For some reason i thought you were in your sixties. Anyway, thank you for your kind words. I enjoy our conversations too; I like talking to someone who feels as strongly (dare I say passionately) about these questions as I do. I just hate looking like an idiot.
By the way, is it okay to use the Guardian crossword blog for this kind of personal exchange? I feel a bit guilty about it, but so far no-one's said anything. The caff residents seem very tolerant.
I believe you and I were born in the same year, Ellen! Please don't drop out. I enjoy your posts enormously. And we must continue our interests (in the arts, literature, language - whatever it may be) while facing up as best we may to the darkness besetting us.
You're quite right, of course, and I realized that myself (about chi) in the middle of the night. I think it may be time for me to drop out; as a recent headline in the Atlantic put it, "There are exceptionally sharp octogenarians. Biden isn't one". I guess I'm not either. I always thought I'd recognize the signs when they started, but apparently it takes an outsider after all.
The question is, what to do about it. Meanwhile, I'll go on doing crosswords.
A great sigh of relief this morning about France. But another reason to want to drop out: the world is looking increasingly (mutatis mutandi) as it must have done to our parents (your grandparents?) in the 1930s.
Re 15A, 'cosy' is always spelled with an s in English, even in dictionaries which favour -ize endings for words like 'familiarize'. Cozy is totally US spelling.
You make two points. The ch- forms techno- and chrono- aren't derived from Greek kappa (κ), the 10th Greek letter, but from chi (χ), the 22nd and antepunultimate letter. Kappa is a 'straightforward' hard-cee sound, sometimes represented by a kay and sometimes by a cee in the Latin and English derivatives (I still think the kay spelling has to justify itself, the more-or-less established klepto- words notwithstanding); whereas chi is an aspirated consonant sounded more or less as in Scots Gaelic loch or indeed German Loch, but words derived from Greek chi-containing words in modern speech inevitably transform that consonant, for anglophones at least, into the kay or hard-cee sound.
On your second point - and I don't mean to be rude - I don't agree that clepto- and the like, if so spelt, are likely to be confused with words like cleft, except in your imagination of how hypothetical others might react!
TUTTI, ABBACY , STOA ( deduced from a 4 letter anagram...come on mate ... you got to be kidding having a 4 letter anagram) ...???????? This ain't a quick crossword any more
Now that I'm back here again, for my evening session, it occurs to me that the "clepto" form might easily be misleading, suggesting wods like "cleft": whether a noun (as in Kirk Douglas or Cary Grant) or the participle of"cleave", as in split, divide. (Not as in stick to.) (It would be nice if the past tense of cleave 2 were "clove", but no such luck.)
Sorry, I'm free-associating. It stops now.
The other day I passed a beautiful black greyhound being walked along our post-industrial, urban streets and felt a pang of jealousy of Denny on the dog's behalf.
I see, thank you for helping me to understand. It's a shame that another dog's poor behaviour has had such an impact on Denny, but I can understand why you have made that choice. I hope you still have opportunities to see your human friends as well, perhaps at the end of your respective walks, when the hounds are tired and ready to go flop next to a park bench.
Happy Sunday to you, Enigmatic.
Morning Worders,
We’re doing the Saturday puzzle on Sunday as we had a lie in yesterday.
Some easy clues but also some difficult ones for us. 16D was the last to go in…..horrid word. 10A was a reveal……despite this we enjoyed it so thanks setter.
In Other News
We had no guests on Friday night for the first time in ages, so we put our glad rags on and went out for a meal at a local-ish (40 mins drive) pub. Had a brilliant night, met some great people and I bought a piece of artwork……..the pub has artwork displayed which is for sale (great idea) so the decor is constantly changing. Our waiter mentioned that some of his work was also on display, I was very taken by a particular piece so I put a deposit down and will pay for it over the next few months. It should be mine by October. I hadn’t expected to buy a piece of art…….funny how life goes sometimes.
We also watched the footie yesterday (neither of us are into it)……because it was England and the quarter final…..what a great match and a fab result. The collective vibe of the UK is on a high this week with two great results……let’s hope that we have another great result on Weds giving us a hat trick of good news and yes we will be watching that match as well.
Hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend.
