ev 877

[devadolly]

Good afternoon everyone. Just having a look to see if there was anyone there and I found a post from a prospective new member of the N & Cing club dr b has already extended a welcome, which I endorse, do come and join us mahonia. We tend not to give direct answers to the EV as with other threads, just hints. However, we do have an excellent Dunces Corner for those of us who (for various reasons) don't finish in 6 and a quarter minutes!!
As to this week's, have rattled along suprisingly well with the usual leaps of faith, but am finding the NW corner rather a trial.
Welcome back drb.

[crofter]

After much grid-searching, I can only one extra word hidden in the completed grid which would describe the device in the form (4,3). However, these two words are not spatially connected (ie they lack symmetry as pointed out by turnerjmw) .

Furthermore, I began early in the puzzle entering DOOB(E) for 16a before I sussed what was going on!

Has anyone got convincing wordplay for this clue?

[Rollo]

Crofter.16a

For what it is worth I went for:-

do, the alternative spelling of doh, the musical note, plus ob(e) the order.

I also just highlighted the three letter word. Far too much time already spent on it.

[crofter]

Thanks Rollo for the quick response.

Re 16a DOOB(E), there is no instruction in the clue to remove E from OBE. For example, had the clue read:
16a Note detailed order for grass (4)

[AHearer]

I had similar problems justifying 16a. I also couldn't see how the wordplay for 14d did not lead to an extra A.

[slaney]

'Afternoon all..

How about OB Orderof Burma ?

..and I also thought I could see an extra letter in the wordplay of both 39a and 14d .

[crofter]

Thanks slaney for the Order of Burma in 16a.

I think that 14d has an extra letter A in error!

As for 39a, if you take TOTTY (very small child) and break off TO(Y), then the clue works.

[MatydaLover]

39A is ok ... it is CA-T(TO)TY. No answer yet to 16A or 14D. Order of Burma sounds good, but it is not in Chambers?

[dr b]

14d, I thought it was an anagram of ABBAS and OB (for old boy?). But as 17 seems a very British clue I'm unsure.

For 16a, OB could be Order of Burma, as slaney noted. Just because it's not in Chambers doesn't mean it's not right (says the Chambers-less one)!

[crofter]

Come to think of it, my spelling for 18d doesn't appear to be in Chambers (2008) either.

Perhaps Rustic means that all adjusted words are entries and proper words in Chambers?

[slaney]

Ah.. thanks crofter and MatydaLover.. I had "IT" as small child.
Order of Burma is not in my Chambers (2006) either.

[MatydaLover]

Interesting that both 16A and 14D could use OB instead of three letters ... maybe just a co-incidence!

As to the device, if I had shaded say, ten letters and not three I wouldn't have had a second's doubt. There's no rule that says it must be a long word or words I suppose.

I have spent much thought on using other meanings of "device" such as in heraldry, a motto, a stratagem ... but nothing so far.

[dr b]

I think once you have the 3 letters, it' s time to take Rollo's advice and quit, especially if you're not mailing in the puzzle. There is surely no other meaning of 'device' being used in this case.

[Christiana]

Gosh I turned my back for a short time and all these posts appeared. Am just staggering to the point where I will need to do some of the exercises others are engaged in. I�m grateful for the reassurance re. 14d regarding the extra � which I was also battling with

[turnerjmw]

I was pretty sure that the extra "a" in 14d was a mistake. And as for 16a, my wordplay was D (as note) and OOB as an abbreviation of Order Of Battle. Not in Chambers, but perhaps less recondite than Order of Burma.

[turnerjmw]

. . . and of course, DO (note) and OB (Order of Battle) would work equally well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_battle

[Rollo]

I have decided that this puzzle was just too obscure to be as enjoyable as it should have been.

[devadolly]

Will somebody please drop me a very heavy hint about the 'device' - it is driving me crackers!
Didn't work Christina, rained off Himself giving a v good impression of bear with sore head!!

[turnerjmw]

Devadolly, if you have the name, the device can only really be one thing, either with or without an adjective before it, (see previous discussion) which you can find by googling the name. If you haven't the name but have the right ten letters, then putting them into Chambers Word Wizard in any order will come up with the "person"

[devadolly]

Trouble is, I don't have the ten letters as many of my answers are leaps of faith that fit both the definition and the grid! I'm a shocker for by-passing logic! Only have 6 letters!

[turnerjmw]

I'm not sure I can stretch to giving you a heavier hint yet, devadolly: what's the cut off for entries for this one?