Help! 55 Down "inexpensive Writing Instruments" ...

[Dickkooty2]

… 4 letters. 55 across is "Swiss city that borders Switzerland and Germany" (5 letters). I was hoping someone could help me out. These danged NYT puzzles … and Saturday is always the hardest.

 

Let me know. I am doing the puzzle with a recently arrived Pel M200 with gray marble barrel and black cap. The pen was a political party gift emblazoned with the name in hand-writing "Roman Herzog", the first president of the reunited Germany in 1990.

Edited April 19, 2014 by Dickkooty2

[basterma]

Bern?

[peecee57]

I'm pretty sure it is BASEL if i remember my geography

[basepaired]

Bics?

[Cryptos]

The answer is "Pens". It's in the clue. "In...exPENSive writing instruments" - add a comma after "inexpensive" as this will clarify the meaning of the clue.

 

Where I used to work in the UK there was a small group of us that would get a copy of The Times, The Telegraph and the The Guardian newspapers, photocopy the cryptic crossword and then compete to complete. Learned a lot of words and some of the techniques of clue construction. Haven't done that in years though.

Edited April 19, 2014 by Cryptos

[mhguda]

Biro and Basel?

[Runnin_Ute]

Can't be Basel - a word that is 5 letters long, the answer is 4 letters long.

[soapytwist]

Can't be Basel - a word that is 5 letters long, the answer is 4 letters long.

 

No, the Swiss city clue is five letters long (see OP). If Basel doesn't fit, the French spelling is Basle (and the English also tend to spell it that way as well).

[Dickkooty2]

,,, and the fills are:

 

http://s271.photobucket.com/user/dick168/media/ScreenShot2014-04-19at34411PM_zps2a483705.png.html?filters[user]=139176284&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0

 

Monsieur Bic! Purveyor to the hoi polloi. And Basel where a machine will draw a picture for you to its own rhythm at the Museum Tinguely. I think it is using Sanfords.

 

http://s271.photobucket.com/user/dick168/media/P1020562_zps1d03d3af.jpg.html

[Dickkooty2]

Biro and Basel?

… is a great answer.'Biro' is an entirely fitting name for anyt ball point and a recognition of Laszlo Biro, its' Hungarian father. When iI was working the world, it was a word that was a quick way of getting something with which to write. However, it is not widely used in the States. So a US crossword is going to reference Bic. When I was a lad, when the ballpoint first appeared, it was called a Reynolds, that being the only brand. I also served a term as officeboy to an attorney;s firm … but that's a different story.

[Cryptos]

My bad, I thought you were doing a cryptic crossword... <smacks forehead>

[mhguda]

… is a great answer.'Biro' is an entirely fitting name for anyt ball point and a recognition of Laszlo Biro, its' Hungarian father. When iI was working the world, it was a word that was a quick way of getting something with which to write. However, it is not widely used in the States. So a US crossword is going to reference Bic. When I was a lad, when the ballpoint first appeared, it was called a Reynolds, that being the only brand. I also served a term as officeboy to an attorney;s firm … but that's a different story.

Thanks. I had come across the word on FPN, as a matter of fact. And I did not make the connection that it had to be a word likely to be known in the US, and that biro would not be... so, thanks for another small tidbit/trivia to add to the mountain...

It comes in handy when playing scrabble. English language scrabble is fun when the two of you are non-native speakers hailing from completely different languages...

[ceac]

BASEL

[Namo]

No, the Swiss city clue is five letters long (see OP). If Basel doesn't fit, the French spelling is Basle (and the English also tend to spell it that way as well).

French name fort Basel is Bâle. Can't do crosswords in my own language, soomahone in English...