Seven Days Crossword

[tollview]

Look with disdain -e-a-c-

[factor-fiction]

Are you sure all the letters are right

[writesbad]

answered before: askance

[Quizmonkey]

Can't be askance, unless the clue's wrong. Askance is an adj or adv - the clue is asking for a verb.

[factor-fiction]

It isn't necessarily a verb- could mean " a disdainful look"

[writesbad]

Of course you are right, QM. But some modern setters do not trouble themselves with the need for congruency in parts of speech!
W :-)

[factor-fiction]

Soory QM- I misread your post

[factor-fiction]

^ oops- sorry

[Quizmonkey]

Factor: a very rare usage that the setter would hardly be aware of or want to use.
Writesbad: I fear you're right. As a (cryptic) setter myself, I know what I'd like to do to such 'setters'...

[factor-fiction]

Askance does seem just about okay to me though for this clue. Look with disdain = to look askance

a·skance (-skns) also a·skant (-sknt)
adv.
1. With disapproval, suspicion, or distrust: "The area is so dirty that merchants report the tourists are looking askance" (Chris Black).
2. With a sideways glance; obliquely.

[Quizmonkey]

No, the clue is 'LOOK with disdain' so the answer MUST be a verb. If he wanted to define 'askance' the clue would have to be 'with disdain'. Sorry, but the clue is categorically wrong.

[douglas9401]

Maybe, but the answer's right.

[Quizmonkey]

The poster who didn't get the point...

[writesbad]

Pax vobis, amici. Perhaps the Seven Days Crossword does not aspire to the rigorous grammatical standards of, say the TLS

[factor-fiction]

If the clue had been "a look with disdain" would that have been acceptable, Quizmonkey?"

[Quizmonkey]

No, because there's no such think as 'an askance', ie. askance is not a noun. The part of speech MUST match to be a sound clue. Askance is an adjective or adverb, so acceptable definitions are things like: sideways; awry; with disdain, etc. You could also say something clumsy like 'How you might look with disdain'.

[writesbad]

Hi F30
If you parse the clue, it is a verb (look) with a qualifying adverbial phrase (with disdain).
Similarly, A look of disdain would be a noun with an indefinite article and a qualifying adjectival phrase.
QM therefore reasonably expects the answer to be a verb or a noun.
Askance is an adverb or adjective.
It is a poorly-drafted clue which reflects current trends in English as she is spoke!
All the best. w :-)

[factor-fiction]

Maybe the dictionary entries I provided are not reliable but they say askance means
1. With disapproval, suspicion, or distrust: "The area is so dirty that merchants report the tourists are looking askance" (Chris Black).
2. With a sideways glance; obliquely.
So if askance means 'with disapproval", which corresponds to "with disdain"
then the setter could reasonably assume that 'look askance' means "look with disdain"

[writesbad]

Yes! But "Look" is part of the whole clue, so the answer might have been "gaze askance"
The two good illustrations you provide are both an adverbial use of askance.

[factor-fiction]

Yes I see the point.
Maybe it was a double definition then.
Look = askance (meaning 2: With a sideways glance; obliquely)
With disdain = askance (meaning 1: With disapproval, suspicion, or distrust"

[Quizmonkey]

Not sure why you're not getting this, Factor...