In the ‘new’ computer world there is hardware, software, spyware and shareware but long before that there was glassware, earthenware, silver­ware and cookware. They all have in common that little four-letter word ware, a noun meaning commodity.
In the Stinker at 94ac ‘Market goods’ needed the answer WARES but quite a few entries had SALES and a couple of you put TOTES or TOUTS. Perhaps the confusion was that the clue could read as a noun or verb, but as a verb you would have needed an answer such as sell or tout. For our clue the ‘market’ read as an adjective and the ‘goods’ as a noun. We feel a little mean for catching so many of you out but that is the Stinker for you!
At 11ac you were faced with ‘Magazine layout’ which needed FORMAT to fit with FIBULA for ‘Roman brooch’. A few entries had SPREAD and then SIBYLA or SIBALA at 11dn.
You are probably more familiar with the fibula as a bone of the lower leg but the word comes from Latin for ‘clasp’. Dating back a thousand or more years BC, a fibula was a clasp to hold clothing together (a bit like an ancient safety-pin). Its use died out as buttons became more common after the buttonhole was invented in the 13th century.
The Japan Times lists the Sumo tournaments for the year starting with the New Year Basho. BASHO was the answer to Stinker 16dn ‘Sumo wrestling tournament’. There were a few BUSHO and a few blank spaces in entries.
At 22ac ‘Myth, … and the Swan’ was a clue to LEDA (not LENA). Leda was the wife of the king of Sparta but was loved by Jupiter. The god turned him­self into a swan to woo Leda, resulting in the birth of twins, Castor and Pollux, who hatched from eggs. How wonderful those ancient myths are. No wonder they inspired great works of art.
The next clue to give trouble was at 30dn. ‘Unit of illumination’ was PHOT, which comes from the Greek phos, the same word that we get photograph from.
A shabti (or ushabti) is a figure placed in a pharaoh’s tomb to tend to his needs in the afterlife. At 97dn ‘Tutankhamen’s tomb figurines’ was SHABTIS but again there were a few blank spaces.
During the 2008 Olympic Games TIANANMEN Square was a place of music and performance in contrast to the confronting images the world still remembers from the 1989 protests. In the Stinker, 210ac was ‘Beijing’s … Square’ but a few had TIANAMMEN, which is an incorrect spelling.
Over in the Baffler another Chinese reference caught out a few of you. For ‘Madame Mao’s Gang of FOUR’ some of you added another member and opted to put FIVE. Jiang Qing, wife of Mao Zedong, was the most noted of this gang.
If you put FIVE then PUNTA could not fit for ‘Chile’s … Arenas’. This settlement on the Straits of Magellan is famous for claiming to be the world’s southernmost city.
Lerner and Loewe were a famous song-writing team who gave us Brigadoon, Camelot and My Fair Lady. In some Baffler entries ‘Lerner’s song-writing partner’ came out incorrectly as LOEUE and LOEWS.
If you got through the Baffler, enjoying the bafflement along the way, the bottom right-hand corner held a tricky clue. ‘Post Soviet bloc’ referred to the association of Russia and eleven other states formed in 1991 known as the Commonwealth of Independent States or CIS. Some of you took a stab at CIA but we could not accept that.
In the Cashwords at 126ac OSTRACISE was misspelt as OSTRACICE a few times. Others to watch for, MOMENTARY not MOMENTERY (50dn), OBSOLETE, not OBSELETE (245dn) and INCARCERATE not INCARCARATE (129dn).
Enjoy celebrating Colossus’s pearl anniversary with this edition of new colossal challenges.