Comments on: Independent 7,444 by Dac

By: Allan_C

Allan_C — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 06:45:58 +0000

Re 21a ANA is in Chambers under the entry for the suffix -ANA, and is presumably an instance of a suffix taking on a life of its own. Chambers also has ANANIAS as ‘a liar’, with the biblical reference. That being said, it took me ages to get it. And btw shouldn’t it be ‘A in (SIN + ANA)<' in the blog?

By: Scarpia

Scarpia — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 00:22:47 +0000

Hi Wil,
Callas is a wonderful singer in dramatic roles but maybe a bit too forte for this aria.I think Caballe’s version is more in keeping with Bellini’s original score, which is marked pianissimo and even sotto voce in parts.
Better sound quality in this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwwcXssv4FE&feature=search

By: Wil Ransome

Wil Ransome — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 23:31:52 +0000

Odd, I thought this was one of the easiest Dacs I’ve ever done. Did it online and didn’t time myself, but at no point was I stuck, as is usual with Dac at some point.

Scarpia I think a problem with the Montserrat Caballe recording is that it’s evidently recorded from a live performance, so the sound isn’t very good. I prefer the Maria Callas performance (also there on YouTube) not just because the sound is better (evidently done in a studio) but anyway. Having said that I’d never heard of the constellation, so guessed.

By: Scarpia

Scarpia — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 23:02:29 +0000

Thanks Simon.
Another very fine puzzle from Dac,which I found easier than some of his more recent ones.
I’m surprised so many here hadn’t heard of Ananias,the phrase ‘he’s a bigger liar than Ananias’ is quite common(I thought).
As usual with Dac a good knowledge of geography is helpful,or in my case,reference to a gazetteer!
I don’t suppose 17 down would have been allowed in the Guardian where even actresses are actors.
The opera Norma has one of the loveliest soprano arias ever written(Casta Diva) and with her wonderfully pure,controlled voice and exquisite pianissimo, Montserrat Caballe is my favourite for this aria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIQQv39dcNE&feature=search

Favourite clues for me, 6 and 16 down.

By: flashling

flashling — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 20:24:31 +0000

6d and 21a stumped me too, got the rest fairly easily although Norma as a constellation was unknown to me, the opera bit appears here fairly frequently.

Didn’t have the lower half difficulty (21a excepted) but horses for courses I suppose. I stayed in a camp site in Menton when I was at Uni, one of the most expensive towns I’ve ever known.

Easter Island for me was an instant put in, saw how it worked immediately, too much time wasted doing crosswords I suppose.

Thanks Dac & Simon

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:33:47 +0000

Thank you, Simon. Didn’t get many on the first pass across, but then some of the downs seemed easier and it all came together eventually apart from ANANIAS, which I couldn’t get, or parse even when I saw your explanation. I see it now, but if I’m going have a little grumble I’d say that the biblical character is pretty obscure and ANA for ‘reminiscences’ I have seen before, but ‘gossip’ as the definition? Don’t mind obscurities in a daily if they’re generously clued, but I don’t think this one was, unlike ENCOMIUMS, which I got then checked. (Some of our classicist contributors are probably going to tell us that the plural is ENCOMIA, but if Sunderland had two grounds I wouldn’t immediately plump for STADIA OF LIGHT.)

Actually, I do agree with bamberger about NORMA. It is of course a double definition, but it’s more of a general knowledge clue imho.

But a good puzzle overall which I enjoyed before setting off to watch some county cricket in temperatures more suited to the Winter Olympics. Thank you Dac.

By: NealH

NealH — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:00:12 +0000

I got through this fairly easily with the exception of 6 down, which I spent ages puzzling over. Even after working out that it must be encom?u?s, I was still struggling. Something as blindingly obvious as mum for mother just didn’t occur to me. I think it was a combination of being too used to having ma for mother and expecting the answer to be a verb rather than a noun.

Still, I preferred this to last week’s Dac. I felt it was a lot fairer – most of the obscurer words could be worked out from the wordplay rather than having any knowledge. The exception was 23down but I’d vaguely heard of the opera there, if not the constellation.

bamberger,

I think your criticisms are a bit unfair and could be applied to almost any crossword. Of course, there are going to be some answers that will be difficult to get without checking letters. Part of the pleasure of solving the crossword is to get progressively more letters in the difficult answers until you can eventually solve them. If they were all so easy you could get them at first pass, you wouldn’t need to present it as a grid and could just put a series of questions. In 8 down, I suppose Dac could have said Italian Capital, but that would have made it just a bit too easy for most people.

By: scchua

scchua — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:27:40 +0000

Thanks Simon

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:13:27 +0000

Thanks for the blog, Simon. Excellent puzzle, maybe I was lucky but I found it quite easy, favourites CANOODLE and SAVERS. Re bamberger’s point on capitals, I think saying eg the Italian capital would give too much away. I worked ANANIAS out from the wordplay with a vague recollection of having heard it before (probably in another puzzle)

By: Simon Harris

Simon Harris — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:43:00 +0000

Re ANA, it’s simply a case of that’s what the word means: gossip, anecdotes, that kind of thing.