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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » And now… our inaugural New Year’s Day Crossword
politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » And now… our inaugural New Year’s Day Crossword
It is with some considerable trepidation that I step into the estimable shoes of stjohn, who has provided us with splendid Christmas Day cruciverbalism for the last six years. Fear not, stjohn is merely resting, and may well be setting more puzzles in future. If this offering gets his famous “nod” then we may even collaborate on a jumbo sometime!
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7D is Ed Balls
23A is Reassure
Back later, gotta feed the kids!
@SeanT = I noticed you mentioned Grey's Anatomy, S9. It's actually now on S10, NCIS is on S11 too and most watched US TV show. Smallville reached S10 as did JAG [which I thought was total rubbish]. For comparison - X-Files reached S9.
Supernatural is on S9 and signed for S10 - currently highest rating in it's slot. It has an enormous fandom - there's about 10000 fanfic stories/screenplays online for just 2 of the characters, plus thousands of others.
If you haven't seen it - horror, drama/comedy.
One of my favourite scenes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr-zvI4tRBM
Thanks to Miss Price for doing the crossword. Hope the offspring is doing well [and that I haven't said this to the wrong person. Bit sleepy].
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25564943
"The archbishop said people accused the Church of being political when it spoke about heating bills or insecurity in families, but he insisted that such issues were not so much a matter of politics as fulfilling the commandment to love your neighbour. "
I wonder what the reasoning behind tax breaks for religion is, given (I think) it was written that that which is Caesar's should be given unto Caesar (ie pay your taxes). Not so much a go at the Church, but more Scientology and the idiots who have decided religions can be self-defined. Allowing self-definition of a nebulous nature which grants oneself a tax break is just nuts.
On the plus side, this means you didn't have to get pregnant.
Like Plato, am just catching up on the threads since Christmas; (there I was fully occupied by 7,5 and 2,5 year old girls and a 3-month old grandson as well as potato bashing. Did find time to amuse the children by raiding the garden shed and kitchen to make some crystals that went bang when anyone stepped on them). Children thought it great fun to put the crystals outside the ground floor lavatory.
Thanks to Antifrank for his bold predictions - I shall post some different ones later. Have now downloaded the crossword (thank you TP) and trying not to spill coffee on it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-25530430
A bit near the end caught my attention:
"Today, what they call independence as outlined in the White Paper that came out at the end of last year could be described as more like a confederal arrangement within these isles."
Professor Mitchell says that ministers in the Scottish government would like to see "close working relations" with London after a yes vote.
"It's not a complete break," he says, "it's not separation as of old. It's a more complex relationship but they still insist on calling it independence."
Given the SNP's odd desire for monetary union, the above would seem an accurate (at least partially) description of what they're after. The problem is, that's not something the English, Welsh, or Northern Irish (politicians or public) are being asked.
My fear remains not that Scotland will become independent (though I'd prefer No to win), but that Yes wins and we get an acrimonious break-up.
Could this be a #HAPPYNEWYEAR for #UKIP as they aim to have more members than the #LIBDEMS
http://ukgeneralelection2015.blogspot.com/2013/12/will-ukip-mambership-overtake-libdems.html?spref=tw …
Details
General Election @UKELECTIONS2015 5m
#HAPPYNEWYEAR for the #SNP as they have a 8% lead over #LABOUR
according to the #SCOTSMAN
http://ukgeneralelection2015.blogspot.com/2013/12/scotsman-poll-gives-snp-8pt-lead.html?spref=tw …
Details
Financier - Grant-Maintained and Radii are right (there are two radii in a diameter, which is a circle's longest chord, and of course you'll find a radius in your forearm). Yardage not correct.
Moniker - yes, Etonian; anagram of nation, after E [excellent leader]
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ukip/10544693/Nigel-Farage-Expect-a-huge-political-shake-up-in-2014.html
The Scottish part of Britain should not get to vote in the GE. That would be simplest, fairest and best, but I'm not sure it would happen.
15 across Elder Statesman (anagram of daren't meet lass)
16 down Adele (anagram of lead and E for English)
http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/wider-political-news/no-mid-term-blues-as-snp-stay-ahead-in-holyrood-poll.23073959
http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/panelbase-poll-shows-snp-8-points-ahead-of-labour-1-3251567
But until the details are out perhaps best to wait and see.
I think 19 across is Advertisements
Sandra - all correct - Adele recorded the albums 19 & 21, and "Advertisements" is a double-definition (slightly cryptic) - they're what you see at half-time in e.g. football on telly and also PPBs are ads. Yardman very nearly correct!
Sushi = Sus (Suss less an S [Discover incomplete]) + HI ("short form of latest union member" i.e. Hawaii). Some varieties of sushi have the fish on top.
19 down Addling? (roman L in adding)
Union = NUT Liberals = LLL Opponents = O
Alanbrooke - not quite, but you're on the right track...
they own it - sounds like there
Sorry to hark back to the last thread but another source of info on the Labour vote is Lord Ashcroft's excellent "Red Alert" report, which looked at Labour loyalists, joiners and considerers - http://lordashcroftpolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Red-Alert-full-poll-tables.pdf
It's a little out of date but you can see data on all those voters "joining" Labour, not just the former Lib Dem voters.
