Germans use eight letters. The British "natural" notes A to G are represented as you so very rightly say above. B is reserved for B-flat. Apparantly it has something to do with a superstition revolving around the use of the letter B. However I suspect it is more likely due to the prevailing mode of the time. (And yes, I do mean mode).
So it's A,B,H,C,D,E,F,G ... how sensible is that ? Anyway, I don't think a Xwd compiler who used "note" to mean the letter H would be very popular with his subscribers somehow.
[Bb] It is indeed - I don't think you really had to ask did you - it was unlikely to be an anagram by accident ! I was actually thinking of them the other way round (simply coz. that's the way they are more usually said) but there is nothing in the clue to suuggest the order, so spot on, and *** for getting it so quickly - I thought as anagrams go it was quite tricky - but I seem to remember from the Cryptic Stations games that you have an aptitude for them. wd.
Wow! Singer has pork rump consumed by president. (4,4)
[Blob] Thanks, once I spotted cherub (more by accident), it fell into place. If I can get my brain in gear, I'd supply a clue. I seem to have lost touch with cryptics just lately. Haven't done a crossword in months.
[Darren] It sure is - well done. I presume the pod rather gave it away, but I couldn't think of a reasonable alternative. I'm beginning to wonder if the use of <font="white"> is really necessary - coz. once they're solved we're moving onto the next one. What does everyone think ?
[Raak] I think there is a theme to your clues . . . . I know what the answers are but not sure how I get the answer from the Shower us . . . clue (unless it's a double sound-a-like).
[Raak] OK - someone has to do this and it may as well be me - URANUS - and, like Boolbar, I would also quite like to know how the 'URAN' bit works. I, do, however, have a hunch, that you may be referring to the practice of the 'golden shower' [which I'm not unfamiliar with] which points to the 'soundalike' that Bb hinted at, ie. 'urine' sounding like 'uran'. It is at this juncture, that I feel it may be best to continue with the 'hidden text' feature!
Have to say I'm a bit pissed off with this week's Everyman. Bird, girl and river clues aplenty... Also it seems that crosswords can sometimes be like bridges - if you get certain key solutions then the rest fits in around out. If you don't, the whole thing falls over. Maybe I'm just grumpy cos I can't finish it.
Well, I'm stuck here at the desk for a couple of days doing tedious accounts work. My brain needs teasing. Is everybody on holiday or exceptionally busy or somefink?
1.) Gay sports R-R-D (though not 100% on the D) 2.) Formerly in Greece, young men the last to be hip, perhaps -P---I [rab] Really? I thought it was quite easy this week. Or was that from last week? [Big Dave] Permitted?
Afraid I can't help with yours, apart from to suggest that Number 1) does not end in "D" - I have written out all the possibilities, assuming that the missing letters are vowels, and nothing seems to fit the clue. Number 2) may end in "phi" (anag. of "hip"). Sorry I can't be of more assistance.
[MF] I think your last one is EPHEBI - Big Dave was on the right track but it's "the last" (E), then an anagram of BE HIP (PHEBI). These are, according to http://76.1911encyclopedia.org/E/EP/EPHEBI.htm "a name specially given, in Athens and other Greek towns, to a class of young men from eighteen to twenty years of age, who formed a sort of college under state control."
[Darren] Thanx, that's the Sunday Times finished then. I'll send you a page of my new dictionary as soon as I've won it. [Big D] Lugano - as in the lake?
Clues I found which I made up some time ago. Posted here if anyone's arsed to solve them! Some of these are pretty old though.
1. A mad, mad, mad toy belonging to family of U2 member. (4,7) 2. Over the top? A Washington city found in Canada! (6) 3. Rustic walkway with shops, says Ian. (8) 4. Yard-arm (without my reconstruction) detects presence of other objects. (5)
I'd guess those are right, so here's one of mine. I'm not a great cryptics man, so my goal is merely competence: Ingrained bear of the ocean floor (4-6).