The Cryptic Countdown Forummers Comp

[Chris Corby]

Okay, we have been talking about cryptic crosswords a lot lately, so I have compiled ten clues where each answer is the name of a member of this illustrious forum. Each answer has at least two words, first name and surname. I cannot tell you the numbers of letters in each word otherwise it will be too easy. Two points available for each correct answer: 1 point for the full name, the other point for a few words as to how you arrived at the answer (Max 20).

To enter the competition, email me - by using the PM box under the avatar - with as many answers as you can. The prize will be the chance to visit the birthplace of one of Countdown's greats, Jonathan Paul Corby, so get fathoming.

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1 In the cinema, Sid meets Ben about a couple of pounds.
2 Claim he arranged for top bricklayer.
3 Small part of Devon? Beds.? Another county altogether!
4 Brand new start in Northamptonshire.
5 Water container with Lavender – that sounds like Steve Lawrence's wife!
6 Calendar featuring an open area.
7 An old night watchman uses so much paper!
8 Nelson's jar – a rum mixture!
9 One layer of gloss paint? Just the opposite, we hear.
10 Dick brain? It fits to a 'T' inside him!

[Ben Wilson]

Next time I read the rules.

[Jon Corby]

The prize will be the chance to visit the birthplace of one of Countdown's greats, Jonathan Paul Corby, so get fathoming.

Dad, we've spoken about you luring people to my old bedroom.

And Ben, I think you're meant to email your answers, not publicly announce them

[Joseph Bolas]

Nice clues Chris. I have e-mailed you my results.

I am confident of 8 of my answers , I guessed one with a bit of reasoning and just completely guessed the clue left over (you can probably guess which one that is ).

[Chris Corby]

Nice clues Chris. I have e-mailed you my results.

I am confident of 8 of my answers , I guessed one with a bit of reasoning and just completely guessed the clue left over (you can probably guess which one that is ).

Nice work Joseph. I had a lot of answers without giving the reasoning so your score out of 20 is 7.

[Chris Corby]

Please note that I have edited Clue 4 as I thought of a better one!

[M. George Quinn]

I'm stuck on 4 & 6

[Chris Corby]

I'm stuck on 4 & 6

15.5 out of 20 (half point because you only saw how half of one of the clues was arrived at) but that is very good indeed mate. Haven't I made Clue 4 easier now for you by altering it slightly?

[Joseph Bolas]

Nice work Joseph. I had a lot of answers without giving the reasoning so your score out of 20 is 7.

Oops. I misread the rules

I only included my reasoning on the one I was stuck with and didn't realise I had to do it for all of them

[Chris Corby]

Nice work Joseph. I had a lot of answers without giving the reasoning so your score out of 20 is 7.

Oops. I misread the rules

I only included my reasoning on the one I was stuck with and didn't realise I had to do it for all of them

Have another entry then - you have 15.5 to beat

CLOSING DATE 2359 MONDAY 21 JULY 2008

[Jason Larsen]

Chris, if you can make some of them US-themed questions, I'd be happy to participate.

[Joseph Bolas]

Nice work Joseph. I had a lot of answers without giving the reasoning so your score out of 20 is 7.

Oops. I misread the rules

I only included my reasoning on the one I was stuck with and didn't realise I had to do it for all of them

Have another entry then - you have 15.5 to beat

CLOSING DATE 2359 MONDAY 21 JULY 2008

Thank you Chris .

Luckily when I sent the first message, I chose to send a copy to my e-mail so I have expanded on that .

[Chris Corby]

Joseph

You now get 13 out of 20, which includes two half points. In your message to me you said you would keep to the original answers out of fairness but it's OK - have another stab with different answers to some if you wish. It's not one entry per household you know!

[Chris Corby]

Chris, if you can make some of them US-themed questions, I'd be happy to participate.

Jason

I don't think you are at a disadvantage being in America - the answers are all there if you look at the members' list........ one of the clues does have an American theme in fact!

You are at a disadvantage, I accept, if you win the prize!

Chris

PS Glad you rose to the challenge I set you a couple of months ago to get your name mentioned on Countdown - you did it!!
PPS Has anyone ever told you that you look like Harry Potter?

[Jason Larsen]

Chris:

It was a good feeling to get my name read on Countdown. I would like to give a shout-out to to one of my favorite, (and David O'Donnell and Dan Vanniasingham's least favorite people,) Drew Carey!

