EV 950 - Resident Jokers by Owzat

[kayakamina]

A very straightforward grid fill of a standard similar to the Spectator.

Only 3 'Jokers' to find and all in Brewer. Not much of a bother really.

[DocHH]

Hello Kayakamina,
The DC should be completely empty this week!

[AndrewG-S]

Well an enjoyable but easy grid fill, but jester minute surely there are some issues? 10d clue length indicates correct clue length for the clue but not the answer and 30a seems to be an entirely different clue and answer. Are the editors fooling around and having a laugh? I'm off for a mug of coco after apple pie and costard washed down with too much trinculo

[DocHH]

Hello Andrew,
I assumed there was a letter indication missing from 10d. 30a is OK, the BRB (2003 version at least) lists the grid entry as a less common form of the definition, and the cryptic part of the clue works.
I cede to your superior puns!

[turnerjmw]

As far as 10dn goes I think the clue and word length are right, but the grid is missing a bar above the indicator for 28ac. The symmetrical equivalent is 44dn, which is only 5 letters, and the rest of the puzzle looks to have 180 degree symmetry.

[DocHH]

I'll drink to that turnerjmw! It's a Jameson!

[Christiana]

Good evening everyone. Yes, an enjoyable but easy enough romp. Agree entirely with turnerjmw, though at first I was deeply suspicious that our compiler was 'clowning' around. Not so, as it turns out. Perhaps a few 'bells' on our jesters might have increased the difficulty level.

[dr b]

Agree, this would have been easy even for a Spectator. I felt that the preamble was needlessly confusing, suggesting a potentially more interesting endgame (in fact there was no endgame at all, really). In what sense do we need to "consider" a revision of 16a in light of 3 and 29? It has no effect at all on the 3 unclued answers. Not worth the effort this week, though there was not much effort involved. So the DC may be empty but the grumpy corner is not!!

[midazolam]

3 down sums it up really.

If I am not mistaken this is Owzat's first in 10 years...

[Jogler]

It was certainly a bit of a doddle - sorry no puns in this corner tonight as we have been on the road all day. The advantage of an easy ride in the grid fill is that it doesn't tax the driver overmuch otherwise I think we would have been joining dr b in the slightly down in the mouth corner. Our corner of Yorkshire has become part of the lake district although we are trying to send it down to Dd as quickly as possible.

[devadolly]

Good Morning everyone. Didn't get a chance to look at the paper until firmly ensconsed with Ginger Mog and nothing on the box to doze in front of. Just rattled along a bit too easily, like drb I was trying to read too much into the preamble and nor do I see the point of 3d/29d. Will have to get a new Brewers though, mine seems to be a very odd edition that didn't have the requisite name in it.
Hello Christina, just thought I'd let you know, the 14 tons of apples left on the lawn have kept a flock of blackbirds (+ a few tame pheasants) happy all through the cold snap, only a few heavily pecked scraps left now and at one time Himself counted 25 B/Bs feeding from his 'hide' in the hen cabin.....perhaps I'll leave them all on the lawn this year!

[zita-green]

Good morning, DD. I've just finished this. Fairly rattled through it by my standards. My Brewer's is the concise copy which does not have 33d; think I'll have to invest in the complete one, too.

[DocHH]

Hello Devadolly,
I'm assuming you didn't understand the reference to "revised instruction" in the rubric, in reference to 3d/29d, which I believe is actually just a simplistic reference to the next line in one part of the work. Nice that you are feeding the blackbirds! BUT, doesn't cider feature on your use of un-needed apples!
Zita-green, Brewer's would have been a sensible addition to your list for Santa to deliver, looks as if you'll have to put it on a Birthday Present list now! That's how I got both Brewers and ODQ!

[Christiana]

Hi Devadolly. Sounds like an excellent idea to leave them all on the lawn. I've been doling some of my collected ones out and still have some to go, plus not sure if I'll actually get through the freezer full of the things in various guises. Might have a go at the cider at some time. Number 3 son took a load of the apples home to make cider from but it didn't sound like an unqualified success.

[turast]

My Brewer's (14th edition purchased 1991) doesn't have the name at 33dn, but I do enjoy TV dramas by somebody who sounds similar. I got a bit worried that it was all too easy and that I was missing something obvious. Under FOOLS Brewer's lists RAHERE (change some of 29d??). Also listed is PATCH, jester to Elizabeth, wife of Henry VII as in 32Ac . Started scouring the grid for SCOGAN, SOMERS, GEDDES etc. Got fed up. Remembered the Answerbank thread and thought, what's good enough for those guys is good enough for me. So sent it off with just 31d, 33d, & 43a highlighted.

[AndrewG-S]

Was there a requirement to highlight? I must remember to read the preamble more carefully.

[turast]

You are right Andrew G-S. There was no requirement to highlight. It just seemed the right thing to do. I agree with earlier comments about the preamble. A pointless kind of double bluff.

[AndrewG-S]

I wondered whether the setter had something more tricky in mind that got edited out, maybe because it did not quite work. I agree it was a little pointless in the form it was presented.