Comments on Crossword Unclued: Initial Letter Gambits

@Tony: Bingo. Nowadays UK crosswords are slightly ...

2009-11-27T09:36:53.104+05:30

@Tony: Bingo. Nowadays UK crosswords are slightly relaxed about the definition-by-example rule, when there's a fair chance of the answer being obtainable without indication.

@maddy: POETS it is. You're right, it's not easy if one doesn't know that Burns is a proper noun. I was solving this with the grid a few days ago, this clue was one of the last to fall.

Nokia 3310 was also my phone of choice for years, till it became a joke of sorts to be carrying this model.

Burns bridges, for example (but extra capital is n...

2009-11-27T08:31:01.709+05:30

Burns bridges, for example (but extra capital is needed) - Poets??(Robert Burns and Robert Bridges)
Extra capital implies 'b' in briges to be capitalised.

Clever clue, Could get it because I knew Burns had to be a proper noun and Robert Burns was the first name that came to my mind. Auld Lang Syne being one of my Fav tunes. I remember it used to be the ring tone of my first mobile ( the vintage Nokia 3310 )many many yrs ago.
Would have been much more difficult in a regular grid

TJ808: G[r]EEK Though I'd've preferred som...

2009-11-27T00:05:03.716+05:30

TJ808: G[r]EEK
Though I'd've preferred something like "Attic perhaps" to clue "Greek". Definitely a British clue, since in the US we only use "anorak" to refer to the jacket.

24 Ram to break into conversation (4,2) BUTT IN Th...

2009-11-26T16:33:03.180+05:30

24 Ram to break into conversation (4,2) BUTT IN
That's a nice clue! One of those cases where a DD has overlapping meanings, but the clue is still pleasing.

I touch upon this trick of making the opening word look like a proper noun, in the previous post False Capitalization.

In this post you talk about the clue-writer's ...

2009-11-26T15:16:00.235+05:30

In this post you talk about the clue-writer's trick of concealing the fact that the opening word is a proper name.

The converse may also be true: that is the trick where a proper name is not a proper name. And if the proper name is at the start of the clue sentence taking a capital letter in its own right and in the additional right as the beginning of a sentence, the concealment takes a few more moments to unravel itself.

Here is a clue in a Hindu Crossword by Gridman:

24 Ram to break into conversation (4,2) (THC 8275)