How are you doing, Drew?

Also, another British person did tell me that I looked like Daniel Radcliffe. I replied to him that it was clever of him to think of that. But, he did not respond to me when I said that.

[Joseph Bolas]

Joseph

You now get 13 out of 20, which includes two half points. In your message to me you said you would keep to the original answers out of fairness but it's OK - have another stab with different answers to some if you wish. It's not one entry per household you know!

Thank you Chris, but I am happy with my score .

I have though gone from lucky 7 to unlucky 13 , but if you were to accidentally add them together then It does come to 20 then

[Chris Corby]

Kirk Bevins has submitted his answers - he is also the first to get Number 4 right with half his reasoning correct. That means all names have now been solved, but not by the same person!! I'll give you the answers some time after midnight Monday/Tuesday, but out of the three entries so far, I have scored it like this:

Kirk Bevins: 1 (0), 2 (2), 3 (1.5), 4 (1.5), 5 (0), 6(0), 7 (2), 8 (2), 9 (2), 10 (2) Total: 13
Joseph Bolas: 1 (0), 2 (2), 3 (0), 4 (0), 5 (1.5), 6 (2), 7 (1.5), 8 (2), 9 (2), 10 (2) Total: 13
M George Quinn: 1 (2), 2 (2), 3 (2), 4 (0), 5 (2), 6 (0), 7 (1.5), 8 (2), 9 (2), 10 (2) Total: 15.5

[Chris Corby]

Howard Somerset has entered and is marked as follows:
1(0) 2(2),3(2),4(1.5),5(1.5),6(2),7(1.5),8(2),9(2),10(2) Total: 16.5

Closes tonight just before midnight. Final tip for those still wishing to enter (or re-enter): These are cryptic clues and every word in the clue should be relevant and important. Unfortunately though, unlike a crossword, you have no letters to help you, but there again all the answers are in these pages, and all answers are frequent posters.

[Chris Corby]

Michael Wallace is now out in front with points in brackets:
1(0),2(2),3(2),4(2),5(2),6(2),7(1.5),8(2),9(2),10(2) Total - 17.5

[Chris Corby]

Howard's had another stab and now has 19.5 dropping just half a point on Number 7. Fantastic effort. Answers soon............

[Michael Wallace]

Curses - I knew 1 would scupper me!

[Howard Somerset]

Howard's had another stab and now has 19.5 dropping just half a point on Number 7. Fantastic effort. Answers soon............

And I thought I'd got a very convoluted valid reasoning for #7. I'll just have to wait and see.

[Chris Corby]

Late entry from Charlie Reams who scores thus:
1 (1.5), 2(2), 3 (1.5), 4 (1.5) ,5 (2), 6 (2), 7(1.5), 8(2), 9(2), 10 (2) - Total: 18

Great score..............but not quite the highest

[Chris Corby]

ANSWERS and WINNER

All this cryptic clue stuff started, if you remember, when David O'Donnell posted some clues after corresponding with crossword compiler Michael MacDonald-Cooper (hope your computer gets well soon David, we miss you!) and in particular a clue where the answer was (2,5) – Jo Brand. My son came up with a disgusting clue revolving around her so it seemed fitting to include a reference to Jo Brand in order to answer the clue to get to his name!

To recap, the clues were:

1 In the cinema, Sid meets Ben about a couple of pounds.
2 Claim he arranged for top bricklayer.
3 Small part of Devon? Beds.? Another county altogether!
4 Brand new start in Northamptonshire.
5 Water container with Lavender – that sounds like Steve Lawrence's wife!
6 Calendar featuring an open area.
7 An old night watchman uses so much paper!
8 Nelson's jar – a rum mixture!
9 One layer of gloss paint? Just the opposite, we hear.
10 Dick brain? It fits to a 'T' inside him!


