Comments on: Independent 6999 by Glow-worm

By: eimi

eimi — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 10:01:52 +0000

The Across usage is less clear-cut, but certainly in a Down clue ‘on’ has to mean preceding rather than following.

By: Paul B

Paul B — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 09:48:50 +0000

That’s a down clue though, where ‘on’ means above, according to convention. In across clues, (again by convention) ‘X on Y’ gives YX.

As to ‘does it matter?’ I would say yes, as it helps solvers to have some things the same every time they see them. But as not all compilers and editors obey, or even know about such usage, I’m not sure people care much about whether this stuff matters or not.

By: Wil Ransome

Wil Ransome — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:10:38 +0000

Many good clues I felt, but one or two rather doubtful ones (19ac seems loose, 29ac vague, 4dn wasn’t sure about the def).

In 9dn ‘on’ is used in my opinion perfectly well — A on B giving AB. But some people feel that A on B should only give BA, I think. Does it matter?

By: Ali

Ali — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:59:00 +0000

Agreed on all points! This was a well-balanced puzzle for a Monday. I struggled with the SMETANA clue and think the definition is a bit too obscure. That said, it was a fairly clear anagram and, with Internet phone access, Wikipedia is never far away on the bus!

With C and L checked, the COLD clue is just about passable, but I’m not totally convinced