I hope that your course was enjoyable and more importantly, successful; a good croissant is a thing of beauty. If I lived in Richmond, Yorkshire instead of Richmond, London, Count Binface’s pledge (as I believe they’re called) to cap the price of croissants at £1.10 might have garnered my vote (providing, of course, that the pleaded was accompanied by a satisfactory undertaking regarding minimum quality standards - one doesn’t want the market flooded with ‘croissants’ like those sold in Tesco). I learnt this from ‘More or less’, which discussed the possible pitfalls of and alternatives to such a policy. Unless Binface is ennobled by Starmer and brought into his cabinet (like Jacqui Smith), making them oneself may be the way ahead.
I enjoyed yesterday at the festival, particularly, Rhiannon Giddens, the reason that we are attending. We’ll potter over there later today to see what they’re up to. The rain held off yesterday, but there was a strong wind and by the end, it was a bit parky. Although much of the music is not especially my cup of tea, the festival is a pleasant place to be, very friendly if slightly odd people, decent food if a modest choice, no queues, a splendid array of folding chairs and perhaps most importantly, plenty of dogs (some of whom sing along with the artistes).
Thanks, William, kleptoglossic works much better. I knew at the time there was something wrong about my word. but it was late and I was tired. But I wouldn't change the initial letter; "klepto" seems to be quite well established in English. In fact, there's a new compound where one root is changed and the other isn't -- think "kleptocracy". In any case, I think it happens more often in mid-word position than initially. It also depends on when the word was introduced in English, and in what context (literary translation, technical term, common usage).
Many of these words were latinized already in Roman usage, in one of the earliest known instances of what's now known as "cultural appropriation"; especially in proper names when they occur in Greek tragedy.
There are also some words where the /k/ is latinized but the original pronunciation retained by adding an /h/: think techno-, chrono-. There is of course crypto, but that's probably because English already has words like cryptic. In any case, I doubt many of those attracted to crypto-currency are interested in etymology -- and vice versa (itself an interesting Latin phrase).
So long for now. Lets see what happens in France today; nothing good, I suspect; the UK seems to be an outlier in resisting this general drift toward the right. Except that you already did that in 2016.
We played in the top city league, but were an average B level team in U.S. Volleyball Assn. tournaments. We played in only one A bracket in a USVBA event and got creamed. One opposing team was so far ahead that they were practicing the finer points -- back row spikes, shoot sets to the outside, tandem sets in the middle. And jump-serving. When they messed up some of those it made it worse.
We never went back to A.
Not so much, we were a very good B grade team but couldn’t cut it when we got promoted to A grade. Perhaps because most of the team invariably shared a spliff before the game?
Denny used to run free alongside and among the pack but, after an incident with an off leash dog and a newcomer Greyhound, it was agreed that Denny be on leash as an example of a controlled pack walk. I am ok with that in principal, but it is now detrimental to Denny's pleasure walk, so I will pass for the next few weeks and join in every other week depending on Denny's feelings and demeanour after resuming with the leash on the pack walk.
I think kleptoglossic might work. Or even, to naturalize the word further, cleptoglossic (following the - not always consistent - Latinizing convention that renders most kappas as cees).
I'm pleased that Denny enjoyed his free run, but I wonder if it would be possible to do both? It must do you good to chat with the others in your walking group.
Sorry if I'm fussing, I mean well :-).
All the very best to you both.
What a lot of work. She reminds me of Helena Bonham Carter. Well done.
I find chins are hard to get right, and where it goes awry so often for me, so I keep them as soft as possible. Less is more kinda thing. We only see parts of people’s faces, a glare, or shadow confuses the eye, so leaving sections out is natural.
Quick crossword No 16,901
Comments
For some reason i thought you were in your sixties. Anyway, thank you for your kind words. I enjoy our conversations too; I like talking to someone who feels as strongly (dare I say passionately) about these questions as I do. I just hate looking like an idiot.
By the way, is it okay to use the Guardian crossword blog for this kind of personal exchange? I feel a bit guilty about it, but so far no-one's said anything. The caff residents seem very tolerant.
...but far less satisfying.
I believe you and I were born in the same year, Ellen! Please don't drop out. I enjoy your posts enormously. And we must continue our interests (in the arts, literature, language - whatever it may be) while facing up as best we may to the darkness besetting us.
Thanks, Parisian. I had never realised that the Opera title was gender specific!
Its quicker when people spoil three answers
You're quite right, of course, and I realized that myself (about chi) in the middle of the night. I think it may be time for me to drop out; as a recent headline in the Atlantic put it, "There are exceptionally sharp octogenarians. Biden isn't one". I guess I'm not either. I always thought I'd recognize the signs when they started, but apparently it takes an outsider after all.
The question is, what to do about it. Meanwhile, I'll go on doing crosswords.
