Comments on: Guardian 24880 / Orlando

By: ernie

ernie — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:51:02 +0000

Lovely puzzle. Had heard name Orlando Gibbons but no idea what he did. Since setter is Orlando and gibbons are apes I just put it in. Did not get theorbo and spellchecker doesn’t like it!

By: Paul L

Paul L — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:18:42 +0000

I thoroughly enjoyed today’s. I hadn’t heard of Orlando Gibbons, but I don’t so much mind if the answer is a word or person I don’t know, as long as it’s possible to work out the answer in some other way. Once I’d got Orlando, there were only so many words that might fit “apes”. Similarly, “theorbo” had to wait until I’d got all of the answers that intersect with it, but I still managed to work it out. It’s nice to see a setter who includes more “logical” clues for the more obscure references.

Took me rather longer than an hour… I left it a few times during the day and came back to it later on, but still quite pleased that I finished it on my own. The only one I slightly cheated on was 6d, wikipedia search for Sandy Wilson. Bit annoyed with myself that I didn’t see the anagram – they were well hidden here. The last one I got was 4d, whoops…

I liked 1a as well!

By: liz

liz — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:42:48 +0000

Hi Sil, I liked 24dn too. It gave me a little smile when I solved it, which is always nice. I singled out 19ac because I thought that it was very neat and told a story. I guessed that Diego might well be the Spanish equivalent to James but did not look it up. So thanks to Barbara for confirming it. Not a word in the clue was wasted, either, which of course you could also say about 24dn.

I had to go out today and was in a rush when I posted, otherwise I might have talked about more of the clues that I liked in greater detail. Thankfully you were all spared

DaveL — I didn’t mind the homophone either and most homophones seem a bit dubious to me. I certainly struggle with them usually.

By: john goldthorpe

john goldthorpe — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:37:09 +0000

I thought this puzzle marked a most enjoyable end to a much better week than last. The surfaces were really excellent and there were several original, very clever but still entirely accurate clues. Yes, more Orlando, please.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:42:48 +0000

NeilW #16 – ‘Ritual’ can be a collective noun: ‘the prescribed or established form of a religious or other ceremony; such prescribed forms in general or collectively’ [Collins]; ‘a body or code of ceremonies’ [Chambers]

DaveL #20 – as I said earlier, it depends where you live: it’s fine by me! [And the 'Ouch' referred to a mistake in 16dn.]

Benington #21 – we’re back to the perennial ‘one person’s obscure is another’s commonplace’ [several of us have said we had no problems with Orlando Gibbons - but then I sing in a church choir!] and I can’t see any way of resolving it. We often say that it’s a poor day when we don’t learn something new.

And finally: Hi Sil #15 – we may be in a minority but Liz, Barbara and I named our favourites, too!

By: Benington

Benington — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:41:45 +0000

Re 20,5a:

Eminently solvable given the clue and cross-checking letters but I’m always uneasy about the use of lesser known persons in their field.

By: DaveL

DaveL — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:51:53 +0000

Why so many negative comments (“ouch”, “dubious”, “dodgy”) about 17d? It seems perfectly acceptable to me.

By: DaveEllison

DaveEllison — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:37:43 +0000

I found this reasonably tough – 60 mins in all – with 10 minutes for the last three: 9ac, 23 ac and 3d! But enjoyable. I was too busy trying to fit M1, RD, AI into a city in 9ac.

6d needs the BY too (FIRED ON BY)*

By: NeilW

NeilW — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:34:35 +0000

Tom, “There should be far more references to composers and instruments familiar to recorder players than there usually are.” I hope you are joking?

By: Tom Hutton

Tom Hutton — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:31:43 +0000

I thought this was most enjoyable and entertaining from start to finish. There should be far more references to composers and instruments familiar to recorder players than there usually are. A few more bicycle themed clues and I would be in heaven.

More Orlando please and less……(can’t say for fear of upsetting people)