I Cryptic 1692

[brainiac]

Finished the crossword today, but what was the link between the 10 clues with 'an answer to all clues initially'? Something to do with what the Romans did for us - irrigation, roads, order, peace etc?

[Sam1960]

what letters do you have for the 10 clues ?

[Mamyalynne]

I think that is the link isn't it?

What the Romans did....

[brainiac]

I've answered all the 10 linked clues. The answers are: Aqueducts, sanitation, irrigation, roads, wine, baths, medicine, education, order, peace. Something to do with the Romans?

[Mamyalynne]

http://www.epicure.demon.co.uk/whattheromans.html

[Sam1960]

with you mamya ;o)

[brainiac]

Thanks for that link, Mamya, but how are they 'an answer to all clues initially' ?

[Mamyalynne]

Sorry can't progress further if needed.

[chiaroscuro]

True to form, Scorpion did not disappoint. This was one of those rare puzzles where the theme is literally staring you in the face, hinted at by the indication “an answer to all clues, initially”, which appears in ten clues; in other words, the solver is being invited to take the initial letter of each clue in order and spell out the question: WHAT HAVE THE ROMANS EVER DONE FOR US? This question is answered in Monty Python’s sketch of the same name in Life of Brian, in which reference is made to all the supposed relics of Roman civilisation that are the solutions to those ten clues.

How quickly you manage to solve this puzzle would, I suppose, depend to a large extent on how quickly you spot the theme, as otherwise you would need to establish a link between words as random as e.g. baths and irrigation. Once the theme has been spotted, even if you don’t associate it with Monty Python, you can predict some of the answers (baths, roads, aqueducts, etc) from general knowledge, although you might struggle with e.g. peace and order. The entry at 25 and the Roman numerals in the wordplay at 13 serve to reinforce the Roman theme.

7 proved to be the trickiest clue for me today, not helped by the fact that I wasn’t sure of 1, not knowing the comic. My personal favourites were 19, as I very much recognise that use of “yesterday”, and 25, for its smooth surface and for cheekily using something as mundane as a dog’s ear to clue the name a Roman emperor!

Incidentally, as if Scorpion had not given us a big enough treat already, this puzzle is also a pangram, with all 26 letters (of our version) of the (Roman!) alphabet appearing at least once.

Copied and pasted.

[brainiac]

At last, got it ! Thanks for that

[Mamyalynne]

Thanks Chia - without the whole puzzle would never have got that far.