One quiz at a time

[Glenn E.]

1. Three men and one of their other halves went to London.
2. The "other half" was not JDAW's wife or AHB's wife and was not DRT's wife when she arrived.
3. An oath was sworn.
4. We haven't ruled out a wedding.

It was impressive of the next poster to see through this cryptic clue.

I decided that it was time to put the question out of its misery. That said, I did take each of the elements of the cryptic clue from previous clues, some of which had already been mentioned more than once. This was not our finest hour in terms of deciphering clues. Time to move on.

Unfortunately, given that more than half of the usual potential guessers were all aware of the answer, and one of the most prolific guessers has gone AWOL, it dragged on rather. Note to team: no more questions to which most people already know the answer.

Oh, have we stopped playing the "torment the questioner" game? Sorry, I was still playing that one.

(I'd figured out it was probably a marriage ceremony, but couldn't figure out who because as I mentioned I thought Derek and Jo were already married.)

[Glenn E.]

What was the first thing I did on our first full day on Skye? (Obviously not including such dross as sleep, get out of bed too late for breakfast, clean teeth, etc.)

Had breakfast at Starbucks?

They have those in Skye, right?

[jdaw1]

Had breakfast

No fails the ‘dross’ criterion.

Whatever it was, was done before eating. (Unless I had some of the shortbread we had bought on the drive from Inverness can’t remember, not important.)

[AW77]

You bought a bottle of Talisker Whisky to use as a
nightcap over the course of the week.

[jdaw1]

You bought a bottle of Talisker Whisky to use as a
nightcap over the course of the week.

A fine guess, already known to be wrong:

Purchased a bottle of whisky?

Purchasing two bottles was done on the first day, and done at the distillery, but was not the first thing done.

Careful study of the question might be rewarding.

[Glenn E.]

Looked at a map to figure out how to drive to Talisker?

[djewesbury]

You went swimming in Loch Snizort. Very bracing at this time of year. And justifies the whisky in your porridge.

[jdaw1]

You went swimming in Loch Snizort. Very bracing at this time of year.

Yes.

We walked out of the hotel, along the river, looking for somewhere to swim. A local was seen, and later another, to both whom I marched briskly and asked ‟if, hypothetically, somebody wanted to swim in the river, where would be best?” They would look me up and down: boots no socks, swimming trunks, hoodie branded with ‟Coney Island Polar Bear Club”. As the wife caught up the reply, both times, started ‟Hypothetically, !”. Mrs W. thought that the ‟Hypothetically” must have been a local affectation until I explained.

So we went to recommended place (just east of where the A850 crosses the River Snizort), and in I went. After starting swimming across, my spotter started hollering about being carried downstream in the current, which was indeed quite swift. So I swam back to the edge, and decided that honour had been satisfied for that day.

Wednesday I chickened out. However Mrs W did go for a run, and remarked on a candidate swimming place adjacent to a church which was near where the River Snizort widens and starts becoming the sea.

Thursday, following the night of the big storm, and during a lapse in the morning hail, we left the hotel in the same clothing as before and walked to that church. The tide had gone out, so I would have had to scramble over 30 horizontal feet of slimey mossy rocks. No, I didn’t want to do that. Let me be quite clear about this: the decision was nothing to do with the resumption of hail, nor was it anything to do with the strong wind causing the hail to move almost horizontally. It was the slimey rocks.

So we returned to the A850 bridge, and in I went. Immediately after which Mr Horizontal-Hail was joined by Mrs Horizontal-Hail, their children, and quite a selection of cousins, aunts and uncles, all with the same hyphenated surname. As I was struggling to get on my boots, my back was being abraded by fast-moving sharp hail. Ouch!

We returned to the hotel at about midday, when the shower water was somewhere between lukewarm and cold.

[DRT]

That's all very well, but I have it on good authority that you were seen wearing a sweater on at least one of those days. What a wus!

[Glenn E.]

You went swimming in Loch Snizort. Very bracing at this time of year.

Yes.

[djewesbury]

That's all very well, but I have it on good authority that you were seen wearing a sweater on at least one of those days. What a wus!

A sweater? In Scotland? How cumbersome.
My guess.
Allow me a moment to think.

[djewesbury]

You went swimming in Loch Snizort. Very bracing at this time of year.

Yes.

[jdaw1]

I have it on good authority that you were seen wearing a sweater on at least one of those days. What a wus!

Indeed, after the cold shower that followed the cold swim. Wussy very much agreed.

[LGTrotter]

Turn your back for five minutes and there is a wedding; congratulations Derek.

[djewesbury]

Welcome back Owen. What time do you call this? We've been waiting up for you. Now go to bed and I'll bring you up a cup of tea.

[djewesbury]

It's hard to think of a question right now. You know what I've been drinking lately; you know what I've been doing at work; you know what port I have bought.

I made two phone calls earlier today and then did a little light web browsing, looking for an item that I need to buy. It is not a Christmas present. What is it?

It is likely to cost more than £500.

[DRT]

Turn your back for five minutes and there is a wedding; congratulations Derek.

Thank you.

[DRT]

What is it?

A wine fridge?

[djewesbury]

What is it?

A wine fridge?

Not a wine fridge.

[SCP-DFF]

I have never met you, so please don't take this the wrong way: you bought a bicycle so you can start your exercise regime after the festivities are over in January.

[jdaw1]

An engagement ring? (If you need this deleted, just ask.)

[djewesbury]

I have never met you, so please don't take this the wrong way: you bought a bicycle so you can start your exercise regime after the festivities are over in January.

How could I take this excellent guess the wrong way? It's wrong, though I used to be a fanatical cyclist. Belfast is too wet, too cold and we live a fair distance up a very long hill, so since my last bike was stolen last year my cycling has fallen into abeyance.

An engagement ring? (If you need this deleted, just ask.)

Not yet. No need to delete; our local CP-DF is not a forum browser.

[SCP-DFF]

ok. good. i'm happy i didn't offend you.

is it a new car?

[djewesbury]

ok. good. i'm happy i didn't offend you.

is it a new car?

It's not a means of transport. It needs to be very stable.

[DRT]

A telescope?