Crossword Bafflement

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 27 Dec 08 - 08:40 AM

I've just asked my wife - she does the Telegrsph crossword most days.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Genie
Date: 26 Dec 08 - 06:03 PM

Well, I'm still not convinced that "no answer" is the intended response. "No footed" makes as much or more sense to me and sounds more like an actual answer.
But by definition, the possible answers in a crossword puzzle are supposed to be limited by at least one letter having to also fit with an intersecting word.
Unless we can fill in at least one letter by way of an intersecting word, and without a factually correct answer (as with, say, an author's name or a geographic location), unless the puzzle maker tells us what he/she had in mind, there really is no clear answer. (That means that even "no answer" can't be definitively shown to be the intended answer.)

Without an intersecting word/clue, that thing about what's worse for a polar bear than being a southpaw isn't really a crossword puzzle clue. It's just a riddle of sorts.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Helen
Date: 26 Dec 08 - 02:06 PM

Sminky,

Thanks for the explanation. I think you are correct and the answer is "No answer". I didn't get it until you put it all together in "cryptic clue language".

Helen

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: banjoman
Date: 26 Dec 08 - 08:46 AM

Still working on it

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: banjoman
Date: 23 Dec 08 - 09:17 AM

I have just received an electronic Crossword Solver as a birthday present - when I entered the relevant information for this problem it displayed the message "No Answer" so draw your own conclusions. As for me I have spent too many sleepless nights agonising over this one so I am going to accept my crossword solvers answer and go away and enjoy Christmas although I may give it some thought in the new Year - a New year resolution to solve it once and for all perhaps??

Happy Christmas to crossworders and mud catters everywhere
Pete

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST,Slag
Date: 21 Dec 08 - 09:43 PM

Right maw. Solar flare. Dexter clawed. Sinister pawed? Worse, uh clawed? Ursa with bursa. Ask the nurse,uh. Is there a monetary reward posted for a correct answer and you are enlisting the Mudcats' combined creative abilities to come up with the correct answer? I take it that this is a "Brittish Crossword"? Bare with me. Ewe first. Snarled in rhyme again. Let me hibernate on it a while.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: banjoman
Date: 21 Dec 08 - 07:17 AM

Are we now saying that No Answer is NOT the answer - DAMN - more sleepless nights

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Riginslinger
Date: 20 Dec 08 - 09:38 PM

At least we know the parrot's got it!

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: CamiSu
Date: 20 Dec 08 - 01:28 AM

G Silver

I'm surprised no one has answered your riddle

On the bottom of the parrot's cage obIT!

That didn't take long! Just gotta keep your mind out of the gutter!

CamiSu

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Riginslinger
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 06:24 PM

Un-Thawed

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Mr Happy
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 09:13 AM

NO ANSWER=near snow?

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST, Sminky
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 09:00 AM

Sorry Raggy, just entering into the spirit of the 'wheeze'!

The deliberately annoying thing about all this is that it is impossible to prove. If we ask the perpetrators we will get 'no answer' (except perhaps under torture - hmmm... there's a tempting thought).

I suggest you confront the culprits next time you visit the place. Tell then you know the answer (but don't say what it is) and that it only took you 5 minutes to solve!

All the best to you too.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST,Raggytash
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 07:26 AM

Sminky I got your explanation but just found the result so unsatisfactory that I wondered if you had found another solution.

The whole thing is a tad poor to say the least, but I do appreciate your assistance with this.

Hope you and yours have a great Christmas & New Year

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: banjoman
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 07:22 AM

At last I mcan sleep peacefully - if that is the answer or no answer at all

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Bainbo
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 06:34 AM

I've got to say, Sminky, having tried to work it out, I was satisfied when you posted your solution on December 11 that you'd got it right. It's the one that makes the most sense, even if it is a bit of a cheat. It struck me that it was a bit like trying to find the hidden tiger in this picture.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST, Sminky
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 05:51 AM

Thanks Paul, at least somebody has got it.

I shouldn't be doing this. The whole 'joke' depends on giving no answer.

BUT, for one last time:

For a Polar Bear, worse than being left pawed

As I have explained above, this is not a 'correct' crossword clue in that it gives no hint as to what the solution is. It does not contain a definition. Therefore, however ingenious the attempts to solve the clue, one can never know if such a solution is correct. There is no answer.

