A New Connecting Wall
Wednesday, August 12 2009
I’ve just been sent this by Dan B, and I thought perhaps it’s time we had one more.
For newcomers: you need to divide these 16 clues into four *connected* groups of four, and say what the connections are. It works like the final round of the quiz show Only Connect: there may be red herrings and false groups, but there should be only one perfect solution where all four groups work. I haven’t tried this one myself yet but it looks very clever…
RUBY / WAX / TROUBLE / FRAME
POPE / GREGORY / STUD / MUFFIN
KHYBER / PASS / CHARGES / ATTRACTION
GANG / NEEDLE / CRICKET / TEAM
Comments
Dan says:
August 12th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
wax, frame, team, needle - work
Dan says:
August 12th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Dare I say it? Mule?
Muffin, stud mule, The Pope’s Mule (a book), and Ruby Mule (a purported cocktail).
But this is probably wrong.
Jo says:
August 12th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
I’ll be very surprised if this is right, but here goes:
WAX/FRAME/TEAM/NEEDLE - Ends in work
STUD/PASS/GANG/CHARGES - Begins with press
RUBY/GREGORY/TROUBLE/KHYBER - Cockney rhyming slang (Ruby Murray, Gregory Peck, Trouble and strife, Khyber pass)
POPE/MUFFIN/ATTRACTION/CRICKET - Backing bands (singular versions)
Dan Boxall says:
August 12th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Jo! First ball of the over! Absolutely bang on. Good work!
MarkP says:
August 12th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
It’s a bit late but this is my attempt at a grid
BROAD / BATH / FILM / CADDY
ARENA / RABBIT / READING / LITTLE
HALL / PRIDE / FOX / SLIPKNOT
OPERA / DERBY / CHARLES I / FLOCK
David Young says:
August 13th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Watching Monday’s show made me glad I never appeared on the show. I’ve not felt that stupid in a long time ... not since I last played bridge anyway.
The race track on Top Gear names its bends? Chaff means tease? Who knows these things? Who picks out four words from sixteen and notices that they end in boys names (Fluke/Luke)???
Same time next week.
ps - Can I put in a good word for the Swedish show that comes afterwards? “Wallander” is excellent. Don’t miss.
David Bodycombe says:
August 13th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Although “official” OC walls don’t use more than one prefix/suffix-type clue, I thought Dan B’s wall was very good especially in the gimmick of the two-word phrases. Good work!
>The race track on Top Gear names its bends?
This is a perfect example of the paradox of “popularity”. Probably well over 10million people watch that show, BBC2’s highest-rating, on a semi-regular basis or more. I think that makes it more than fair game, but equally it does mean that some 50 million Britons will be mystified.
Peter H says:
August 13th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Monday’s show was chronicles of ridiclously difficult. Think I got like two questions right but the grey-silver ensemble worn by Ms Coren was tres chic.
Brian says:
August 14th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
I also found OC absurdly hard on Monday (and tweeted halfway through, a little intemperately - sorry about that), but that’s why it’s a team game. On Tuesday I found that my former teammate Keith could have got a few of the connections I had no idea of (eg the Billy Joel song) and so between us, we might have been ok. The teams that win are the ones that have a spread of knowledge and listen to each other.
Victoria Coren says:
August 15th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Nobody’s having a go at Mark’s grid! Maybe it’s too hard? I can’t find any groups in there myself.. maybe something to do with books, but that’s about as far as I’ve got. Mark, perhaps we need a clue - or even for you to give us one of the groups to start off with..
MarkP says:
August 15th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Ooh, can I do an OC type reveal and say the groups are
BROAD / LITTLE / HALL / CHARLES I
BATH / FILM / READING / PRIDE
ARENA / SLIPKNOT / OPERA / FLOCK
CADDY / FOX / DERBY / RABBIT
And for an extra point…
Smylers says:
August 15th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
The Wikipedia page on “slipknot” reveals “SlipKnot” to be the name of an early web browser. Opera is a browser, as is Flock.
I didn’t think “Fox” as an abbreviation of “Firefox” was fair, but “Arena” seemed like the kind of thing a web browser would be called; I even guessed it may be related to Amaya (on the somewhat flimsy basis of them both starting and ending with “A”), and Wikipedia again shows that to be true.
So that leaves:
BROAD / BATH / FILM / CADDY
RABBIT / READING / LITTLE / HALL
PRIDE / FOX / DERBY / CHARLES I
Smylers says:
August 15th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Ah, I see that while I was researching web browsers Mark posted the groups.
Stuart Broad is a cricketer. Stuart Little is a mouse. Stuart Hall hosted ‘It’s a Knockout’. And Charles I was from the House of Stuart. So they’re all Stuarts.
Victoria Coren says:
August 15th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Is this one
BATH / FILM / READING / PRIDE
festival?
if so it would leave only CADDY / FOX / DERBY / RABBIT to be solved (assuming Smylers is right. Thanks for your grid too Smylers - but can’t put it up til the outstanding one is solved...)