A great sigh of relief this morning about France. But another reason to want to drop out: the world is looking increasingly (mutatis mutandi) as it must have done to our parents (your grandparents?) in the 1930s.
I still don't get it and I've seen the answer ��
Re 15A, 'cosy' is always spelled with an s in English, even in dictionaries which favour -ize endings for words like 'familiarize'. Cozy is totally US spelling.
No spoilers please!
You make two points. The ch- forms techno- and chrono- aren't derived from Greek kappa (κ), the 10th Greek letter, but from chi (χ), the 22nd and antepunultimate letter. Kappa is a 'straightforward' hard-cee sound, sometimes represented by a kay and sometimes by a cee in the Latin and English derivatives (I still think the kay spelling has to justify itself, the more-or-less established klepto- words notwithstanding); whereas chi is an aspirated consonant sounded more or less as in Scots Gaelic loch or indeed German Loch, but words derived from Greek chi-containing words in modern speech inevitably transform that consonant, for anglophones at least, into the kay or hard-cee sound.
On your second point - and I don't mean to be rude - I don't agree that clepto- and the like, if so spelt, are likely to be confused with words like cleft, except in your imagination of how hypothetical others might react!
TUTTI, ABBACY , STOA ( deduced from a 4 letter anagram...come on mate ... you got to be kidding having a 4 letter anagram) ...???????? This ain't a quick crossword any more
Now that I'm back here again, for my evening session, it occurs to me that the "clepto" form might easily be misleading, suggesting wods like "cleft": whether a noun (as in Kirk Douglas or Cary Grant) or the participle of"cleave", as in split, divide. (Not as in stick to.) (It would be nice if the past tense of cleave 2 were "clove", but no such luck.)
Sorry, I'm free-associating. It stops now.
Yep! I thought most peculiar!
The other day I passed a beautiful black greyhound being walked along our post-industrial, urban streets and felt a pang of jealousy of Denny on the dog's behalf.
Not at all and I’m 100% with you on that :-)
I see, thank you for helping me to understand. It's a shame that another dog's poor behaviour has had such an impact on Denny, but I can understand why you have made that choice. I hope you still have opportunities to see your human friends as well, perhaps at the end of your respective walks, when the hounds are tired and ready to go flop next to a park bench.
Happy Sunday to you, Enigmatic.
I hope it's not too 23a to say but, I like to believe that art finds us (sometimes when we least expect it too)
JC also did a cracking version of Bye,Bye, Blackbird. Sadly, this is ruined by an appalling mid-section guitar solo by Jimmy Page.
LOL :-)
Lovely here on the Levels too. We’ve been sitting the hot tub in the sun. There is a bit of wind but no rain. Hope you get some sunshine soon.
Morning Worders,
We’re doing the Saturday puzzle on Sunday as we had a lie in yesterday.
Some easy clues but also some difficult ones for us. 16D was the last to go in…..horrid word. 10A was a reveal……despite this we enjoyed it so thanks setter.
In Other News
We had no guests on Friday night for the first time in ages, so we put our glad rags on and went out for a meal at a local-ish (40 mins drive) pub. Had a brilliant night, met some great people and I bought a piece of artwork……..the pub has artwork displayed which is for sale (great idea) so the decor is constantly changing. Our waiter mentioned that some of his work was also on display, I was very taken by a particular piece so I put a deposit down and will pay for it over the next few months. It should be mine by October. I hadn’t expected to buy a piece of art…….funny how life goes sometimes.
We also watched the footie yesterday (neither of us are into it)……because it was England and the quarter final…..what a great match and a fab result. The collective vibe of the UK is on a high this week with two great results……let’s hope that we have another great result on Weds giving us a hat trick of good news and yes we will be watching that match as well.
Hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend.
'ere 'ere on that LF regarding Ruby Twos-day and Joe C, 'specially at Woodstock - the backing band singing falsetto :-)
I thought it was funny, but I had to check by researching Gerard Hoffnung.
I hope that your course was enjoyable and more importantly, successful; a good croissant is a thing of beauty. If I lived in Richmond, Yorkshire instead of Richmond, London, Count Binface’s pledge (as I believe they’re called) to cap the price of croissants at £1.10 might have garnered my vote (providing, of course, that the pleaded was accompanied by a satisfactory undertaking regarding minimum quality standards - one doesn’t want the market flooded with ‘croissants’ like those sold in Tesco). I learnt this from ‘More or less’, which discussed the possible pitfalls of and alternatives to such a policy. Unless Binface is ennobled by Starmer and brought into his cabinet (like Jacqui Smith), making them oneself may be the way ahead.
