WSO CCC June 07
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Nope, but I am curious. Reasoning?
You have just been Sharapova'd.
Hugh Hefner sold his Mansion, as I read today....so all the celebs have to leave :)
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American celebrities have to vacate! (6)
You have just been Sharapova'd.
Brexit (No idea - it has "exit" for vacate in it?)
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Brexit (No idea - it has "exit" for vacate in it?)
Nope, that's not it, I am afraid.
You have just been Sharapova'd.
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American celebrities have to vacate! (6)
You have just been Sharapova'd.
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Oh dear! Do I detect a fodder as plural error? Professional bugbear alert: American celebrity has to vacate CANCEL (Hidden word) Unless I'm completely wrong, of course!
I am not a number. I am a ... no, wait!
Of course that's correct, but why does it need to be singular? :confused:
You have just been Sharapova'd.
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Of course that's correct, but why does it need to be singular? :confused:
You have just been Sharapova'd.
Because in the wordplay you're using the formula x$ is contained in y$ where, as all programmers should recognise, y$ is a single entity. So AMERICANCELEBRITIES (by convention spaces and punctuation ignored) has CANCEL within it. To prevent that making nonsense of the surface reading of the clue the simplest solution is to make it 'celebrity' instead. To look at it from the other end, what does 'American celebrities have (ie. contain)' actually mean? Both words ('and' implied) separately contain the answer? Clearly not! There are, sadly, now a number of editors who would publish your original clue without a second thought (fortunately my editor is not among them) but that's reflective of a general slip in standards of which I most heartily disapprove. Too many would also accept "I am in the cowshed" for BAIRN, for example, where clearly the intent of the wordplay is "I is in the cowshed". Pedantry, it may be, but not all pedantry is bad. To me Ximene's dictum, "You needn't mean what you say but you must say what you mean" remains sacrosanct no matter how flexible or liberal we become about crosswordese. Just as in English grammar there is but one incontrovertible rule, agreement in number, so in crossword grammar I maintain that both fodder for anagrams, hidden words etc. and answers are singular entities for the purpose of wordplay even if they are plural in their surface sense. Again, to put it in programming language, fodder and answers are always single variables no matter what their contents. So y$ contains x$ even when y$ = "things plural". It all adds up to more problems for the clue writer to deal with but that's what lifts clue writing from simple engineering to art!
I am not a number. I am a ... no, wait!
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Because in the wordplay you're using the formula x$ is contained in y$ where, as all programmers should recognise, y$ is a single entity. So AMERICANCELEBRITIES (by convention spaces and punctuation ignored) has CANCEL within it. To prevent that making nonsense of the surface reading of the clue the simplest solution is to make it 'celebrity' instead. To look at it from the other end, what does 'American celebrities have (ie. contain)' actually mean? Both words ('and' implied) separately contain the answer? Clearly not! There are, sadly, now a number of editors who would publish your original clue without a second thought (fortunately my editor is not among them) but that's reflective of a general slip in standards of which I most heartily disapprove. Too many would also accept "I am in the cowshed" for BAIRN, for example, where clearly the intent of the wordplay is "I is in the cowshed". Pedantry, it may be, but not all pedantry is bad. To me Ximene's dictum, "You needn't mean what you say but you must say what you mean" remains sacrosanct no matter how flexible or liberal we become about crosswordese. Just as in English grammar there is but one incontrovertible rule, agreement in number, so in crossword grammar I maintain that both fodder for anagrams, hidden words etc. and answers are singular entities for the purpose of wordplay even if they are plural in their surface sense. Again, to put it in programming language, fodder and answers are always single variables no matter what their contents. So y$ contains x$ even when y$ = "things plural". It all adds up to more problems for the clue writer to deal with but that's what lifts clue writing from simple engineering to art!
I am not a number. I am a ... no, wait!
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To add to what you say - to cancel is not to vacate - it was blindingly obvious it was cancel but I wouldn't give hime the benefit of an answer :laugh:
We can’t stop here, this is bat country - Hunter S Thompson RIP
pkfox wrote:
to cancel is not to vacate
Well, actually, it is. The legal term for 'cancel' with regard to decisions and judgements is precisely 'vacate'.
Quote:
vacate veɪˈkeɪt,vəˈkeɪt verb 1. leave (a place that one previously occupied). "rooms must be vacated by noon on the last day of your holiday" synonyms: leave, get out of, move out of, evacuate, quit, go away from, depart from, exit from, withdraw from, pull out of; More 2. LAW cancel or annul (a judgement, contract, or charge). "the Justices vacated a ruling by the federal appeals court"
I am not a number. I am a ... no, wait!
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pkfox wrote:
to cancel is not to vacate
Well, actually, it is. The legal term for 'cancel' with regard to decisions and judgements is precisely 'vacate'.
Quote:
vacate veɪˈkeɪt,vəˈkeɪt verb 1. leave (a place that one previously occupied). "rooms must be vacated by noon on the last day of your holiday" synonyms: leave, get out of, move out of, evacuate, quit, go away from, depart from, exit from, withdraw from, pull out of; More 2. LAW cancel or annul (a judgement, contract, or charge). "the Justices vacated a ruling by the federal appeals court"
I am not a number. I am a ... no, wait!
-
Because in the wordplay you're using the formula x$ is contained in y$ where, as all programmers should recognise, y$ is a single entity. So AMERICANCELEBRITIES (by convention spaces and punctuation ignored) has CANCEL within it. To prevent that making nonsense of the surface reading of the clue the simplest solution is to make it 'celebrity' instead. To look at it from the other end, what does 'American celebrities have (ie. contain)' actually mean? Both words ('and' implied) separately contain the answer? Clearly not! There are, sadly, now a number of editors who would publish your original clue without a second thought (fortunately my editor is not among them) but that's reflective of a general slip in standards of which I most heartily disapprove. Too many would also accept "I am in the cowshed" for BAIRN, for example, where clearly the intent of the wordplay is "I is in the cowshed". Pedantry, it may be, but not all pedantry is bad. To me Ximene's dictum, "You needn't mean what you say but you must say what you mean" remains sacrosanct no matter how flexible or liberal we become about crosswordese. Just as in English grammar there is but one incontrovertible rule, agreement in number, so in crossword grammar I maintain that both fodder for anagrams, hidden words etc. and answers are singular entities for the purpose of wordplay even if they are plural in their surface sense. Again, to put it in programming language, fodder and answers are always single variables no matter what their contents. So y$ contains x$ even when y$ = "things plural". It all adds up to more problems for the clue writer to deal with but that's what lifts clue writing from simple engineering to art!
I am not a number. I am a ... no, wait!
Wow! That's quite an eye opener. :thumbsup:
You have just been Sharapova'd.
