Crossword Bafflement

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Genie
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 02:05 AM

The thing is, we may have already come up with the answer the puzzle maker had in mind.   Haven't had any "Aha! Of course!" reactions to any yet, but there are a handful that seem plausible.
Unless the answers are to be found somewhere, how would we know we haven't already mentioned it?

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: banjoman
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 05:54 AM

reminds me of an old childrens puzzle - If it takes a week to walk a fortnight then how long will ot take a spider with no legs to crawl through a pot of jam backwards?

Answer is - A Lemon - why? Suck it and see

No wiser?

" No Answer" is not an answer to the clue given about the Polar bear- If it ever appeared in a crossword then the answer has to be something a Polar bear could be
Despite my last message to say I have given up, I have lain awake trying to sort this one out, and will now make it my life's one ambition after I officially retire and become a member of the senior citizens club on Saturday.
Keep thinking - its good for the old grey cells
Pete

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Ebbie
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 11:53 AM

This reminds me uncomfortably of, when in a newsletter that I do, I presented the riddle of what "other words" end in 'gry'. I didn't know the answer - the question had come to me via email - but I knew the Mudcat would give me the answer well before the next newsletter.

Well. Turned out that the question was a widely circulated one- and was a hoax.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST, Sminky
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 11:43 AM

...and Raggytash gave the game away when he wrote:

...and if anyone there knows the solution they are not saying

Precisely! There must be no answer.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST, Sminky
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 11:24 AM

The clue never appeared in any crossword.

It only 'works' if people have to ask someone else what the solution is (eg by hanging it on a pub wall).

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Jeri
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 09:57 AM

"This is not actually part of a crossword but a crossword clue in a frame in a local pub..."

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: wysiwyg
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 09:51 AM

Can't raggy give us a link to the puzzle?!?!?!?

~S~

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST, Sminky
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 08:18 AM

There is no answer?

The answer IS 'no answer' - and it gives the pub staff the opportunity to give 'no answer' when asked.

I'm prepared to bet that when Raggytash asked the bar staff for the solution, he got a shrug of the shoulders or a shake of the head ie NO ANSWER.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: SINSULL
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 08:01 AM

There is no answer? I am to go to my grave not knowing?

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST, Sminky
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 06:35 AM

W and E aren't poles

Not geographical ones, true, but:

"characterized by opposite extremes; completely opposed;"

The biggest clue of all is that this is hanging on a pub wall.

Remember the "IITYWYBMAP" sign that (hopefully) has now disappeared from our local hostelries? The unsuspecting punter would ask the barmaid what it meant - she would answer "If I tell you will you buy me a pint?". Muggins replies "Yes" and all the regulars split their sides laughing. Because she had told him.

I reckon this is the same. Punter asks "What's the answer to that clue". Barmaid replies "No answer". Punter slopes off dejected, unaware that he's been told the answer!

That's my theory anyway.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: banjoman
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 06:26 AM

Now I am totally confused - some would say thats par for the course for a banjo player- and I have given up. Please keep this thread active so if the answer is ever found we may all sleep in peace.
Have a great Christmas
Pete

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Paul Burke
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 06:17 AM

W and E aren't poles.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST, Sminky
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 06:09 AM

....and then I realised it wasn't an anagram after all!

But then what about this:

A + [N + S + W + E ("polar")]

carry ("bear") NO R (no right - "worse than being left pawed")

= NO ANSWER

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST,Raggytash
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 06:08 AM

Sminky, thats the best guess to date!

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 04:56 AM

Wysiwig:
postman's large satchel = mailbag?

Nice response! presumably Skipy was hoping someone would ask "How many letters"!

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST, Sminky
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 04:42 AM

Maybe the answer is NO ANSWER!

I wrote this down in jest, then realised it's actually an anagram of A + N(polar) + WORSE.

Hmmmm.....

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Terry McDonald
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 04:18 AM

Now that makes a difference! I took 'local' to be a newspaper.

