Having only completed last week’s on Sunday, a late start for Inn Joke, and an great finish (for me) within 24 hours. Yes, easier than average, but I had to work a bit for quotation and rejoinder, neither of which were familiar, so thanks, Mr L.
Having read all you’ve been saying here, I wonder if any of you made the more Private Eye-level connection with the quotation’s older explanation in ODQ (at least in my early edition)?
I ama Times Cryptic Jumbo person and am usually useless at the Listener crossword but this time I have solved it! Could someone enlighten me as to what BRB means. An earlier poster refers to the quotation being found there. Thanks
I wasn't going to do this week's, as I was away for a long weekend with all the family, celebrating a significant birthday. However, encouraged by all the comments I have rattled it off (by my standards anyway). Might I even have made the Friday club given a free Friday evening?
laptoplou: BRB is an abbreviation for Big Red Book (maybe Big Red Brick for some) i.e. Chambers Dictionary.
Hi Clamzy. Difficult to answer you without giving away the quotation, but if you have it, type it in to google followed by <assurance of performance> and about the 7th entry down on the first page of search results you should find the wording that amused me. Its in ODQ first edition, but not third.
Thanks Borealis - a gem of a quote. Maybe you could supply me with the last word(s) after "one..." which cuts off on my Google page. On the site I can't seem to get to the relevant passage.
Clamzy - I ordered it on Amazon and then got a message to say that there was a delay in their supply and they didn't know when they would be getting it. Don't know if it's available in bookshops yet. No rush, because there's always at least a year's delay before a new edition starts to appear in the published Listeners.
Puzzles were undoubtedly more difficult years ago before the days of Wikipedia and Google (and Answerbank :-) ) . And all the other aids available now.
This was a nice puzzle, which I wonder how those unfamiliar with the lingo would have coped with.