down Memory Lane."
Anyhoo.
Geoff Bailey — 24 September at 11:32AM
Eremite here. Glad to have gotten a mention with what I think was the best of my clues. Wish I'd found some way to utilise 'analogist'... oh, well.
Thanks, DA, and hearty congratulations to Boniface, and the other high-scorers.
Sam — 24 September at 11:46AM
Congratulations Boniface, and the other placers - some lovely clues all round. Thanks DA - Sam (ha-ha)
SK — 24 September at 12:27PM
Congrats Boniface. Some fabulous stuff here, but my favourite has to be We Hear's EDAM, right down to the elegant use of "from". Beautiful.
For this storm I was (and remain more generally) Completely Clueless.
Thanks DA. Glad you liked my forgive and forget.
m (The DAbbler formerly known as Prince Of Squares) — 24 September at 01:34PM
Well done to all. My favourite were To wit's CLUELESS and Isla's NOSTALGIA.
I, LR, Fisher — 25 September at 11:18AM
Some magnificent clues, and I loved the anonymity factor.
*ISLA is a word that constantly pops up when I put together my monthly TV-themed crossword at work.
dg — 26 September at 09:00AM
No sour grapes - from dodgy soil came a great vintage. What were these 2 ('Tup') clues missing?
N: Unfamiliar speech fed to grandson about the past?! (TALKING - KIN inside AI SON reversed)
S: Test tube errors found with OJ? (It'd be better with "mix-up". But didn't it have potential?
DA — 26 September at 09:42AM
@dg Your N commits the no-no of indirect anagram, while S fails the Sunday Brekkie Test. (The very thought of cocktailed ova made ME squeamish - )
Feel free to differ, though the Indirect Anagram is a widespread no-no.
(The only exception, I'd argue, is when you're asked to mix an indirect term that is 100% lucid, such as Tasmanian capital became pulsating = ATHROB, but even that feels squalid.)
dg — 26 September at 10:05AM
Isn't N a charade though? (TALG in NOS-IA)...No anagram there. (I meant OJ Simpson, then again what the writer meant and what the reader 'gathers' can be quite different, so I agree.)
Thanks for the feedback. I am really enjoying your book at the moment.
RM — 26 September at 10:14AM
I was We Hear, as some of you found out when my disguise slipped. I am very pleased with myself for having done so well against competition of such quality. Thanks, DA, for the judging.
I appreciate all the praise for Fromage, though I think the surface rather gives the answer away (especially since it's only four letters) and so would only puzzle those who feel the need to explain the wordplay before they write in an answer.
dg — 26 September at 10:18AM
You're downplaying that clue, RM.
DA — 26 September at 10:32AM
Thanks dg, glad you're enjoying Puzzle. And apologies: your NOS[TALG]IA is not an indirect anagram, just super difficult.
For a solver to see 'unfamiliar' as the removal of KIN from 'TALKING' which isn't stated, and then place in AI/SON [from GRAND/SON] that is reveresed by virtue of the double-yoked 'about'.... You can see where I'm heading with this. That's a Beezelbub standard, and those UK puzzles need a month to unravel.
Boniface — 26 September at 11:12AM
I also loved the Fromage d'Amsterdam clue and thinks it deserves clue of the round.
Actually DA and others, what do you think about that - a separate notional prize for the best clue of the round?
DA — 26 September at 11:33AM
I like it. That way we'll have a cumulative winner, and a top-clue award.
Though perhaps this last category rests in the hands of all players, with my own vote just one in the hat. (And no, you can't fancy your own!)
Geoff Bailey — 26 September at 11:40AM
I think I'd have to vote for SK (aka Completely Clueless)'s proverb clue, just marginally edging out RM (aka We Hear)'s one for the same word.
RM — 26 September at 12:16PM
Forgive and/or forget is definitely my favourite now it's been explained!
okra — 27 September at 10:26AM
My name is Jack Gough and I just stumbled upon the blog after seeing David on Letters and Numbers and thought i'd have a go. great fun!
DA — 27 September at 10:51AM
Welcome okra - the ideal alias for a low-hanging fruit contest. Up there with ugli and sapodilla.