Comments on: Independent 7264/Dac

By: Colin Blackburn

Colin Blackburn — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:53:00 +0000

Excellent puzzle though I had to run through the possibilities for C-B-E- a few times in my head until the Australian connection hit me.

RANGELAND was new for me but knowing ANGEL made it straightforward. BODEGA is the name of a very nice pub up in Newcastle. Nice for its beer rather than its wine though.

By: Allan_C

Allan_C — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:20:06 +0000

Another great puzzle with some good misdirections. Took me a while to see 1ac then I remembered the late Tommy Cooper and got it “just like that”.
22ac had me on the wrong track for a bit thinking of “cartoon” [nude picture = art with nothing (= 0) on] but then “court” didn’t fit. There’s an idea, though, for one of your setters to develop.

By: Kieron

Kieron — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:50:44 +0000

Excellent stuff. It seems I, alone among you, am unconvinced by how 21 parses (the IN 1 bit seems a little bit clunky?). Hmm. And not having heard of an ANGEL financier knocked me out a little bit. Otherwise fab stuff. I love 23d. Simple and brilliant.

I read 20 as a kind of &lit, incidentally:

“Playwright introduced” (P) “by” (=’next to’) “top interviewer” (INTER) = PINTER

But that’s because I totally failed to see it hidden in the clue.

Kieron

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:02:18 +0000

Re comment 9, John, it’s always ‘caveat emptor’, I guess, if an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Whether it is the publisher or the retailer who takes decisions, or a bit of both, may be a factor. Might be a choice between selling unwanted stock off cheap or pulping them. Have to say the Collins 2009 dict is v good.

By: IanN14

IanN14 — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:35:30 +0000

I seem to remember “mankini” being an answer fairly recently (or was that “monokini” – I’m sure there was some confusion at the time).
I also remember anax was trying to get rid of one; how did that go?

By: John

John — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:32:25 +0000

K’s D — my grumble with Collins is that I once thought I’d made a nice buy in WH Smith when I bought a great big Collins Dictionary for I think £6.25, 75% off the usual price. It looked exactly as if it should be the real thing (which I’m sure it was touted as), but I found that it differs from it despite having a cover that is almost identical, so it is virtually useless. I regard this as very shady dealing on the part of Collins.

I was relieved that people seem to agree with me about 17dn. After posting the blog it occurred to me that it might be an old chestnut of which I was unaware. Evidently not.

By: sidey

sidey — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:35:26 +0000

jp, the ‘on both sides’ refers the the ‘m’ not the wall.

By: jp

jp — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:16:27 +0000

Why “on both sides” in 4 down?Isn’t “having wall covering” enough for”papered”?
Brilliant crossword though, such smooth surface readings.

By: Derrick Knight

Derrick Knight — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:40:31 +0000

I am in awe of Dac’s elegant clue writing with such beautiful surface reading. Not having cringed through Borat, MANKINI was the last clue I solved. An excellent &lit with wordplay which provided the answer. This, to me, is one of the delights of cryptic crosswords – often introducing us to something new.

By: NealH

NealH — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:08:09 +0000

Excellent stuff, as ever. I covered most of this in the morning but had a bit of a pause when it came the top right corner. I was held up a bit by convincing myself without looking at the clue too well that 6 across must be “laud”. That and a few unfamiliar words (bodega, rangeland and the unusual meaning of epitome) make that section a little harder. I was pleased to get mankini – cringing my way through Borat wasn’t entirely in vain.