Comments on: Independent 6620/Phi

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 16:46:04 +0000

JUMP I think it’s UMP(ire) expressing ie getting rid of ire = anger. It was “favourite resting-places” in 11 across so that would give ‘laps’ to sit on. I was very pleased in this case to work out a new word for me just from the wordplay. I liked 25 too for its black humour.

By: NealH

NealH — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 16:17:00 +0000

I can see 1 across now. I got hung up on the fact that, since we had “J” for judge, we must have “ump” for “umpire”.

By: NealH

NealH — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 15:51:53 +0000

I actually found this a bit easier than recent Phi puzzles. The last few times I’ve been left with three or four clues I couldn’t complete, but I managed all of this one. However, I wasn’t completely sure why “favourite places” in 11 across was “laps”. Also, I didn’t understand why “in anger” appears in 1 across. Surely “ump” is an abbreviation for umpire, so it seems redundant, unless “ump” is only used by people who are angry (or it’s a double definition and he’s referring to “get the ‘ump”).

On other issues, I’ve long been in the habit of ignoring ellipses altogether, since they’re usually there just to cause confusion and misdirection. 25 across was clued with a question mark, meaning it was a cryptic definition, so it’s probably permissible. I quite liked 25 across: it was slightly macabre and put me in mind of the proverb “In the midst of life, there is death”. Now there’s a phrase you ought to be able to make a clue out of…

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:43:55 +0000

I too found this a little tougher than usual from Phi, with the unfamiliar words suggesting a possible Nina or theme but I can see nothing and other posters have not mentioned it. Thanks for DE-ICE – I’d not understood that and I too was perplexed by ‘office’. Enjoyed it, as always with Phi.

By: Michod

Michod — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:22:19 +0000

9D is GOSPEL – GO + SPEL(l).
Interestingly, my doubts and queries were more or less the same as John’s – DEIC and CEL, now cleared up, and the relevance of ‘office’ in 8dn, which I think is just there to help show that the globe is a model.
Re 25 ac, I’d say ‘in possession of’ works either way. “Drugs found in Pete Doherty’s possession” could be rephrased as “Drugs found in possession of Pete Doherty” without misleading, though it’s not normal usage.

By: Ali

Ali — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:04:31 +0000

CEL is short for celluloid, on which animators do their doodlings. Or at least they used to before computers took over.

I found this a bit tougher than the average piece of Phi, especially in the top half. I’m still not sure what 9D is either.

Ali