Two things stand out - firstly that Labour loyalists and joiners (including non-Lib Dems) have remarkably similar opinions on the government and party leaders, which adds to the thinking that they will stick with Miliband when asked to do so. But the other point to note (and a potentially big problem) is that these "joiners" include a big slice of voters that didn't vote at all in 2010 and will be unlikely to turnout in 2015.
40% of Labour's current vote (or at least as it was in October 2012) is made up from non-Labour voters; and 39% of these "joiners" are former Lib Dems while 41% did not vote at the last election. Which is why only 55% of these joiners are certain to vote at the next election according to Ashcroft's report (compare to the figure of 78% for the former Lib Dems in Mike's piece yesterday). For the non-Lib Dem joiners the percentage certain to vote is likely to be similar to the "considerers" in Ashcroft's research (half of these "don't know" and didn't vote last time), which is 29%.
How many of these voters will stick around and actually vote at the election in 2015? You could argue they are already accounted for in certain polling (like Ipsos Mori), but I don't think other pollsters like YouGov account for these sorts of voters.
iron = golfing iron on target
Only 5 to go now, by my reckoning, 6/18/24 down and 14/26 across.
as = since
plus serve = shot with ti = it reversed.
Alanbrooke, yes, as you say
but i can't get the opponent reference.
punting = racehorses
I think I have clearly stated that polls are crap , weighted wrong etc and I personally do not believe in them generally , I have never as you have stated ever suggested that they are deliberately fixed
The wordplay is IN SIS, TED...
Well done all, especially Sandra, Moniker & Alanbrooke. Happy New Year!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-25557989
Quelle surprise!
If so: I must do my ironing for tomorrow....
Especially hoping OSR's bets come in on Spurs this week.... and not mine...
Hope you had a good Hogmanay and all's well with the family.
"Interesting poll that.
Constituency seats:
SNP 40%
Lab 32%
Con 15%
Lib 5%
Other 8%
List seats:
SNP 40%
Lab 31%
Con 14%
Lib 5%
Green 5%
Other 5%
When you thump that lot in the Scotland Votes site, we get:
SNP 58 (-11)
Lab 43 (+6)
Con 19 (+4)
Lib 5 (n/c)
Green 3 (+1)
Ind. 1 (n/c)"
If Stuart Dickinson can clarify the figures.
Not as bad a poll for Labour as it first looks.
Happy New Year all by the way.
He greets Romanians at airport. LOL
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2532062/British-companies-advertise-5-000-jobs-Romania-doors-open-EU-migrant-workers.html
That Farage article you posted is interesting. He really is very bullish...
I remember you mentioning The Walking Dead - you may find this amusing - the Honest Trailer for it. There are several very very funny ones - Skyfall and IronMan 3 had me aching with laughter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNxvo8AcpQQ
By contrast Britain pretended things weren't so bad, poured itself another drink and sat down to do some more internet shopping.
HNY etc
I initially had 25 down as Say If, which also almost works. Fantasy = Say If. State = say, I =I, initially find = F. But interesting is left over.
2 down was my favourite.
Happy New Year to all PBers
Had the Police as first footers at the front door at 12.25 this morning, with a drunk reveller in their car, who had claimed he lived in the house. Reassured the policeman that I wasn't expecting guests.
Did Southam Observer enjoy his haunch of venison. I'm sure he would have loved to have followed Norman Tebbit's recipe.
"London is like a locomotive, and it is pulling the rest of the country out of the swamp. We are lucky to have such an engine. Of course some of the boom is illusory, but not all of it."
Until we stop living £100bn beyond our means every year or manage to run a single month's trade surplus or get productivity rising again or stop socioeconomic mobility falling or build a dozen proper power stations things will be getting worse.
Now that's not to say things might not feel that bad as Britain is so drugged up on wealth consumption we live in a permanent economic feel good haze.
But this question, which I first asked here in 2007:
We're competing against peoples who are as intelligent and educated as we are and who are prepared to work harder for less money and under fewer restrictions than we do so how do we maintain our far higher living standards ?
has still not received an answer.
The only difference between 2007 and 2014 is that Britain has become much weaker economically while our new competitors have become much stronger.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2531622/People-religious-spiritual-thicker-brains-Those-believe-god-deeper-outer-layer.html
Do you think turning to God could protect you from a hangover?
Sean Pity those in northern France, both a stagnant economy like southern Europe, but without the sun the Italians, Spanish and Greeks get!
And we're certainly not going to be the largest economy in Europe by 2030 unless we start building a dozen power stations this year.
The place to see torpor, and general decline, in Britain isn't central London (or city centres elsewhere) its in the industrial estates and middle suburbias.
We can either change our policies to try and encourage a more balanced economy, or at some point we will be forced by foreigners not being so keen to buy our debt to change abruptly and painfully (like, say, the Irish or the Spanish were between 2009 and 2013).
You might also like the CinemaSins channel (although you may well have seen it already).