Comments on: Independent 6886 by Morph

By: eimi

eimi — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:13:09 +0000

Great fun, I thought – and topical, but we don’t have to compile for posterity. There are plenty of excellent puzzles available for future books, but it’s also good to have topical and date-specific puzzles.

By: Mick h

Mick h — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 20:42:10 +0000

Thanks for all the comments – in response to Al’s question, sadly Prufrock doesn’t eat curry or even pasta outside the stazione centrale, but it just felt like a TS Eliot-ish image after I’d hit on JALFRE(d) and was left with ZI.

By: Richard Heald

Richard Heald — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:53:06 +0000

A good, fun puzzle with some sly topical references – PALINDROME and GLENDA made me smile.

To answer Wil’s query, it’s common practice in crosswords to use a gerundial word or phrase (such as ‘having funds’) to define a noun.

By: Wil Ransome

Wil Ransome — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:35:17 +0000

Agreed, good crossword. But please can someone explain how 13ac works: ‘Having funds to clear up clubs in New York’ (SOLVENCY): the answer is a noun, but how can ‘Having funds’ lead to this?

By: Al Streatfield

Al Streatfield — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:05:36 +0000

Good puzzle.

Since it’s ages since I read the Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock, can’t remember much about it.

Does anyone know whether Stazione Centrale features in the poem or whether it is just a convenient way for the compiler to get ZI? …. (in JALFREZI)

By: Paul B

Paul B — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:48:24 +0000

Jalfrezi is yummy. So was this puzzle!

By: Duggie

Duggie — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:13:52 +0000

Smashing puzzle. I was sailing through confidently, then got completely bamboozled by some clever clueing in SE corner. Quite brave of Morph to set himself four words ending in ‘i’ and make the clues original. My eating habits must be so old-fashioned; never heard of jalfrezi. Is it good?
Anyone know if it’s worth watching BBC4 tonight at 9?

By: mhl

mhl — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:17:28 +0000

Lots of fun clues here: I particularly liked FOUR-LETTER WORD, JALFREZI, PALINDROME and DANGLE (for the Michael Jackson allusion) although I failed to get the first of those, partly because of the nice misdirection of “we’re told” being in the anagram. I wonder also if it was deliberate that the “Former first lady …” answer began E.E., which made me convinced it would be something do with Eleanor Roosevelt…

Thanks for the post, NealH, which cleared up several questions I had.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:40:31 +0000

“I wasn’t happy with ’slump’ being ‘A fall’ but your explanation takes care of that.”
Please ignore this nonsensical remark above. It doesn’t!

By: Eileen

Eileen — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:29:40 +0000

11ac: Thanks for that, Ali: I’m sure you’re right. I wasn’t happy with ‘slump’ being ‘A fall’ but your explanation takes care of that. It’s a much better clue than I thought it was!