Beekeeper Crosswords Themed Puzzles from Beekeeper Labs

September 3, 2008

Puzzle #61: “Rail Terminus”

Filed under: Uncategorized — @ 6:11 am

 

Title: Rail Terminus
Difficulty: Wednesday
Download: Across Lite or printable PNG (w/ solution)

4 Comments

  1. OK – your dumb Mom finished the puzzle, but can’t figure out the theme… elucidate, please.

    Comment by Mom — September 7, 2008 @ 9:04 pm

  2. I must admit to being a bit perplexed as well. I know that the title, “Rail Terminus”, refers to “el” (as in elevated railway) being tacked on to the end of one of the words in the theme entries. But the meaning of one clues escapes me.

    I understand HALF PASTEL for [Mixed media portrait?], TAKE A VOWEL for [Perform a game show purchase] and even NEWEL SLANT for [Sign of a decrepit staircase].

    But, when the phrase “hand-made” becomes HANDEL-MADE, the clue is [Water music?]. What does water have to do with Handel or the making of his music?

    Comment by Tuning Spork — September 9, 2008 @ 4:24 pm

  3. Welcome back, Spork. I’ve missed the puzzle updates over on your blog.

    I’ve always heard that if you have to explain a joke, you’ve already failed, so maybe I shouldn’t bother explaining. However, of all of the theme answers, the one you reference is the one that I thought was most straightforward. Your description of the theme is dead-on, of course — it was a bit obscure but not necessary to getting the theme entries. The clue in question was actually ‘Like “Water Music”‘. A quick search on the Google confirms that, of the 4 million entries for “Water Music”, 500,000 reference Handel directly — it really *is* a quite famous orchestral work. (I had considered instead using ‘Like “Music for the Royal Fireworks”‘, but I worry that Across Lite sometimes gets ugly about displaying long clues.)

    It just goes to show that you can never judge what any given solver will find simple or obscure. It’s a thankless task, but I’d never give it up.

    Comment by Keeper — September 9, 2008 @ 6:31 pm

  4. It just goes to show that you can never judge what any given solver will find simple or obscure. It’s a thankless task, but I’d never give it up.

    I’ve always considered myself to be reasonably versed in the classics. (Not well versed but versed.) Yet I’d never heard of “Water Music” by Handel. Your mention of fireworks led me to believe that I’d prolly heard the thing a thousand times yet just never knew the name of it.

    So I went to YouTube and, lo and behold, it’s still something I’ve (literally!) never heard of.

    Nope. Doesn’t ring a bell.

    So, yer right. Or, as my mom would say, Just shows t’go ya.

    Comment by Tuning Spork — September 12, 2008 @ 8:09 pm

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