1.'In the cinema' gave a hint of actors and films, so Sid=JAMES, Ben=HUR. 'About' in crosswords usually means RE and a couple of pounds is LL. ('L' being a pound sterling £). So it's JAMES HURRELL.
2.'Arranged' normally indicates there is an anagram lurking, and there was. 'Claim he' becomes MICHAEL and a top bricklayer would be a WALL ACE.
3.Misleading punctuation is fair game in cryptic crosswords and I wanted 'beds' to mean 'ward'. I wanted you to think I was talking about a county so I put a question mark before it so I could quite rightly capitalize it. Charles Kingsley wrote a novel called 'Westward Ho' and that is the part of Devon I was after (yes, it does exist). This 'small' part of Devon is HO, plus WARD, and another county altogether is SOMERSET. I would have expected you to guess the answer from 'Somerset' being a county and working backwards to make 'Howard' fit the clue.
4.Brand is JO, 'new start' is N, and CORBY is a major town in Northamptonshire. 'Nuff said!
5.'Water container' is DAM, 'Lavender' does have that capital 'L' suggesting we are looking for a proper noun. How many Lavenders do you know apart from Private Pike (later to pop up in EastEnders) – of course it's IAN. For those who had never heard of American singers Steve Lawrence and his wife Eydie Gorme, they were there to be Googled! 'Eydie' sounds like 'Eadie' so we get DAMIAN EADIE.
6.We use the JULIAN calendar – an open area is a FELL.
7.'CHARLIE' has many meanings, mostly slang, including a boobie (as in “That's a nice pair of Charlies”), a certain prohibited drug, a Vietnamese soldier to the US GIs, but I was using it in the context of the 18th century (hence use of the word 'old') to describe a nightwatchman. You all got REAMS being much paper.....
8.'Rum' in this clue meant 'odd' but it was a also good word to use when talking about Nelson! 'Mixture' also indicates an anagram is lurking so when we have 'odd mixture' it's a cert. JASON LARSEN is unravelled from 'Nelson's jar a'.
9.All entrants got MATT COATES being a straightforward opposite of a single layer of gloss. Had to put 'we hear' in as 'Coates' is a different spelling to 'coats' as in paint.
10.'Dick' is short for RICHARD and the BRITTAIN bit is not actually an anagram, it is the word 'brain' with 'it' and 't' inside.
The worthy winner is Howard Somerset with 19.5 points, just missing out on 'Charlie' (Reams) - I wonder how long it took him to get his own name? He gets the chance to visit the birthplace of Jon Corby. 'Chance' is an important word here too because for Howard to claim his prize all he has to do is:

(i) Drive (or take the train) to Southampton, Hampshire, UK.
(ii) Follow the signs for SOUTHAMPTON GENERAL HOSPITAL
(iii) Follow sign for MATERNITY WARD
(iv) Once there, wander around a bit, and take in the air, breathing deeply.
(v) When you've had enough, drive (or take the train) back home again.

Enjoy!

[Kirk Bevins]

(i) Drive (or take the train) to Southampton, Hampshire, UK.
(ii) Follow the signs for SOUTHAMPTON GENERAL HOSPITAL
(iii) Follow sign for MATERNITY WARD
(iv) Once there, wander around a bit, and take in the air, breathing deeply.
(v) When you've had enough, drive (or take the train) back home again.

Enjoy!

Phenomenal prize. Well done Howard. I didn't understand some of those clues, particularly the actors (Sid James and Ben Hur? Are they names? How were we meant to guess those?) and the Lavender Ian one (what the hell is Ian?).

[Charlie Reams]

Good stuff, I thought the Matt Coates clue was particularly clever. Annoyed with myself for not figuring out "Brand new start", but otherwise quite happy with that considering I only got started at 10 o'clock tonight.

Phenomenal prize. Well done Howard. I didn't understand some of those clues, particularly the actors (Sid James and Ben Hur? Are they names? How were we meant to guess those?) and the Lavender Ian one (what the hell is Ian?).

Sid James is a famous actor from Carry On films. Ben Hur is one of the most famous films ever made. Ian Lavendar was an actor in Dad's Army. Your knowledge of pop culture never ceases to amaze!

[Chris Corby]

Phenomenal prize. Well done Howard. I didn't understand some of those clues, particularly the actors (Sid James and Ben Hur? Are they names? How were we meant to guess those?) and the Lavender Ian one (what the hell is Ian?).

Kirky
You don't know who Sid James is? What a Carry On! The film 'Ben Hur' won more Oscars than any other film in its time (1960s). Ian Lavender is the name of the actor who played Private Pike in Dad's Army. They were tough, admittedly, but were solved by other entrants. Now I am not saying you are the weakest link or anything, but thanks for taking part.