One possible solution is as follows:

"a" = A

"Polar" = opposite extremes = North-South West-East = NSWE

Put these together to get ANSWE

"Bear" = def: take on, ie the above letters are contained by the following:

"worse than being left pawed" = having no right paw = No Right = NO R

Therefore put ANSWE into NOR. Result = NO ANSWER

That is a perfectly plausible solution to the clue, using well-established crossword-solving methods. Except that there is no definition, so we cannot know if it is correct (though it does give a strong hint). So let's see if the definition lies elsewhere.

Raggytash asks mine host and gets no answer. Notice that! The landlord doesn't say "I don't know" or "I'm not telling you" or "Work it out for yourself" - he gives no answer.

And there you have it. The definition is not contained in the clue, it lies in the reaction of those 'in the know'.

Now I realise there are people who will find that hard to accept, who remain convinced that the answer is 'in there somewhere' and will continue to rack their brains in an attempt to solve it. I wish them luck!

However, I'm afraid they are wasting their time. If there were a 'normal' solution to the clue we would have found it by now.

This whole exercise was intended to bamboozle and frustrate people - and, boy, it worked a treat!.

Sleep well everybody!

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Paul Burke
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 04:41 AM

He's given you his answer several times already. If he's right, it's a pretty poorly constructed conundrum.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST,Raggytash
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 04:06 AM

Come on Sminky do us all a favour if you know the answer please let us have it, there are now several people not sleeping at night or having anxiety attacks because of this. I feel a responsibility to these good people now as it twas I who started this thread, be a nice caring person and put us out of our misery !!

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 09:26 AM

I wonder if there's some Sarah Palin reference...

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 08:37 AM

And one may interpret "pawed" as the past tense of "paw". Thus, to be "left pawed" would mean to be "abandoned after having been molested". Note that in Raggytash's clue "left pawed" is two distinct words, not the compound "left-pawed", which is the form I would use if referring to one's preferrence for one paw over the other.

So, what's worse for a Polar Bear than being "abandoned after having been molested"?

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: BK Lick
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 01:53 AM

One may interpret "being left pawed" with "left" as the past participle of "leave."

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Genie
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 01:27 AM

But you wouldn't say "It's worse to be be killed than to be a south paw."
You WOULD say "It's worse to be no footed than to be a south paw." (Plus "No." is short for "north."

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: BK Lick
Date: 17 Dec 08 - 06:37 PM

To "be killed" or "be clawed" would be worse than being "left pawed."

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST,lox
Date: 17 Dec 08 - 07:07 AM

The first word (2 letters) is - for a polar bear

and the second (6 letters) is - worse than being left pawed


whaddaya say?

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST, Sminky
Date: 17 Dec 08 - 05:40 AM

Three people - I know the answer but I'm not saying (and that's a clue).

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST,Raggytash
Date: 17 Dec 08 - 04:26 AM

I believe only two people know the answer, the guy who put it up and his son and they are definately not saying.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST, Sminky
Date: 16 Dec 08 - 08:37 AM

Hmmmm....

OK, could you tell us what you meant by "if anyone there knows the solution they are not saying"?

Did they refuse to say - or did they simply not know (ie by saying "I don't know")? Exact words (or lack of them) is important.

Would it be possible to revisit the pub again?

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST,Raggytash
Date: 16 Dec 08 - 07:15 AM

Sminky I don't know the answer !!! That's why I thought I'd ask the good people on Mudcat because it's bugging me

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST, Sminky
Date: 15 Dec 08 - 06:46 AM

"some types of crossword puzzles use cryptic clues"

We are dealing with a cryptic clue here.

"usually not actual definitions"

No, but cryptic clues usually contain a definition of the answer along with all the other devices you mentioned that enable one to arrive at the solution. The trick is to identify which is the definition and which are the devices.

This one contains the devices, but no definition. It is therefore unsolvable. There is no answer. It is merely a series of devices which lead to:

NO + A + NSWE + R

And if you ask anyone in the know for the answer, they will not tell you because THE ANSWER IS 'NO ANSWER'.

Raggytash - if you're still there, you rascal (stop laughing!). We both know you can't give us the answer, for the reasons I've just given above. Could you at least confirm whether the correct answer appears somewhere in this thread? Thanks.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST,guest Genie
Date: 15 Dec 08 - 05:44 AM

Trouble with "un ursine" is that "un" isn't a word. At least not in English.
(In French it's an article, but "ursine" being an adjective, you wouldn't say "un ursine."

