ev 882

[MatydaLover]

I guess the title gives the numeric specificity?

[novalis]

Hi MatydaLover!

Would agree with you. Quite accessible for one of Oxymoron's but would have been more "entertaining" had we not been told which letter to omit from the across answers! I was a little fortunate as I knew both quotations from the ( very ) dim and distant past.

[dr b]

Hey all. I never did quite figure out all the instructions in the preamble regarding "numerically specific meanings", but then again I didn't really need to. This was a challenger, I thought, simply because you need to work exclusively with the across clues until you have enough entered to make a stab at Q1 and get a sense of the patterns for entering the down clues. Once the light dawned re: the Q's, the normal down clues, and the pattern of the down clues, the rest was a breeze. I was probably not helped because I was trying to do it while watching the St Louis Cardinals clinch their (baseball) division championship. Woo hoo!!! (**crickets chirping**) Well, it's a big deal over here.

Lovely fall day here in Old St. Lou; an afternoon of yard work awaits! Woo hoo!!

[MatydaLover]

Yes, it was unusually helpful to tell us which letter to omit; normally expect to work that out for oneself! A glorious few days here too ... just right for getting the bikes out to pick a few more blackberries. The only cloud is the BBC's failure to rpovide a commentary from South Africa (the English sort of cricket).

[copelander]

Evening, all. I found that quite "entertaining" enough, Novalis and MatydaLover, without having to work out which letters to omit. A beautiful day here(N.I.) too.

[turnerjmw]

I thought it was a very well constructed puzzle, though 27dn raised a chuckle, and an eyebrow. Had we not been told which letters to omit it would have been a cracker, well up to Listener standard. That's not a complaint, because it might have been harder than the editor wished, which is fair enough. Good fun, all the same

[ringer]

Morning all
Looks as if I'm surrounded by candidates for the CC corner (clever clogs for the uninitiated). Still trying to make sense of the across clues, let alone attempt the downs. Dingy day here - good job it's mild as we are having our patio door replaced!

[novalis]

Hi Ringer!

Without trying to give anything away but to try to help you get going --- unlike the person there, don't lose your head about 2/19 down.

[devadolly]

Hello all - only done about 6 of them and I should be in DC licking my wounds. DC fully stocked with goodies for you ringer.
Beloved senior dog died in 'hospital' in the night after a very quickly developing mammary gland tumour and diabetes which allowed a massive infection before she could be stabilised for the op. All happened within about 3 weeks. Junior dog as upset as us and now has to assume total responsibility, the spollie (springer spaniel who thinks she is a collie) just doesn't know what to do for the best. She is buried in the fields she loved so much along with her predecessors, I would take solace in hiding away with the EV except it just has to be Mr O who flummoxes me and reduces me to mental stuttering so will go and hack the beans down instead.

[novalis]

Hi DEvadolly!

Sorry to hear about your beloved senior dog. Seek solace in hacking the beans then make a "beginning" on EV.

[Christiana]

Thought I'd say hi. Like Devadolly I find Oxymoron a trial. Have at least made a 'beginning' Novalis, mainly because I have most of the bottom half of the puzzle but very little at the top, but will try not to lose my head and press on for a while.
So sorry to hear about your senior dog, Devadolly. I experienced a similar thing recently with a 'middle-of-the-night cat crisis, which also ended in tears.

[ringer]

Daylight has dawned and now have a completed grid, although I too can't understand all the instructions re numerically specific. Am sorry to hear about your dog, devadolly. A colleague has also lost his dog this week - and it was only 7 years old. Won't need to sulk in DC but happy to keep you company. If you've got a few of the letters from 15/7 try putting them into the Universal Crossword Solver without any gaps. It really helped me.

[MLN:RUGBY]

Ringer:
In your 2 quotations, replace each interchanged word with the title, you are then told numerically what you have just done to the affected answers! Hope that makes sense! :-)

[novalis]

Hi Christiana!

As you have your "beginning" look it up in the headword index of a Dictionary of Quotations. That will help you with 2/19 and 15/7.