Late Edit: I think Charlie and I posted the replies together, I certainly didn't see his when I posted mine - but we have written almost identical things!

[Kirk Bevins]

I don't watch TV or films (in general, apart from Countdown) so I don't know about famous people as a rule. Yes, my general knowledge as a result does suck.

[Howard Somerset]

Thanks, Chris. I can't wait to claim my prize. Probably the most valuable thing I've won in my life.

I was very frustrated not to get the full 20 points. For Charlie

7 An old night watchman uses so much paper!

I'd gone a completely different way. The Night Watchman is the name of a very old film in which Charlie Chaplin plays the title role. I'd also felt that "uses so" was a reference to the fact that he uses "Soo" as his name on occasion, but was stumped by the missing second "o".

By the way, I Googled only twice, and one of those was in vain.

First, to find the spelling of Eydie Gorme; I really did know that she was Steve Lawrence's wife. I am that old

Second, in vain, to discover that Night Watchman was a Charlie Chaplin film.

[Dinos Sfyris]

Congrats Howard on winning almost flawlessly, plus everyone else who had a go as you all did much better than me! I didnt submit anything as I had absolutely no idea about most of the clues but enjoyed trying to suss them out anyway so thanks Corby sr for setting this little cryptic puzzle!

[Chris Corby]

Congrats Howard on winning almost flawlessly, plus everyone else who had a go as you all did much better than me! I didnt submit anything as I had absolutely no idea about most of the clues but enjoyed trying to suss them out anyway so thanks Corby sr for setting this little cryptic puzzle!

Thanks for those kind words Dinos. I did try and do a clue for you actually as I was sure there was a good anagram in there somewhere but I was defeated in the end. I am sure it took Howard and the rest of the entrants a lot longer to crack the clues than it took me to set, so I am full of admiration for their perseverence.

[Joseph Bolas]

Thanks for those kind words Dinos. I did try and do a clue for you actually as I was sure there was a good anagram in there somewhere but I was defeated in the end. I am sure it took Howard and the rest of the entrants a lot longer to crack the clues than it took me to set, so I am full of admiration for their perseverence.

I think the funniest jumble I have come across for Dinos Syfris is "Sissy In Ford"

Like Kirk, I wouldn't have never thought of Sid James for the 1st clue, nor Ian Lavender from Dad's Army for the 5th clue. It was a good quiz Chris and the clues were quite fun to solve .

Well done to Howard also for winning .

[Howard Somerset]

Like Kirk, I wouldn't have never thought of Sid James for the 1st clue, nor Ian Lavender from Dad's Army for the 5th clue.

I must admit that for the Ian Lavender clue, I had already got DAM... EADIE, and the only part of the clue left was Lavender; I had heard of him, btw. Up to then, the only Lavender association I could think of was that dreadful song I hated so much at primary school - Lavenders blue, dilly dilly... ugh.

Having already used Ian Lavender and Jo Brand in other clues, I finally went to clue 1, and immediately concluded that Sid had to refer to Sid James. Looking for a forum member, first name JAMES, and surname containing double L, quickly lead to the solution.

[Charlie Reams]

Having already used Ian Lavender and Jo Brand in other clues, I finally went to clue 1, and immediately concluded that Sid had to refer to Sid James. Looking for a forum member, first name JAMES, and surname containing double L, quickly lead to the solution.

I took a similar route. I tried to think of famous Sids and, after Sid Vicious, the next one to mind was Sid James, which immediately seemed promising because James is also a forename. I didn't manage to unravel the rest of the clue but there aren't many Jameses on the forum so I guessed correctly. It's quite interesting reading the thought processes that lead to a correct answer, because you don't have access to those for the sort of crosswords printed in newspapers (where I'm often mystified even after I discover the right answer.)

[Kai Laddiman]

Do you think anyone else could have a crack at doing one of these? That would rock.

[Dinos Sfyris]

Aye maybe could do one to hand out at COLIN (altho I promise it wont be very good!)

[Chris Corby]

Do you think anyone else could have a crack at doing one of these? That would rock.

I thought you were quick, Kai - you posted exactly six months after the last message!

By the way, if you do manage to get to Lincoln and are not sure how to get there, I will take you. Go to Lincoln centre and I'll meet you at the bridge on the river Kai.