MarkP says:
August 15th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Yes, well done Smylers and Victoria all correct…
Clyde says:
August 15th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
Are CADDY / FOX / DERBY / RABBIT something to do with Volkswagen?
Suzanne says:
August 15th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
If caddy / fox / derby / rabbit is the last group then the connection is they are all types of Volkswagen.
MarkP says:
August 15th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
Yes, the final group being all models of VW cars. Too much time spent driving I fear and I changed Golf to its American counterpart of Rabbit because I thought it might be too easy
Smylers says:
August 15th, 2009 at 11:45 pm
Here’s my attempt at a puzzle. I tried its initial version on a couple of friends (who’d seen ‘Only Connect’) last week, and have made a few modifications based on their feedback:
EDGWARE / BANK / MONUMENT / OVAL
PHARMACY / MILLENNIUM / EVANS / WEMBLEY
HAYMARKET / ACKROYD / ST JAMES PARK / LIST
MCGINTY / NAME / CRYSTAL PALACE / WALLSEND
Jimmy Arrier says:
August 16th, 2009 at 1:15 am
Seems all a bit London orientated but....I think PHARMACY/BANK/NAME/LIST is linked by Lloyds.
David Young says:
August 16th, 2009 at 3:28 am
Edgware, Evans, McGinty, Ackroyd
all characters appearing in the title of an Agatha Christie novel.
Smylers says:
August 16th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Jimmy and David: Correct; those are both groups.
(And what do you mean London-oriented?!)
AndytheDealer says:
August 16th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
OVAL / CRYSTAL PALACE / MILLENIUM / WEMBLEY
are all venues that have staged the F.A. CUP Final.
Leaving, HAYMARKET / ST JAMES PARK / MONUMENT / WALLSEND, which I think are all stations on the Tyne and Wear Metro.
Rain says:
August 16th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
The Oval, Millennium Stadium, Wembley and Crystal Palace have all hosted FA Cup Finals....and I think the other four might be a Newcastle connection. Wallsend, Haymarket Theatre, St James Park and the Monument to Earl Grey.
Smylers says:
August 16th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Andy and Rain: Well done, that’s correct.
See, no London connection at all! Though the misdirection with Tube stations served as a clue to the Metro connection ...
MarkP says:
August 16th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Have you checked St James’ Park (Newcastle) on Google maps? I’m shocked and outraged…I wonder if this was some prank by a Sunderland fan.
Jimmy Arrier says:
August 16th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
It was just a first impression that Edgware (rd,tube station), Bank (of England, tube station), Monument (tube station), (Kennington) Oval, Wembley, Haymarket (nr Piccadilly?), St James Park, Crystal Palace, Lloyds (of London) seemed to indicate a capital flavour to your grid.
Nothing wrong whatsoever with that - and being a Scot, I completely missed the Newcastle connection....Doh
David Bodycombe says:
August 17th, 2009 at 12:07 am
Smylers - another excellent grid. Please send me your address to david (at) qwertyuiop.co.uk and I’ll send you a prize.
(JB - yours is in the post)
DJB
Ace says:
August 18th, 2009 at 6:22 am
NANA/RAY/CREAM/TEA
JUST/MORE/AGAIN/FOURTH
PTANG/YANG/KIPPER/BANG
Victoria Coren says:
August 18th, 2009 at 10:13 am
That’s a joke one, isn’t it…
Ace says:
August 18th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
The Answers are, as follows…
Cake
William
uur (the sound one would make hooting a clowns nose, sorry I’m terrible at spelling sounds)
:)
Hardhhhat says:
August 19th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Great show. I prefer our OC to the USA OC :o) will take a look at the walls and see if I can’t make one up myself. I don’t know anyone else who watches OC - where are they all? When I mention it to friends I just get that working out Pi to the millionth digit in their head kind of expression.
hardhhhat says:
August 19th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Well here is my first attempt at a connect wall:
NEWMARKET- FOCUS - CORK - STONES
RUG - MALLOW - MIRROR - VINYL
MILLSTREET - PIN - FLASH - MAT
STOCK - CARPET - CHARLEVILLE - SHUTTER
Hope it’s not too easy or too hard for you.
HH
baby fish says:
August 20th, 2009 at 8:55 am
Think I’m pretty sure of the categories, not sure if I’ve got the right words in each ...
Co Cork: Newmarket, Charleville, Newmarket, Mallow
Camera parts: Flash, Focus, Shutter, Mirror
Rolling :Stones, Pin, Stock, Mat
Floor covering: Carpet, Rug, Cork, Vinyl
Ian says:
August 20th, 2009 at 9:22 am
You may be tickled to learn that a bunch of American puzzle nerds adore the show (although we don’t do so well on questions about, say, Chancellors of the Exchequer.) We’ve been writing our own questions all summer; here are a few:
Round 1 style:
knickknack, razzamatazz, stresslessness, pizzazz
compulsion to move, I adjust, the king is dead, in passing
testament, angered, laudatory, yea
(pictures) job seeker, ambulance chaser, Groundskeeper Willie, eggbeater
Round 2 style:
Prop, But, Pent, ?
