Comments on: Independent 7359 by Virgilius

By: Quixote

Quixote — Wed, 19 May 2010 14:32:25 +0000

Enjoyed the joke at my expense ( and indeed the puzzle as a whole)!

By: Allan_C

Allan_C — Wed, 19 May 2010 07:57:49 +0000

I thought this was remarkably easy for a Virgilius. Took a while for the penny to drop on a few clues (e.g. ENA) but I completed the puzzle before I noticed the symmetrical opposites. Regarding 18a, Chambers gives one meaning as “a drudge (esp legal – hence the advocate connotation – or literary)” and also has it as a verb meaning “to perform another person’s drudgery”.

Paul A: I’m with you about the dead tree version not being foldable. Have you complained to the Indy? I suggest all users of the paper version do so.

By: flashling

flashling — Tue, 18 May 2010 23:39:22 +0000

Being a bit of a computer person I was aware of HAL (2001 a space…) <= IBM in a similar away and got ETA quickly but unless there's something else really clever couldn't see the antonym. Estimated time of arrival / FOB watch tenuous at best. Something is still nagging in my mind about rope and angels from a book I've read though.

By: scarpia

scarpia — Tue, 18 May 2010 22:36:39 +0000

Did this on the website in the early hours,29 across being last to go in.Put in Eva, but as the congrats message didn’t appear I knew I was wrong.Tried Ena as it was the only other gir’s name I could think of.Didn’t understand it but thought ‘evanine’ might have been a word.
It was only this morning whilst preparing chilli for tonight’s meal and listening to LVB(who says men can’t multitask) that the penny dropped.Very clever clue!
I wonder if the theme is something to do withthe film ‘The Good,The Bad and The Ugly’?
I seem to remember plenty of hangings in it.

By: BertandJoyce

BertandJoyce — Tue, 18 May 2010 22:11:00 +0000

We agree it’s an incomplete theme but a good, enjoyable puzzle.

Good succeeding over evil? We think the ‘rope’ is a coincidence but we wouldn’t like to put our necks in it!!

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Tue, 18 May 2010 21:22:29 +0000

Neal @ no 9: you’re no doubt right, I was just thinking along the lines of advocate being a legal person/lawyer. My brain was a bit frazzled by the time I’d finished. Are we all agreed that it was an incomplete theme from Virgilius that only covered some of the answers, or have we missed something? Not to take away anything from the crossword if it was just a partial theme; it was the usual entertaining stuff.

Ian, you need to rein in your imagination. Tha’s frightenin’ me, lad, never mind t’young’uns, happen …

By: IanN14

IanN14 — Tue, 18 May 2010 19:56:27 +0000

Mick @10

Have you never heard the saying “No’but them as bad uns’ll be found under’t'rope”?*
We use it in our house all the time, especially when we’re trying to frighten our son.

*OK, I made that up. Sorry.

I don’t know why. I just it thought there may be a reason.
A well-known saying I’ve never heard of? A reference to Leopold & Leow? Gallows?…

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Tue, 18 May 2010 19:33:22 +0000

I think it’s only some of the entries, Wil.

By: Wil Ransome

Wil Ransome — Tue, 18 May 2010 18:40:38 +0000

I never saw why allotrope and resitting are opposites of one another. Still don’t

By: Mick Hodgkin

Mick Hodgkin — Tue, 18 May 2010 16:32:32 +0000

I certainly saw it as ‘good’ in the top half and ‘evil’ in the bottom, in symmetrical pairs. I worked that out when stuck with one clue to go. Three Men in a Boat and the pilot had me stumped, but when I realised it had to be a counterpart to dragon, that did the trick.
I saw ROPE in the middle, Ian, but why would that divide good and evil?