Comments on: Independent 7059 / Morph

By: Gaufrid

Gaufrid — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:06:06 +0000

Andy
You have mail.

By: Andy Cotgreave

Andy Cotgreave — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:58:19 +0000

Is there anywhere to get a copy of this? I’d love to pass it on to my dad to do (he’s a Telegraph reader). It seems that the Indy doesn’t have an online Crossword archive (not one that I could find, anyway!)

By: Colin Blackburn

Colin Blackburn — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:31:11 +0000

Re comment #16: I have a feeling your puzzle being slotted into the normal schedule would still be topical given the way the DT is playing this one.
Excellent puzzle, by the way.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:52:03 +0000

Thanks, Morph, for a most amusing puzzle – great that you managed to fit so much in. NO EXPENSE SPARED was absolutely brilliant. TROUSER PRESS was when I first saw the theme, though the clues were leading that way too.

By: Morph

Morph — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:18:55 +0000

Thanks for all the comments – I’ll gladly take you up on that drink some time, Conrad! Of those mentioned, TREADLE and SHELLAC were not meant to be thematic (though I haven’t combed through all the receipts myself!). I regret not having managed to get DUCK ISLAND in, and as some of you observed, SECOND NAME was really trying to be SECOND HOME.
Anyway, credit to my esteemed editor for slotting the puzzle in within a week of submission to ensure topicality.

By: Gaufrid

Gaufrid — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:28:46 +0000

Thanks Eileen. Politics is not one of my areas of expertise but I should have got that right.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:16:26 +0000

Gaufrid, re 5dn: It’s ‘Portillo’: LL Liberals

By: liz

liz — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:31:58 +0000

I’m really sorry to have missed this puzzle! (I don’t like solving online). BEAM is another one that can be added to the list (John Prescott again — three mock Tudor beams). DRY ROT too. Ever since this scandal broke, I’ve been fascinated by the list. Chris Huhne and TROUSER PRESS are just inherently funny. It could make a good poem, so I’m glad it’s made such a great crossword.

By: Conrad Cork

Conrad Cork — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:17:16 +0000

I can’t see Duck Island either but I have just noticed something else (it gets better and better – I’d like to buy Morph a drink).

The backbone if this puzzle, 4down is ‘No expense spared’.

I’m going looking for more gold.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:52:10 +0000

Chunter, am I being a 6dn [I can't see 'duck island'] – or do you mean the ‘duckweed’ in the clue? All the rest are answers.

I thought I’d heard something about [TREADLE] sewing machines and have just found this:
The MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, who, unlike quite a number of his fellow politicians, has mostly escaped criticism for his expense claims, joked about the state of his Baulmers suit’

‘In the good old days I could have bought a sewing machine on expenses to get them mended,’ Mr Mundell said. ‘Now I will just have to pay for a tailor myself.’

I do agree with you about the Indy format. I couldn’t usually be bothered to do the whole thing online – but I’m really glad I did today!