Comments on: Independent 7,362 by Phi

By: Aguers

Aguers — Tue, 25 May 2010 07:36:56 +0000

Tattycoram is the Meagles’ servant in *Little Dorrit*. There’s also an irony about Handel not having an interest in Dickens, since that’s Pip’s nickname in *Great Expectations*… needless to say, I thought this one was great.

By: TRIALNERROR

TRIALNERROR — Sat, 22 May 2010 10:24:20 +0000

Many thanks flashling

By: flashling

flashling — Sat, 22 May 2010 09:54:24 +0000

Trialnerror it was “Sketch special tools (4)”

By: TRIALNERROR

TRIALNERROR — Sat, 22 May 2010 09:34:00 +0000

Could anyone tell me the clue for 24D? I seem to have missed it off my print-out.

Thanks

By: flashling

flashling — Sat, 22 May 2010 01:18:06 +0000

Got the Dickens bit as soon as I saw Fag-in, but really where the **** does tattycoram come from ok I get the word play but I’ve never heard of that character. Ach bad day SouthEastern trains delayed me by 4 hours today, on top of a 6 hours journey, bah humbug! Surprised not to see scrooge in it.

By: scarpia

scarpia — Fri, 21 May 2010 22:57:40 +0000

Thanks Simon.
I loved this,probably because C.D. is one of my favourite authors.It was nice to see a Dickens themed puzzle using some of his lesser known characters.
Following on from my rant about yesterday’s Nimrod,it is now obvious to me that the pleasures of a themed puzzle depend entirely on your personal interest in the theme.
Stand out clue was(the non Dickensian) 7 down.

By: sidey

sidey — Fri, 21 May 2010 21:15:29 +0000

Handel, I was being a touch facetious, there are several hundred to choose from.

By: 4across

4across — Fri, 21 May 2010 21:06:00 +0000

Hi, i lurk on the site most days, normally i finish or have 3/4 i’m stuck on in an hour or so. Got5a/9 ok, but… for me, when the whole is based on one or two answers it always diminishes the problem. Either you get it easily and the rest falls in place, or you don’t and there are not enough cross-checks to get far. Both are unsatisfying. It’s best to be able to work through to the end, pieceing the nuggets together

By: walruss

walruss — Fri, 21 May 2010 15:11:44 +0000

I did not enjoy this either. It is not the theme, which is fair enough and quite normal for the Indy, but the cluemanship that failed to excite in any way. Most days the Indy outshines the Guardian, but for me the roles were reversed on this occasion.

By: Handel

Handel — Fri, 21 May 2010 13:34:11 +0000

I gave this a shot over my lunchbreak and managed about 80% of it. I’m not a Dickens fan, but it’s surprising how many of the names came to me after a while. I’d probably have preferred a non-themed puzzle honestly, but given my lack of interest in the writer this was reasonably enjoyable. Re. Sidey’s comment #7, in my limited experience constructing a decent grid with a large number of thematic entries is far from straightforward!