In the Independent they tend to be quite accurate (more like homophones, actually) while the Telegraph ones can be tortured and, as a result, hilarious. The daily concise puzzles in the Telegraph and Independent feature puns formed by the first two or three across answers. These partial homophones should perhaps not be called homophones at all – maybe we’re better to think of them merely as puns and, in the best tradition, it’s often the case that the more groan-inducing the pun the funnier it is. Fairness aside, we can say the same about many cryptic devices some hate cryptic definitions, some love them, some see anagrams as ‘weak’, others welcome them – the list goes on. Yes, it’s an interesting subject, and your comment “Solvers’ reactions are mixed” is telling because, really, that’s what it’s all about. Great post as ever Shuchi, and many thanks for including a couple of my clues. You can also subscribe by email and have articles delivered to your inbox, or follow me on twitter to get notified of new links. If you wish to keep track of further articles on Crossword Unclued, you can subscribe to it in a reader via RSS Feed. Times 24023: Child left men with lover reportedly (6) O_ Times 24964: Test some articulated with hesitation for several years (9) T_E_ What do you think of partial non-word homophone clues?įT 14029 (Loroso): Bill reportedly sick during party, a minor faux pas (10) P_L_ In both cases, the first vowel sound isn’t a perfect match, being a stressed “eu” (as in French “deux”) in the two candidates but an unstressed schwa in “berserk”. Since these are not words themselves, they have no established pronunciation, so I compared the alleged homophones with the relevant part of BERSERK (in either of its two pronunciations). Some clue used the partial homophones “bursar” and “burrs” for the BERSER and BERS parts of the answer respectively. In general, clue-writing contests appear to be critical of clues using non-word homophones.Īn interesting comment by Roger Phillips while judging a Times clue-writing contest for the word BERSERK: Here, SURVIV is a homophone of 'Sir Viv', but SURVIV in SURVIVAL does not sound like 'Sir Viv'. SURVIV (sounds like Sir Viv – West Indian batsman) (OF LIFE THAT)* TEST (game). Such clues can be tricky to solve as the intended spelling/pronunciation of a non-word is not fixed.įurther complexity is added when the pronunciation of the homophonic fragment is different from its pronunciation in the full answer.įT 13638 (Loroso): West Indian batsman said, of life, that playing the game leads to natural selection (8,2,3,7) SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST They're certainly accepted by the major UK crosswords, including the Times. The second part of the answer has been clued as a homophone, but that part is not a dictionary word by itself. SAR (Russian boss, without start) CASM ~chasm (split) Things get more contentious with clues that split the answer into fragments and serve only one of those fragments as a homophone.įT 13788 (Redshank): Russian boss doesn’t start split, say, using scorn (7) SARCASM Even the simplest of homophones are open to question due to accent differences.
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