Saturday Times Prize Crossword Monday October 17th 1988

[factor-fiction]

1a) Short on the epidural (4,6)
?A?K ?U?B?R

Is it Lack Number? ( For some reason I initially plumped for Back Number but that seems wrong now.)

[Psybbo]

back number
as in numb the back

[shooty]

back. as thats where an epidural needle is injected

[factor-fiction]

Thanks. Yes I got the Number (pronounced Nummer) but I wasn't sure of the significance of the 'short' in the clue

[shooty]

recede i guess ?

[factor-fiction]

I know a back number (pronouncing the B) can be an old magazine etc but am puzzled by the SHORT

[Psybbo]

Is the title Oct 17th 1988 relevant, if so, back number?

[factor-fiction]

No, sibton.
I remember doing this crossword many years ago and sent it off with the answer 'back number' but I was never totally convinced and wondered if it was 'lack number'. For some reason the clue came back in my mind today- I googled the clue hoping to find the answer and found the clue (but no solution!) in this 1988 crossword.

[factor-fiction]

http://books.google.c...20epidural%22&f=false

[Psybbo]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidural


The term epidural is often short for epidural analgesia, a form of regional analgesia involving injection of drugs through a catheter placed into the epidural space.

[factor-fiction]

Yes, I saw that epidural is a 'back number'- it's the 'short on ' bit that puzzled me and made be think it might be 'lack number'

[Psybbo]

short for epidural analgesia
persisting sorry

[factor-fiction]

Sorry, I see your point now sibton- you are saying 'epidural' is short for epidural analgesia'- but that doesn't explain the word play for me

[factor-fiction]

Thanks everyone- the consensus seems to be Back Number (which was what I sent off but I'm still not convinced). Maybe I'll never know for certain. I was hoping Lie-in King, Bibblebub or Kayakamina might see this and explain the wordplay.

[dr b]

"No" is "short" for number, and it's backwards --> on. So "ON" is "number" backwards, or back number.