Comments on: Independent 7349 by Morph

By: IanN14

IanN14 — Thu, 06 May 2010 18:28:41 +0000

Morph,
I prefer to think of it as white.

By: Morph

Morph — Thu, 06 May 2010 18:20:36 +0000

Thanks for the blog and comments. Richard Heald has it right re OPPOSITION and also YOYO – ‘expressed’ was to indicate the homonym of “Why Oh Why” – but using ‘over’ for O was obviously a little confusing.
My esteemed editor Mike also pointed out Graham’s past managership of his club – but let’s wait until Sunday to judge whether the London North constituency’s turned blue!

By: Eileen

Eileen — Thu, 06 May 2010 17:09:06 +0000

… yes, K’s D – and thanks for the explanation of POWERPLAYS

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Thu, 06 May 2010 16:53:12 +0000

I couldn’t quite finish three or four clues, but a very good puzzle with a very apposite theme and scrupulous political disinterest (hope you’re still listening, Eileen …)

And a clever nina to boot (which of course I didn’t spot). Unlike Pat @ no 5, I liked BORE; but share his/her question mark over oy-oy. Some excellent misdirections and &lits.

Maybe just to add for those of a non-sporting disposition that POWERPLAYS are passages in one-day cricket where either the batting or the bowling side can dictate field placings to make aggressive tactics more effective.

And yes, Paul A, the dead-tree version did have an interesting entry under ‘yesterday’s solution’. But the Saturday paper printed the concise crossword twice, once in the main part and once in the supplement, so seems there are some teething troubles with the new format. At least I can read the clues now.

By: Paul B

Paul B — Thu, 06 May 2010 16:52:30 +0000

Good night last night for the old Gooners I reckon – The Tottenham steaming past them like a big ol’ train there. A good puzzle though, splendidly apposite for the Indy Lads.

By: Duggie

Duggie — Thu, 06 May 2010 13:58:38 +0000

Thought this was brilliant, crowned by the Nina which I missed completely. I had to go back to the online version and cheat – again. How can you not admire all those topical clues, so many of them elegantly constructed, deceptive and apparently effortless? RIVAL and BORE were among the best. For me, as for Conrad Cork, the Cameron clue stood out.

By: Richard Heald

Richard Heald — Thu, 06 May 2010 13:14:52 +0000

Nms,

I interpreted the OPPO part of 12 Ac as OP (observation point) + PO (ditto reversed), and 26 Dn to be Y O Y (“why oh why”) + O(ver).

Excellent puzzle, and politically impartial too as one should expect of a Channel 4 News journalist! Among lots of fine clues, the superb POWERPLAYS gets my vote.

By: pat

pat — Thu, 06 May 2010 13:07:58 +0000

Unhappy with some of these. RIVAL, BORE and YOYO. What does oy-oy mean?

By: Conrad Cork

Conrad Cork — Thu, 06 May 2010 12:51:14 +0000

Lots to enjoy, but my laugh aloud moment was using Conservative leader came out to clue ‘ron’.

Great stuff.

By: Paul A

Paul A — Thu, 06 May 2010 12:14:33 +0000

Yes, a good one – but ‘yesterday’s solution’ in my paper doesn’t look familiar