English Chess Forum

Kevin Thurlow wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 07, 2020 12:24 pm

"I'm intrigued by mention of that 3-2-1 show (which never made it to NZ TV). Can anyone provide a specimen clue or two?"

Here's one... (Dusty Bin was the useless prize)

"For example, a wishbone brought on by Sonny Hayes came with the clue "Take one that never changes, add a pub and a precious stone, bring them all up-to-date, and now, you're on your own.", which the contestants rejected hoping it referred to Dusty Bin. Rogers' explanation of the clue was: "'Take one that never changes', well, that could be Dusty Bin which of course is where you might throw a wishbone. 'Add a pub and a precious stone', well, that doesn't point to Dusty. 'Bring them all up-to-date, and now you're on your own.'. Well, what about the wishbone? Sonny said 'a large wishbone', so what might a large wishbone come from? Something larger than a chicken. Turkey, maybe? Now, 'one that never changes.' is a constant, a pub can also be an inn, there's a lot of precious stones but how many go with 'constant inn'? How about opal? Yes, Constantinople, up to date, the pride of Turkey, you've rejected a 3–2–1 holiday!".

MJMcCready wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 07, 2020 5:22 pm

Someone should make a chess cryptic crossword, it would drive most players mad, me included. Even when I was living in the states briefly my partner back then was a huge fan of the NY Times Crossword. I could do some of that but not much as it became progressively harder as the week days rolled on, Friday being the hardest crossword of the week. There was one clue that had her stumped which I will never forget. I can't remember the number of the clue so I shall improvise that, it went: 13. (6)

John Clarke wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:36 pm

Try this on for size, folks: "Nice keyboardist is worried - sort him out, grandmaster." (5)

John Clarke wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:35 pm

MJMcCready wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 07, 2020 5:22 pm

Someone should make a chess cryptic crossword, it would drive most players mad, me included. Even when I was living in the states briefly my partner back then was a huge fan of the NY Times Crossword. I could do some of that but not much as it became progressively harder as the week days rolled on, Friday being the hardest crossword of the week. There was one clue that had her stumped which I will never forget. I can't remember the number of the clue so I shall improvise that, it went: 13. (6)

Hmm! I think I'd need letters from intersecting lights* to get that one. Reminds me of a clue I once saw in the Telegraph cryptic,when I was cutting my solving teeth as a mid-teen: "This mark!" (11,4).

Incidentally, MJ's clue as displayed has only one blank space between the "13." and the "(6)"- that's how the software on here seems to work: no matter how many blanks you type into your "copy", only one is ever shown. But if you hit the quote-mark symbol at top right of the post, you'll see a lot more blank spaces (10 in all) were originally included - and that could be critical to finding the answer. Which could be "blanks".

* Cruciverbalists' term for the rows or columns of white squares you write answers into.

Geoff Chandler wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 09, 2020 1:47 pm

Hi MJM,

Over at Red Hot Pawn I've been composing chess crosswords for years.

Back by popular demand another crossword. Answer the clues and the shaded boxes will reveal the name of a famous chess player.




answers here! (don't cheat!)

https://www.dailychess.com/chess-blog/t ... d-trap.310