The "2,6" designation does not denote a hyphenated word, either, so even if you wrote "unursine" as "un-ursine," it wouldn't fit.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST,cookieless Genie
Date: 15 Dec 08 - 05:41 AM

Smirk, some types of crossword puzzles use cryptic clues, usually not actual definitions.
They may be sententences with the answer embedded as a hidden word. They may be puns or riddles or jokes. They may contain anagrams of the answer. They may contain the answer written backwards. Etc.

This particular clue is obviously not a definition. It's some sort of hint, but we're not sure.

: D

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: banjoman
Date: 15 Dec 08 - 05:21 AM

As a member of the Bear Family, the Polar bear is An Ursine so worse than being left pawed which most polar bears are, would to be - wait for it - UN URSINE
I think this is the most likely answer if this really is a crossword question
I.m now going to bed having, in my own mind anyway, solved the puzzle, unless of course anybody knows differently

pete

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST, Sminky
Date: 15 Dec 08 - 05:14 AM

Fiddling around to get the letters to give "No Answer" is OK - but there has to be something in a crossword clue that serves as the definition. And there isn't - so if that were the answer, it'd be a defective clue.

Exactly. A proper crossword clue would contain a definition. This one doesn't. It's not a proper crossword clue. It's hanging on a pub wall (why is that, do you think?).

Without a definition there can be no answer.
The clue evaluates to no answer.
The bar staff gave no answer.
Raggytash is not answering
He's laughing at you all.
So am I.
That's the whole purpose!

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Genie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 03:08 PM

No handed or no footed.   (Actually bears don't have hands in the first place ... )

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Helen
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 02:17 PM

A South-Paw is a left handed person. Worse than being South-Pawed would be no-handed, i.e. it would be worse to have no hands at all than to be left (or right) handed.

A Polar Bear lives in the north = "no", which is the opposite of south. Pawed (in this context) is "handed".

??

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Genie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 01:19 PM

Amos, the answer's supposed to be 2 words (2, 6), not an 8-letter word or hyphenated one.
A term like "no pawed" can be written with or without the hyphen (I'm seeing hyphen usage on the decline these days) but a term like "declawed" is never two words. : D

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Amos
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 11:58 AM

uncoated

unsealed

No Kyotos

de-furred

unfurred

northpaw

You know what--I find thinking like a polar bear to be an exhausting effort!!

Is there no peace?


A

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST,BanjoRay
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 11:45 AM

What was the pub called?

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: banjoman
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 08:41 AM

Its getting worse each day - will someone please rid me of my misery and come up with the right answer

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Leadfingers
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 10:10 PM

But I WILL grab a 100

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Leadfingers
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 10:09 PM

I've given up worrying about it

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Acorn4
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 08:39 PM

Is there any significance in the Polar Bear being in capitals?

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Genie
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 08:07 PM

Amos, you're right that "the one thing worse for a polar bear than being left-pawed would be being no-pawed.   2, 6 answers such as "no footed" and "no legged" have been suggested, and I still think they make the most sense. But, again, how will we know when we've found the answer the crossword puzzle creator had in mind?

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: MartinRyan
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 03:39 PM

left = "abandoned"?

Regards

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 03:16 PM

But being left-pawed is no kind of disadvabtage to a Polar Bear in the first place.

Fiddling around to get the etters to give "No Answer" is OK - but there has to be something in a crossword clue that serves as the definition. And there isn't - so if that were the answer, it'd be a defective clue.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Amos
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 02:28 PM

The one thing worse for a polar bear than being left-pawed, it seems to me, would be to be no pawed, but that's 2,5. No-clawed, de-clawed or unclawed would work.


A

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 01:43 PM

Grit - Easy:-)

How about 'To egg on' 5 letters.

A - Toast

or

African Drum 3,3

A - Mud hut

finaly

Aquatic mammal 5,3

A - Ships cat

All genuine suggestions at the local pub!

DeG

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 01:41 PM

Sorry Ebbie wrong answer but close LOL

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Ebbie
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 01:29 PM

I know the answer to that, GS- parrots SPIT.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 03:01 AM

How about...."Found on the bottom of a bird cage".. the answer has four letters ending in IT.