Guardian Prize Crossword 26,603 Saturday June 20Th 2015

[clog2]

don't understand the following clue
1a Something painful with which to batter this, for example.
(7)
?a?g?a?
we think it is pangram, but don't understand why it should be.
Help appreciated.

[fiction-factory]

so not pancake then

[dannyk13]

a pangram contains all letters of alphabet. Pang(pain) + ram(battering)

[fiction-factory]

pangram doesn't seem to the definition to me

[fiction-factory]

I can't see Q orZ in there, for example though

[clog2]

Thanks, I understand the pang and the ram, and the meaning of pangram, but still don't understand the wordplay. I must be missing something:)

[clog2]

unless this is the whole puzzle.

[fiction-factory]

Is it a themed one where every word starts with a different letter or something like that?

[ubasses]

could it be tangram tang(barb or pointed end of tool - something painful) ram(batter)
tangram = a puzzle (this is for example, crossword puzzle)

[fiction-factory]

tangram looks better

[aelmpvw]

i'm guessing we haven't been given the full clue

[dannyk13]

Pangram- seen as the answers in the puzzle contain all the letters of the alphabet

[aelmpvw]

ah, thanks danny

[fiction-factory]

I thought a pangram was a sentence that contained every letter (quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog). If the definition were wider then most pages of books probably are pangrams

[LadyofOgma]

It's because the crossword itself is a pangram

[fiction-factory]

I agree that only PANGRAM fits the word play (PANG +RAM) but I'm not clear why the crossword is a pangram. Presumably the word pangram isn't included in the PANGRAM (as it has 2 As) and the other answers cover each letter once only

[fiction-factory]

^Ignore that- it would have to be a very small crossword to have only 26 letters.
I may just have to remain puzzled unless I get chance to see the crossword in full

[scorpiojo]

The answers to the crossword contain all the letters of the alphabet

[fiction-factory]

Thanks. I thought a pangram contained each letter once only but it seems it's something that contains each letter one or more times.

[scorpiojo]

Uses every letter of the alphabet at least once

[fiction-factory]

Correct