June 10, 2008
Signs that one perhaps cares too much about crosswords, #47
Today I was test-solving a crossword for an upcoming book and ran across a very standard sort of clue: "Half of A.D.", with the answer ANNO. And I may very well be the only person alive who has this reaction, but I'm always bothered by that clue and its ilk, because I invariably think, "But 'anno' isn't half of 'anno domini', it's only 40% of it." Yes, yes, I know, it's half the abbreviation. Your attempts at persuading me to be rational are futile.
Posted by Francis at 03:48 PMI'm not a crossword expert like you, but I'm good at fractions and I have to agree with you.
You could make a case for "A." being half of "A.D." but once you spell it out it's 40% of the letters.
And since there are no quotation marks around the A.D., shouldn't it be half of the concept "anno domini" like "semenstris domini".
Posted by: David Scrimshaw at June 10, 2008 07:29 PMI know! It would definitely be better to use that clue only for ANNOD or OMINI.
Posted by: Orange at June 10, 2008 07:30 PMSimilarly, "Half a magic act" should only clue TELLER PLUS PENN'S LEFT LEG.
Ucaoimhu
Posted by: Ucaoimhu at June 11, 2008 07:42 AMIf I ever see a crossword with a five-letter word clued as "Half of A.D.," and the answer is ANNOD, I will know it's a crossword you composed! Or at least one you inspired...
On an unrelated note, Crossword Bebop has moved to http://crosswordbebop.com
Posted by: Douglas at July 17, 2008 08:15 PM