Where did this info. come from ?

[Graham Shaw]

What’s a sane sailor ? JS

Hooray I've got a Quiz question right,I think! It's a French fisherman on that river in Paris!

[Graham Shaw]

For those like me who like a quick cryptic crossword,here's two clues with a bit of a nautical flavour from my morning paper. Answers on a postcard please as they used to say,or in this thread if it's quicker.


1/.Correct dosages for old sailors (3,4)

2/.A rope initially held by end that's over lasso (6)

[j.sabourn]

Pc 1. Rum tots. Still thinking about pc 2. JS. Thought 2 pc lariat ??? JS

[Red Lead Ted]

Number 2 Graham a LARIAT, Terry.

[Red Lead Ted]

Pc 1. Rum tots. Still thinking about pc 2. JS. Thought 2 pc lariat ??? JS

Soz I.S. I never read your answer to number 2, Terry.

[j.sabourn]

Doesn’t matter Terry I beleive you , we all cheat though especially with the wine women and song . Especially those who say mines bigger than yours . JS

[Graham Shaw]

Number 2 Graham a LARIAT, Terry.

Good Terry. Now ,care to explain the cryptic clue?

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Pc 1. Rum tots. Still thinking about pc 2. JS. Thought 2 pc lariat ??? JS

Not rum tots John,remember they're cryptic,not just general knowledge -but LARIAT is correct !
Graham

[thomas michael]

hi john sabourn#10
that question my be the all encapsulating enigma, as is what came first the chicken or the egg, because insanity is defined by a person doing the same thing over and over again,and finding the same answer.
for a typical seaman signs on a ship gets paid off gets drunk and resigns on again,and again until one day for some reason the madness stops,was there anything ive missed out.
tom

[Red Lead Ted]

Good Terry. Now ,care to explain the cryptic clue?

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Not rum tots John,remember they're cryptic,not just general knowledge -but LARIAT is correct !
Graham

Graham first a stab at number 1 Old Salt,

Hee is a possible cryptic clue for number 2......Rope with noose at rail in knots (6)

[Graham Shaw]

OK. LARIAT is the correct answer of course for No.2 and you are both right,whoever came first ! but remember any cryptic crossword solver would solve that without special knowledge, like being a seaman for instance, just by having a general knowledge and arriving at the answer cryptically i.e.playing with the words and letters and their many meanings.
A cryptic crossword looks unfathomable to nearly all of us at first.My father couldn't do them,neither could my partner be even bothered to learn how to do them. I got to the tender age of about 30 before I thought-I'm going to master a cryptic crossword even if it kills me! On one very long voyage I did we carried the 15 yr.old daughter of the Chief Eng.Naturally she brought along her schoolwork plus she was always doing cryptic crosswords.She taught me over the next few weeks how to do them,giving me lots of examples to do.In return I taught her how to play Chess,which she had never bothered to learn.That's the way to spend your off-duty time at sea!

Anyway,let me take that question 2 and try to explain(always the difficult part)

Crossword Clue A rope initially held by end that's over lasso? (6)
We know the answer now is LARIAT-but how?

OK 1. a rope initially = a plus r (initial letters of the two words)
.2.'held by end that's over'---this could mean taking another word for end e.g tail. that's over usually means that word,in this case tail, is over(reversed = liat.
3.held usually means the first part of the question 'ar' is contained in the reversed word i.e.LIAT so it becomes L (ar)IAT.- which is finally verified by the last word of the clue,which is lasso !

Maybe that wasn't the easiest example to give.Quite often the answer could be the forming of a new word by joining two words together in the clue like motorcar petrol to give carpet
or it could simply be an anagram of a word,which brings me nicely to Q1 of my puzzle-yes it 's an anagram.

'Correct dosages for old sailors '(3,4)
Can you find the answer?