Anyway, it suddenly struck me that 'polar' and 'bear' could be astronomical as in pole star and the great bear constellation, but I still can't get an answer that fits or works!

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST,Raggytash
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 03:51 AM

This is not actually part of a crossword but a crossword clue in a frame in a local pub and if anyone there knows the solution they are not saying

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Genie
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 07:47 PM

Yeah, we did, Ebbie. It was on my list.
I just couldn't come up with what seemed to be a fitting 6-letter noun to go with it.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Ebbie
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 07:30 PM

Except in passing, no one seems to have mentioned 'an'. Since it would indicate the next word would begin with a vowel, might that help?

Where is Raggytash? Holed up somewhere no doubt, laughing maniacally.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Genie
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 07:22 PM

I don't think it indicates even that, McGrath. I can't figure out any embedded words, anagrams, or backwards words from that clue that also fit the 2,6 format and the sense of the clue.   No reason to think there needs to be a "p" in there at all.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 07:15 PM

Remember there's no reason to assume the "Polar" bit is anything other than an indication that there is a "p" in there somewhere.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 06:56 PM

postman's large satchel = mailbag?

~S~

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: skipy
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 06:55 PM

I'm stuck on    "postman's large satchel"    help needed
Skipy

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Genie
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 02:38 PM

Sorry, McGrath. I did include "at" in my initial list. It could be something like "at dinner."

But how could it be a conjunction like "or?"

The clue pretty clearly indicates we're looking for something a polar bear could BE. That means the 2-word phrase would have to serve as a noun (e.g., "an animal") or an adjective (e.g., "so stupid").   The 2-letter word has to be a preposition (e.g., "at") or an article ("an) or an adjective (e.g., "my") or an adverb (e.g., "so").

So that pretty much eliminates two-letter words like these (unless it's some weird pun):
be
do
go
hi
he
it
if
is
lo
me
or
us
we
ye

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: katlaughing
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 02:25 PM

Did someone already guess "un handed?" I know, I know, they aren't separate! Arrgghhh!

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Genie
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 02:13 PM

Sorry, Raggy, I realize you were the stumped puzzle-worker, not Ebbie.

"For a Polar Bear, worse than being left pawed" (2,6)

I've tried all the tricks generally used in this type of puzzle: anagrams ("polar bear" and "left pawed" both wrong # of letters), embedded words (none), backwards words (nope), puns and jokes. I think the answer has to be one of the latter two, but I can't think of one better than a couple that have already been suggested (no footed, no handed, in Norway, on notice).

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 02:05 PM

There's also or, at and Al.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Genie
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 02:00 PM

I imagine a lot of us thought of "bipolar" but not only is it the wrong number of letters, it's seldom even spelled with a hyphen, much less separated as two words.

"Unheated" is also one word.   

Ebbie, where did you find this crossword? Is it published somewhere that we might find online?

Here are all the 2-letter words that I think could be the first word (with examples of 6-letter nouns or adjectives that I'm sure aren't the right ones):

as (stupid) (hungry)
an (Eskimo)
by (walrus)
go (getter)
in (hunger)
my (sister) (dinner)
no (footed) (handed) (clawed)
on (notice)
of (origin) (Juneau)
so (stupid) (numbed)
up (stream)

A few other two-letter words might possibly fit by use of some really bad pun:
he
ho
lo
to
re

But I doubt it.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Ebbie
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 01:18 PM

humph :)

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST, Sminky
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 12:47 PM

declawed is a single eight-letter word - we're looking for two (unhyphenated) words of 2 and 6 letters.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Ebbie
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 11:31 AM

Hmmmmm. Dictionary gives the word without a hyphen: "declawed"

Sounds right to me.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: SINSULL
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 11:28 AM

Could be a weekly

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: PoppaGator
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 11:26 AM

Isn't about time for an answer? (I'm assuming that the newspaper, or whatever periodical where the puzzle appeared, provides solutions the next day or next issue...)

