dtgk 17/5

[ygdrasil]

6d is surely wrong?
The only possible answer is mustard gas, yet Owen quite clearly refers to " a green sea" in which the soldier "drowns" which I have always understood to mean chlorine gas. . .
Any experts out there to clarify?

[Tichfield]

The writer here says the poem refers to a Mustard Gas attack.

http://british-poetry.suite101.com/article.cfm /owens_dulce_et_decorum_est

[pusspuss]

it is the way the question is put,
6d, mustard gas
i would have thought it was chlorine gas

[ygdrasil]

Just because it is in a book I don't automatically believe it.Ms Grimes cites no military references to support the assertion that it is mustard gas - and reference to Owen's text and the other answer to my question suggest to me that chlorine (not as well known as mustard gas but still used) wouldhave been the correct answer. I think that because mustard gas is the well known corrosive a lot of commentators automatically assume that is what Owen is writing about. I wonder if John Stallworthy or someone at IWM can sttel this?

[ygdrasil]

Having gone back to the Linda Grimes article again, I would not out a lot of faith in it.At the end she says that Owen "probably" witnessed a similar event, when it is well known that he wrote this (and other painfully precise poems) at Craiglockhart when being treated for shellshock, precisely because he had definitely witnessed such events.

[Tichfield]

For goodness sake, this is just a crossword clue.

You would be forgiven for thinking that it was a life and death issue (if you will excuse the pun).

[ygdrasil]

Tetchy!
It does matter, actually. Otherwise, what is history? We might as well make it up as we go along and say so what about original sources etc. Although there is a school of thought that says we do that already. It is also a timely reminder that what it says on the net is not gospel either and that it is only right and proper to question the bona fides of informants. Next time a builder knocks on your door and tells you that your roof is dodgy I wonder how much you would believe THAT without checking!

[Tichfield]

If I wanted to check out historical facts I certainly would not bother looking at a crossword puzzle to get the answers I needed.

Whilst it is apparently important to you, it does not matter to me if a crossword compiler makes a mistake.

Maybe you make mistakes, every so often, too?

[rajbury]

I think it does matter if a competition crossword compiler makes a mistake....after all, if we get just one letter of one clue wrong, our submission will be rejected. I think the compiler who is getting paid should get things spot on!

[ygdrasil]

Tichfield: We must agree to differ as you will never convince me that matters of accuracy are petty and of no account, and you obviously find me nit-picking! I can only say that if you find my views/website consultations/motivation offensive then the simple solution is do not engage with it. No one forces you to.
As so much in life depends on trusting the accuracy of other people who prove unreliable(utility bills, tax codes, examination results, drug doses) I will continue on my sceptical way. I would also agree with rajbury that cross word compilers get paid for being accurate and that should one enter a competition, an inaccurate answer would be judged as that! It's a matter of professional pride, after all.

[Catron]

Chlorine gas doesn't fit - mustard gas does. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the question, there is absolutely no chance of mustard gas being judged as incorrect as far as this crossword is concerned. Pettiness personified ygdrasil.

[ygdrasil]

What a shame some people cannot read/understand plain English. I KNOW that mustard gas is the answer that fits, being able to extrapolate from the letters in place that this is the answer Ms Mepham wants. However, her example in quoting "Dulce et Decorum Est" is plain wrong as Owen refers to chlorine gas.
Would Catron think attention to detail silly if the matter under discussion was how much FEC was being given to a cancer patient? If I am"pettiness personified", so be it and I question why someone as lofty minded as Catron would waste the time engaging in matters so trivial. But as they say "there's nowt so queer as folks" and who am I to ponder?

[Catron]

It's a crossword clue! Nobody is going to die from it! This is YOUR thread ygdrasil - if you have nothing better to do than moan about a mistake in a crossword clue, then you are a very very sorry individual who has to learn to get life's priorities in the right order. Nobody is forcing you to do the crossword or even buy the Telegraph. Nowt so queer as folk - quite true and you have proved it with this nonsense. Goodbye ygdrasil - I hope I never have the misfortune of seeing another petty question from you.

[ygdrasil]

I have learned nothing new about Wilfred Owen, but I appear to have mined a rich seam of pique that has given me a great deal of amusement on which I will sign off before leaving you to parp into cyber space unanswered.

Read what you have written Catron, without any sense of irony at all ,about sad individuals!T rue indeed it is my thread; no one forced you to enter it, no one forced you to respond and you seem to have plenty of time on your hands to do so with an increasing tone of annoyance. And I am pettiness personified etc. . . My kids read this and said "(S)he is the one needing to get a life".

Your attitude to accuracy and the need for it (even in small things) also illuminates why I keep getting direct debits changed without being informed ("it doesn't matter". "Well actually it does, and refusal to do so breaks a legal contract"). It also explains why the cancer patients I deal with all too frequently complain that their well being and even lives have been put at risk by "health professionals" who have either not read their notes, didn't understand what was in them or decided to ignore them anyway. It explains holocaust deniers and many other things that have quite puzzled me.

Does any of it matter? I would say so.
As a parent, I know that good habits are formed by training and repetition and consistency. At one time in business TQM (get it right first time, every time as mistakes cost) was the mantra. Times have obviously changed and not for the better.

You have your view. I have mine. I am not going to change and I hope you never have need to do so.

Byeeeee! This is the end of the correspondence.