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hector

14th December 2008, 18:40
If quietest is the answer - 18a in DT 25,799 - how does it tie in with the clue?
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fi

14th December 2008, 18:44
The Quietest is the one making least sound!
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hector

14th December 2008, 19:10
I can see that, but what is the question mark doing at the end of the clue? Also, the \'least sound\' - at least the \'sound\' part of it - is a noun whereas quietest is an adjective. The quietest is of course a noun but the \'quietest\' is not the \'least sound\', unless, as you suggest, you introduce thwe word \'making\'. I feel there must be, or ought to be, a deeper level of subtlety involved which I have not yet spotted. Otherwise I think it is a poor clue. Any thoughts? Hector





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hector

14th December 2008, 20:15
Fi,
My opening words \"I can see that\" in reply to your response look like a put-down which it was not meant to be. I should have put in the word \'bit\' or \'much\' after \'that\' or written it differently, or phrased my original question a bit more fulsomely. Apologies. Thank you for replying anyway. Someone in another thread implied that he thought this Saturday\'s DT clues were not as good as usual, and I too feel that some of the clues could have been more interesting. Perhaps he or she was in a hurry; eg 11a and 12a have dots at the end of one and the beginning of the next as though they are connected, whereas the only connection I can see is the word \'ship\'. In the traditions of crossword compiling shouldn\'t the connection be a little firmer than that? Anyway, although I\'ve been at them on and off for forty years there are very few I have ever finished, until, that is, I discovered this site! Regards, Hector
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the doctor

15th December 2008, 11:38
Hector. You are quite at liberty to query the validity of some clues, but I find, like life in general, that not all things are exactly as we would wish to find them. I personally am extremely grateful that crossword compilers are out there: it is not something to which I could readily turn my hand. The solutions are either to shun those publications which dissatisfy you, and/or to shrug off the occasional iffy clue. Try to be positive about the enormous amount of pleasure you hopefully and generally derive from this pastime.
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hector

15th December 2008, 23:29
Doctor,

One of the drawbacks of this site is that I have yet to find a way to view the message I am replying to whilst replying to it - I have to remember what you wrote whilst writing this and I have such a poor memory. Done it - I have opened a second window and can now see what you have written. Yes, I can easily forget to be grateful for what is there. Although I would like to I cannot do The Times crosswords for the clues are too obscure so I will be sticking to the Telegraph which over the years - along with the Sunday Times as I knew it thirty years ago - has the sort of clues I like. I felt some of Saturday's clues were out of character. However I still feel sure that there is more to Least sound? = quietest than the suggestion put forward by Fi that the quietest is the one who makes least sound. There has to be, I believe, another level of meaning there to tie it all together. As someone who has spent most of his adult life as a maths teacher I have been immersed in something which is not like life in general insofar that it is perfect and everything does fit together, so I expect that of real life too and of course you are right to point out that life in general is not perfect. Thank you. Regards, Hector
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