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: GUEST, Sminky
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 10:57 AM

How about IN NORWAY

NO - (R)ight - WAY

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 10:52 AM

I suppose we could go for "on notice"
i.e. having had a warning, or, on something which is not-ice!

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 10:45 AM

There are some businesses (can't remember which at the moment) who advertise on the crossword pages with a single line crossword clue, so Raggy may not have any intersecting letters.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Terry McDonald
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 09:42 AM

Good Lord! Do you have a date for that Gnomad?

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: gnomad
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 09:28 AM

The cartoon is, I guess, this one. Funnily enough I was quite sure that there had been a Punch cartoon around the 1920s with the same basic idea, though doubtless a different actual caption. I haven't traced it yet.

I'm still baffled by the idea of a crossword with no letters. Raggy usually only admits a problem when the puzzle is almost completed, which means blanks will have been filled. What gives?

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Terry McDonald
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 08:49 AM

I remember 'Any news of the iceberg' as a cartoon by Bill Tidy in the late 1950s/early 1960s. It depicted a crowd outside a shipping office obviouslt enuiring about relatives whilst a man with a polar bear on a chain asked the slightly different one.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: SINSULL
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 08:14 AM

I think de-clawed is right.

Any news of the iceberg - LOL. And besides that how did you enjoy the play, Mrs. Lincoln?

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Jeri
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 08:05 AM

Bi-polar might be a good choice, if 'polar' had 6 letters.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 07:58 AM

bugger... I hate maths.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: kendall
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 07:56 AM

..any news of the ice berg.. that is so funny! Les Barker, right?

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: banjoman
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 07:50 AM

I spent hours trying to sort this one - almost all of the suggestions make sense and I came up with a few more including No Better Un Heated and No Handed but I think the last one (Bi Polar) is about the best. Can anyone find a copy of this crossword as it would be easier to work from the original

Pete

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Paul Burke
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 03:08 AM

Hyphens are usually clued, as in (6-2) rather than (6,2).

I suggest "bi-sexual"- a bi-polar bear is worse than a polar bear, and "pawed" has a clear connection with sexuality.

Tam, 5+4=9, even in Colchester.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 02:10 AM

Sometimes you can sort the letter order of one or more words in the clue to come up with the answer. I would guess Polar Bear are the words to be sorted as they are capitalised and they add up to 8 (2,6) letters.

How many 2 letter words can be derived from Polar Bear? What is left over?

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Cluin
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 01:55 AM

Apparently, all polar bears are left handed. When stalking prey on the ice, a polar bear draws his right paw across his black nose, hiding his primary dark body part, the better to successfully sneak up on his next meal. (Some polar bears also squeeze their eyes almost closed, for even more complete camouflage.) Then, the bear batters his lunch to death with his stronger, dominant, left paw.

But one unfortunate polar bear did not get with the program. This bear, when stalking prey, would begin to cover his nose with his left paw while raising his right paw for the kill then suddenly become all confused and flustered. He'd begin to switch paws, often whacking himself painfully in the nose with his ready-for-action right paw in the process. By this time, lunch was usually several ice floes away. One observer theorized that this particular bear probably did not survive long, again lending credence to the theory of natural selection.

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Cluin
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 01:42 AM

de clawed

Subject: RE: Crossword Bafflement
From: Ebbie
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 01:05 AM

OK, let's look at this logically. Quote: "For a Polar Bear, worse than being left pawed"

If being 'left pawed' is the norm for a polar bear, then it is not bad, so saying it's "even worse" makes no sense.

If 'left' is the key, it could denote being abandoned, i.e. left behind.

If 'pawed' is the key, then it may refer to an enemy - but hey, a polar bear doesn't have an enemy in its natural habitat. Except for man.

If 'left pawed' is meant to evoke a left-brain, right-brain thought process...?

Anything help?

Oh, Raggytash? Come back.