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brendan

26th September 2026, 14:05
Haven't started this yet, but did have a cursory glance at some of the clues and came across a wonderful term used in falconry, and it made me wonder - what is the origin of these ultra niche terms?

For those interested it's:

How oath can become this loud summons (6, 2 words)

The wordplay produces an extra letter not required for the answer.
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brendan

26th September 2026, 14:08
Ps. The term I'm referring to is NOT the answer but rather one I stumbled upon while trying to solve it.
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malone

26th September 2026, 14:25
Brendan, you'll need to return later and tell me what the falconry term is. I've come up with nothing!
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jono

26th September 2026, 14:43
I’m not doing the puzzle but I found the falconry term. But isn’t it three words?
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brendan

26th September 2026, 14:46
Hi Malone,

If memory serves, you use an actual Chambers dictionary rather than the app - if I'm wrong please let me know.

This is relevant because, once you've identified what type of clue it is in regards to solving, the app allows you to go through all the options by removing and then replacing the potential extra letter. In these type of clues I always start by removing the final letter first, and then if that doesn't work, try the penultimate letter etc. until I see the answer. In this instance the falconry term appeared before the actual answer. Obviously, this solving techniques is not available if one is using the hardback edition rather than the app
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jono

26th September 2026, 14:47
…oh, I now see you say the term is not the answer, so it doesn’t need to be two words per the clue.

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brendan

26th September 2026, 14:48
Hi Jono,

Yes, it's 3 words but I want suggesting it as a possible solution, but solely because it's such an odd looking term and I'm curious how these come into existence.
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jono

26th September 2026, 14:52
Yes, thanks Brendan, it’s interesting and I’ve discovered that Shakespeare used it in the Merchant of Venice.
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malone

26th September 2026, 14:53
Thanks, Brendan, yes, I'm a bookish person! I'll go off to play with the letters anyway...


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brendan

26th September 2026, 15:00
Thanks Malone, I was pretty sure you are 'old school' but wasn't certain, so thanks for the confirmation. It's worth persevering because it's a lovely term.

Thanks Jono, that's very interesting - trust the Bard to come up trumps... again:-)
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