Comments on: Independent 7190 by Eimi (Saturday Prize Crossword 31 October 2009)

By: Uncle Yap

Uncle Yap — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:39:59 +0000

Good puzzle, enjoyable too.

BTW, Penang is an island and the capital is George Town after King George the Third, during whose reign Francis Light managed to get the island for the East India Company. That was the start of the British influence in what is today Malaysia.

Do drop in for a visit. Penang is a lovely tropical island, much loved by tourists

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:00:15 +0000

All completely new to me, and I had looked at the top row, but ‘spleodar’ from the Gaelic (Irish) language translates as ‘cheerfulness, vivacity’.

By: IanN14

IanN14 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:10:48 +0000

So, hang on a minute….
You planned to spend Halloween at somewhere called Nenagh?
Blimey, you setters are a dedicated bunch…

By: IanN14

IanN14 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:07:47 +0000

eimi,
I feel your pain…

By: eimi

eimi — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:40:44 +0000

I can’t get anything past the Nina-spotters (or Nenagh-spotters), obviously. Well done those who twigged. In fact I was planning to spend Halloween there, but a bout of gastric flu put an end to that. So I stayed at home and watched a horror show on TV – Arsenal v Spurs – and felt even worse.

By: Duncan Shiell

Duncan Shiell — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:24:32 +0000

You are absolutely right. A bit more research shows that Spleodar, an Irish Festival, or voyage of discovery into the Irish language and culture, ran from Tuesday 27th to Saturday 31st October 2009.

I’m afraid that neither Irish culture, nor Irish geography are among my strong points – both SPLEODAR and AT NENAGH looked like anagram material to me! If it had been Scottish culture and geography, I may have had a inkling.

By: ad

ad — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:14:13 +0000

I thought that if you read along the top and bottom, you find “Spleodar at Nenagh” http://www.nenagharts.com/spleodar/spleodar2009/index.html
Though I’m not familiar with the festival, maybe this is where Eimi spent Halloween?

By: IanN14

IanN14 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:15:40 +0000

Oh, well spotted nms.
I don’t still have my copy of the paper, might there be anything else?
Good puzzle, from what I remember…

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:08:56 +0000

The Irish town mentioned in the bottom row AT NENAGH (County Tipperary) is pronounced the same as Nina – maybe not pure coincidence. I too found this quite an easy puzzle, very enjoyable.