Comments on: Independent 6463/Dac

By: Colin Blackburn

Colin Blackburn — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 07:43:11 +0000

Re: 19d. The answer is PETREL not petral.

Despite Petra’s legendary status, she died after the first ever airing of Blue Peter and was replaced by a look-alike for the second, I doubt even Dac would use, “Dog, perhaps” and expect us to get to Petra.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 22:23:57 +0000

Thanks, Eimi, for the explanation of D = drag. I knew that, if Dac used it, it would be justified – have to get a Collins for my workplace to go with Concise OED and Chambers for lunch-time solving! It just had to be DONEGAL. Why I found this puzzle difficult was because some of the long answers were completely new to me – it was pleasing to work CHELSEA TRACTOR out entirely from the wordplay – pardon my ignorance re this relatively new phrase.

By: JPM

JPM — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 21:18:31 +0000

19d dog = Petra from Blue Peter

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 20:01:40 +0000

I did remember STINKS as the teacher (as well as the subject), though that’s going back. Of my dicts, only Chambers has it now, not in Concise OED nor Collins, so maybe it’s heading for the “dated” category.

By: conradcork

conradcork — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 19:26:50 +0000

At my school, ‘stinks’ just meant chemistry (the subject). I’d never seen it applied to a master, so I wrote in ‘chemistry’ and waited for the cross checking letters to tell me the rest. (Too lazy to second guess the anagram). )

By: eimi

eimi — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 17:52:52 +0000

D is drag in aeronautics – it was new to me too, but it is the fifth definition under D in Collins.

By: Colin Blackburn

Colin Blackburn — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 15:45:00 +0000

I’m not sure IPO added much to the discussion but thanks Niall for the two missing answers.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 15:11:59 +0000

18D is excellent BELL(I)ES and 21A (s)ALSA CE. I got these towards the end of what I found a much harder puzzle from Dac than usual. Same query as Colin re DONEGAL which I thought of immediately and rejected before settling for it in the end.