Saga September

[maxymax]

18across. "Underwater searcher,could one say?" The answer is clearly either Douser or Dowser and I have seen both answers put forward. Can anyone give me a definitive answer as to which is correct and why. Many thanks

[RoyH]

I would say dowser - to dowse is to wet thoroughly

[kayakamina]

The definition always appears at the very front or rear of the clue so-
Douser - underwater


A dowser is a searcher.

[aeronut]

Is there a clue that crosses the third letter, u or w, as the case may be?

[maxymax]

Interesting that RoyH prefers "dowser"and Kayakamina prefers "douser". Hence my problem!! Unfortunately Aeronut the "u" or "w" is a dead letter with no other clue crossing it.

[aeronut]

Hmm, that's a problem. if you emphasize the "could one say" it would lead you to douser rather than dowser. If you take out "could one say" the answer would be dowser.
There's another problem. Is underwater an noun or an adjective?
Still another problem is that Chambers doesn't really help as the only noun they define for douser is a device in a cinema projector.
I personally would go with K, but you pay your money and you take your choice.

[writesbad]

On this occasion I would side with RoyH rather than K, with respectful apologies, even though RoyH's parsing is wrong.

Under water searcher = water diviner = dowser

[maxymax]

Help!!! So yet again opinion is divided. I wonder if the Saga Question Setter realised just what a conundrum he had set!

[aeronut]

Well, if the clue asked for a water searcher you would be correct with dowser., Writesbad.
That's not the situation.

[maxymax]

Thanks to you all for your input. I will sleep on it and maybe end up putting both with a diagonal line across!

[writesbad]

I agree, aeronut, that the clue is ambiguous. However, Saga does not have the sophistry of, say, The Listener. Perhaps the first, simplest answer is the the best.
But I am happy to stand corrected.

[askyourgran]

Interesting conundrum, A dowser searches for water. Douse is to immerse in water, my thoughts are with douser.

[puternut]

I personally would go with DOWSER as a water searcher

To me a douser is someone who simply puts an item underwater rather than searching

[dr b]

The wordplay is "searcher could one say" indicating that you need to find a word that sounds like searcher (dowser); therefore dowser can't be the answer. So it must be douser. A mix of a cryptic definition and a sound-alike clue.

[maxymax]

Thank you all for putting forward so many interesting points. I think having slept on it I am going to go with Douser as I like the reasoning from dr b that the "could one say"part of the clue indicates that you need to find a word that sounds like a searcher (dowser) and therefore it cannot be Dowser. Not fully convinced however!

[kayakamina]

I'm pleased that dr b agreed with my interpretation of the clue.

If it had just read 'Underwater searcher' the answer would clearly be Dowser. However adding 'could one say?' indicates that the answer sounds like Dowser - DOUSER
I therefore stand by my original - DOUSER.

[joggerjayne]

Morning, K (and everyone) x

[factor-fiction]

I agree with kayakamina- Douser.

[kayakamina]

Morning JJ - nice legs.

Like Joan in Mad Men !

K x

[joggerjayne]

Thanks, K.

Not my legs, unfortunately.

x

[kayakamina]

JJ I'm off out but wanted to say that a little 'bird' told me you would enjoy today's Guardian!

x