Herculis linked solutions

[chamois]

Just an observation. Kate appears to be following her trend again this week in having all four of the Herculis words as the second word in the linked solutions i.e
Goose GRASS
Security BLANKET
Spread SHEET
Shot TOWER

However, for the first time since she's been following in the footsteps of her dad, there's a difference.

Both Goose Grass and Spread Sheet are normally written as Goosegrass and Spreadsheet, so perhaps this week's answer's should be:

Goosegrass
Security Blanket
Spreadsheet
Ivory Tower

Kate's Dad was well-known for using these combined words and possibly eliminating a good proportion of the entries at a stroke. Could Kate be becoming just as crafty?

Apologies for rambling on - it was just a thought.

[gen2]

I had always assumed it was only necessary to get the correct pairings. Are you sure that leaving a space when when the words should be combined, would eliminate you from the draw?

BTW, 'Ivory' tower may have been your guess but Kate's links were Shot Tower.

[zacharias]

Published results show that, where appropriate, linked words have been combined. Whether nor not merely identifying the linked words would disqualify an entry is an interesting point.

[chamois]

Thanks for your thoughts gen2.

The reason why I've always thought that elimination takes place is in the way that the answers were printed in DT in MM's day. There were often words that had been formed from combining one word from Saturdays GK crossword answers with another from Monday's Herculis answers and I seem to recall they did sometimes cause debate on AB.

I suppose the reality is that no one ever writes "spread sheet" yet everyone knows what a "spreadsheet" is. I've failed to find "spread sheet" in all the dictionaries available via Xrefer and it's not in the OED either. "Spreadsheet" brings up innumerable entries.

It just seems that it might be a good way of eliminating a fair proportion of the entries from the draw even before anyone sits down to check that each answer is correct on the grid. Nevertheless, I don't think we'll ever establish if the method is used or not.

Sorry - Ivory tower was a typo. I meant to put Shot Tower as I indicated on the first list.

[chamois]

I'm grateful that you appreciate the point I'm trying to make zacharias..

Let's take it from the beginning. The competition terms of entry state:
"Solutions in the tinted squares with highlighted clues join with solutions in Saturday's GK crossword to make four well-known words or phrases"

Now I think we all have to agree that the idea is that we have to match one word from Saturday's crossword with one word from the Herculis, although it wouldn't really matter if we matched pairs from the same crossword.

After we match these words, we have four pairings. Four pairings are the only way we can make "four well-known words" because each word individually would make (wait for it!) eight words when we need four. Therefore, the words must be combined. Once they are combined, then clearly, separate words are inadmissible.

Looking at it from another angle, if we paired some of the words but left others alone, we could have up to seven words, which is again not what we're allowed.

Under what circumstances can "spread sheet" be called a well known word? It's two words no matter which way you look at it. It can only be called a word if it's "spreadsheet" surely. I can't find "spread sheet" in any online dictionary including the OED or any meta-search engine, including the highly reliable XRefer. Obviously, there are innumerable entries for "spreadsheet". As far as a well known phrase is concerned, "spread sheet" can hardly be regarded as one.

I'm not being pedantic about this honest and I may not be explaining my ideas well, but I'd like to think I'm looking at this logically based upon the quote from the newspaper. If there's something I'm missing, please let me know.

Perhaps the newspaper needs to clarify this issue for us all.

[zacharias]

Thanks for your analysis chamois.

In simple terms, "spreadsheet" is a well-known word but not a phrase. " In the context of the crossword " Security Blanket" (two words) is a well-known phrase but not a word. I think, therefore, the newspaper is right in asking for " four well-known words or phrases"

[Adrienne K]

Forgive my ignorance, but what on earth is a shot tower?