Alexander the Great, Aristotle, Plato, ?
Tongue-tied, puckering up for a kiss, sad face, ?
Hitler: 1, Goering: 2, Himmler: 2, ?
Dan Boxall says:
August 20th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Round 1:
Not sure if this is the answer you’re after, but it’s right! The first lot are all words it’s impossible to make in a game of scrabble.
The next lot are English translations of French chess terms.
Round 2:
Hex(ane)
-
-
Goebbels: 0 (number of reputed testicles in the old song)
Hardhhhat says:
August 20th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Babyfish: nice work, seems it was either too easy or you are on the same wavelength :o) was fun though - keep em peeled I may be back for more.
HH
Rain says:
August 20th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Rnd 2/2 is probably Socrates, as each was the prize pupil of the next in the list.
And as for 2/3, well I just don’t want to go there, as it takes me back all too depressingly to my teens....
Ian says:
August 21st, 2009 at 8:54 am
All of those answers are correct. 1/1 is words that are legal (in the OSPD) but unplayable. Two of the terms in 1/2 are German and Persian.
1/3 is quite hard, but “yea” is supposed to be the giveaway. For 1/4, think kid literature; for 2/3, think Internet chatting. (and my players made the same joke about it being the sequence of events on a bad date!)
Hardhhhat says:
August 21st, 2009 at 11:37 am
Hi,
Thought I’d try another connect wall for you - hopefully a little tougher than the last one :o)
Beatbox - Men - God - Maker
Organise - Launch procedure - Tapping - Tumble
Vexed morpheme - Turntablism - Chained - Benn
Solo brigde - Toga - Third bridge - Shore
How come the BBC haven’t got any online flash Only Connect games?
Hardhhhat says:
August 21st, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Ian,
is 1/3 all anagrams of the word that still has the same/similar meaning?
Testament - Statement
Angered - Enraged
Laudatroy - Adulatory
Yea - Aye
MarkP says:
August 22nd, 2009 at 10:10 am
MEN / GOD / BENN/ TUMBLE – All Mr
BEATBOX / TAPPING / TURNTABLISM / THIRD BRIDGE – something to do with altering sounds?
Hardhhhat says:
August 23rd, 2009 at 4:39 pm
MarkP.
You have one correct group:
BEATBOX / TAPPING / TURNTABLISM / THIRD BRIDGE - All extended musical techniques.
The Mr one is close but not right - they are a specific type of Mr and you don’t have the correct 4.
HH
MarkP says:
August 23rd, 2009 at 8:33 pm
I’m going to stick with the Mr theme and say
MEN/ BENN / TUMBLE / MAKER
I’m guessing they’re kids TV shows Mr Men, the wonderful Mr Benn and Mr Tumble, and cbeebies says there is a show called Mr Maker.
suzanne says:
August 23rd, 2009 at 10:50 pm
benn, maker, tumble and men - all types of mr with a relation to childrens tv and or books
MarkP says:
August 23rd, 2009 at 11:19 pm
Also would these be descriptions of TV shows?
Launch procedure = Countdown
Shore = Coast
Solo bridge = Only Connect
Hardhhhat says:
August 24th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
MarkP and Suzanne are both on the money with the Kids TV Mr.’s, well done.
You have Only Connect and Countdown right but Shore is a different group. So you now have 2 for another connection… ah this one is a little harder than my first attempt it seems.
Nice working out so far.
HH
Pax says:
August 24th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
How about four anagrams for animals: god/dog, toga/goat, shore/horse and chained echidna
- could the vexed morpheme be ER?
MarkP says:
August 24th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
The only other thing I can see is anagrams of animals
Toga = Goat
God = Dog
Shore = horse
Pax says:
August 25th, 2009 at 12:31 am
organise: Law and Order a bit too wordy perhaps?
Pax says:
August 25th, 2009 at 1:15 am
organise: maybe mastermind is better
hardhhhat says:
August 25th, 2009 at 10:42 am
Seems you guys in a roundabout way have the answers:
Kids’ TV Mr.’s - Tumble, Benn, Men, Maker
Animal anagrams - Goat, Dog, Horse & Echidna
Extended Musical Techniques - Tapped, Beatbox, Turntablism & Third bridge
Quizzes - Only Connect/Solo bridge, Mastermind/Organise, Countdown/Launch procedure and the one that everyone missed Crossword/Vexed Morpheme
Well done everyone, that was fun - maybe need to work on the first attempt (too easy) and this one (too hard) and get somewhere in the middle. Hope you liked it.
Later,
HH