I enjoyed yesterday at the festival, particularly, Rhiannon Giddens, the reason that we are attending. We’ll potter over there later today to see what they’re up to. The rain held off yesterday, but there was a strong wind and by the end, it was a bit parky. Although much of the music is not especially my cup of tea, the festival is a pleasant place to be, very friendly if slightly odd people, decent food if a modest choice, no queues, a splendid array of folding chairs and perhaps most importantly, plenty of dogs (some of whom sing along with the artistes).
Thanks, William, kleptoglossic works much better. I knew at the time there was something wrong about my word. but it was late and I was tired. But I wouldn't change the initial letter; "klepto" seems to be quite well established in English. In fact, there's a new compound where one root is changed and the other isn't -- think "kleptocracy". In any case, I think it happens more often in mid-word position than initially. It also depends on when the word was introduced in English, and in what context (literary translation, technical term, common usage).
Many of these words were latinized already in Roman usage, in one of the earliest known instances of what's now known as "cultural appropriation"; especially in proper names when they occur in Greek tragedy.
There are also some words where the /k/ is latinized but the original pronunciation retained by adding an /h/: think techno-, chrono-. There is of course crypto, but that's probably because English already has words like cryptic. In any case, I doubt many of those attracted to crypto-currency are interested in etymology -- and vice versa (itself an interesting Latin phrase).
So long for now. Lets see what happens in France today; nothing good, I suspect; the UK seems to be an outlier in resisting this general drift toward the right. Except that you already did that in 2016.
OK, ta.
Stay safe. Sounds terrible.
Not pedantic, just curious. If that really is the reason... meh!
I am sure the monks may have appreciated the opportunity to smile, wink, blink, wave, show a bit of shoe, at other cloistered monks...
We played in the top city league, but were an average B level team in U.S. Volleyball Assn. tournaments. We played in only one A bracket in a USVBA event and got creamed. One opposing team was so far ahead that they were practicing the finer points -- back row spikes, shoot sets to the outside, tandem sets in the middle. And jump-serving. When they messed up some of those it made it worse.
We never went back to A.
Not getting much choice, TC.
I'm so chuffed, Geraldine! The last time I got the MP I voted for it was Glenda Jackson- in 1992!
Not so much, we were a very good B grade team but couldn’t cut it when we got promoted to A grade. Perhaps because most of the team invariably shared a spliff before the game?
shanesongs
I played for ANU back in the day against teams from organisations such as CSIRO, Duntroon and the Russian Embassy
Impressive.
Sounds like a nasty serve to have to face! Good for you.
Watching Cream Reunion on Sky Arts. Wonderful stuff.
14d weird
Ah yes thanks! We were in The Dome bit.
Could you hear me??!!
classical greek polis's marketplace (wway too short to've hidden onboard!)
Deviation is a term applied to localised errors from North on a compass.
the "check this" and "check all" buttons are not set to accept alternate spellings as being both correct:
advice of which will - and which will not - be accepted is a courtesy.
Sweet dreams and thanks for your contribution to a good reuult.
Comment on the football thread:
''New government sees a dramatic improvement in England penalty-taking.'
Made me laugh.
Take it easy, LoC.
Denny used to run free alongside and among the pack but, after an incident with an off leash dog and a newcomer Greyhound, it was agreed that Denny be on leash as an example of a controlled pack walk. I am ok with that in principal, but it is now detrimental to Denny's pleasure walk, so I will pass for the next few weeks and join in every other week depending on Denny's feelings and demeanour after resuming with the leash on the pack walk.
I’m glad you said that redsnapperoo, that is who she is meant to be. ☺️
She is very distinctive without being distinctive, if that makes any sense.
Basically easy, but some tricksy stuff.
I think kleptoglossic might work. Or even, to naturalize the word further, cleptoglossic (following the - not always consistent - Latinizing convention that renders most kappas as cees).
I'm pleased that Denny enjoyed his free run, but I wonder if it would be possible to do both? It must do you good to chat with the others in your walking group.
Sorry if I'm fussing, I mean well :-).
All the very best to you both.
What a lot of work. She reminds me of Helena Bonham Carter. Well done.
I find chins are hard to get right, and where it goes awry so often for me, so I keep them as soft as possible. Less is more kinda thing. We only see parts of people’s faces, a glare, or shadow confuses the eye, so leaving sections out is natural.
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