dt 25775

[haggis362]

Q. Panted like a scarlet runner perhaps.
A. Out of breath.

But what's the scarlet runner all about?

[BigDave44]

red-faced athlete

[Lie-in King]

I took this to be like a lot of the Telegraph's clues of late - ie, not very good (IMHO) - & assumed a runner with a scarlet face would be out of breath (?)

I filled it in thinking it couldn't be anything else & didn't bother to check, which I've now done & can't see a better reason - if there is one, rest assured that someone here will know what it is! :-)

[BigDave44]

Lie-in King - I too groan at some recent clues. Did you get the wordplay last week for "Divulge name of celebrated Conservative criminal" ? The answer was "come clean", but no-one on here had a convincing explanation.

[BigDave44]

I can only think it's an anagram of name + cel + co, but I'm not convinced.

[Lie-in King]

Sorry BigDave - off making tea, nearly choking to death on a Snickers bar...

I had it as - Come clean = 'divulge', then 'name' (as in 'call by name') (Sebastian) Coe Maclean (Donald) - Celebrated Conservative & criminal (?)

[BigDave44]

Had thought of that, but it's not very good is it? That's why I mentioned it as a follow up to your point.

The former editor of the Telegraph crosswords is a neighbour of mine, and when I asked her about the apparent lowering of the standards she said that she only does the Times crossword these days - apparently the editor of the Times xwords is a protege of hers !!

[Lie-in King]

I agree, and find it very irritating when the obviously correct answer can't be exactly married to the wordplay!

There seems to be a lot of lazy clueing about just lately - the Times has also had a couple of iffy ones - and I've wondered if the editors actually attempt the puzzles or pass them through on trust?

Whilst a good clue is a thing of joy, the answer should not be so obscure or difficult to achieve through the wordplay that threads like this one become necessary!

Anyhoo...haggis362, please accept apologies for hijacking your thread & filling up your inbox! Was any of this any help? :-)

[BigDave44]

Mea Culpa, haggis

[haggis362]

Thanks for all your comments. I agree it was a terrible clue. Just wondered if I was missing something obvious.

[haggis362]

How about this for a better clue........

Panting when short of an old penny in width.

Out of brea(d)th