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In a category far, far away, someone posted a crossword
clue which is, as far as I can tell, bogus. It was
"Bertrand
oddly revolves".
As far as I can establish, there is no plausible solution to
this clue. In a cryptic crossword, you would expect the
answer to be either "Brrn" (the odd
letters of Bertrand),
or
possibly an anagram of "Bertrand", or equally "Rsel" or an
anagram of "Russell". But none of those answers means
"revolves". Or it might be that the odd letters (or an
anagram) of "Revolves" is the surname of a famous
Bertrand, but again this is not the case. Hence there is
no plausible solution.
However, there is perhaps a game to be had in contriving
plausible explanations linking random cryptic clues to
arbitrary solutions. For example, given the above clue
("Bertrand oddly revolves") and the solution ("orbits"), can
one find a way from clue to solution, in keeping with the
conventions of cryptic crosswords?
Points would be awarded for the contender who comes
up
with the least convoluted and most convincing route
from
clue to solution.
A mismatched clue/answer pair from the SMH
https://www.reddit...._but_merchandise_9/
Mentioned in my anno [notexactly, Jun 27 2019]
[link]
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Wow - [Simpleton] wins the first round hands down. |
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8 across: "Hollow ungulate lacks footwear". Answer:
"resonant". |
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Step 1: When I read this post I thought of the word "eccentric." |
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Step 2: When I think of the word "eccentric," bakers in the HB come to mind. |
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Step 3: When I think of reasons why the word hasn't been mentioned yet by the aforementioned bakers, I think of Einstein's quote, "...Fish will be the last to discover water..." |
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<GROG now caught in endless loop. Move along please. Nothing to see here.> |
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Head is spinning. Please make it stop. |
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Bertrand Piccard, solo global circumnavigational balloonist,
followed an eccentric course due to the semi-parabolic
path of the Jet Stream. That's my bid. |
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Sometimes if I'm lying in bed late at night I'll think of a random word and try to come up with a satisfying crossword clue for it. Last night I came up with:
Messy attic reorganised methodically (10) |
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I appear to have missed the first solution for the clue/answer pair that
inspired this idea. What was it? |
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In exchange for that answer I hope to receive, I offer this one:
Systematically. |
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And to replace that opportunity, I offer this clue whose concept I've had
rattling around in my head for a year or two waiting to be let out: "Consider
food vendor's action to scold" (10) |
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But that's just a regular cryptic clue without the answer, so I also offer this
clue/answer pair to find a link between: "Paddles the boat among the trees" /
"sugarcanes". |
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"Hollow ungulate lacks footwear" / "resonant" is still open too, AFAICT. |
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What about all the other solved letters? Using the big picture, the crossword puzzle is the clue because some author's clues can occasionally be slightly off. |
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//Hollow ungulate lacks footwear// |
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//Hollow ungulate lacks footwear// |
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//Hollow ungulate lacks footwear// |
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One from the SMH [link]: Pantheon contains nothing but
merchandise / warmonger |
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