Comments on: Independent 7,512 by Phi

By: Richard

Richard — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 08:41:47 +0000

Very enjoyable, and the Nina helped a lot – many thanks, Phi.

By: Quixote

Quixote — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 06:43:08 +0000

Funny! I found this only a shade harder than any other Phi puzzle. The hard vocabulary (some unknown to me) was clued accurately and fairly, as I would expect. The Nina passed me by completely!

By: scarpia

scarpia — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 23:59:57 +0000

Thanks Simon.
Very enjoyable puzzle from Phi – I like “obscurities” in a puzzle.
pennes @ 19. An en is half an em http://www.thefreedictionary.com/en

By: flashling

flashling — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 23:50:36 +0000

Ems and ens are the size of the letter in prining parlance so refers to the width of the letter.

By: pennes

pennes — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 23:43:51 +0000

In view of difficulty noted in posts I was pleased to get as far as only 6 clues left.
Still not sure about strapping (23 ac) which I have only heard in the context of a person’s build: large and tall.
Also what is the “printing unit” (shortened to “en”) in 19 ac?

By: Phi

Phi — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 18:18:17 +0000

The Nina this time was a bit of a tease, and I should apologise, I guess! I put in most of the alphabet and noted that the omitted few were some of the trickiest, and just thought ‘Let ‘em worry’. (I could make some sort of complicated assertion that gaming your expectations in this way is also part of the trickery, but I won’t.)

BREWSKI I have come across a number of times in my reading (US literature, I think). OROPESA is a word I first encountered in crossword magazines where it came in terribly useful for those definition-only puzzles that combine blocks and substantial checking. But EBRIETY was a bit naughty (though it fascinated me because somehow you feel it shouldn’t mean the same as INEBRIETY – on which point I’d direct you to Chambers definition of EMBOGUE). Ursula Le Guin is something of a classic in her genres (the Earthsea trilogy is the usual item mentioned), and I guess it goes to reinforce my view that popular culture, being increasingly fragmented, isn’t actually quite as popular as people think it is.

By: beermagnet

beermagnet — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 18:04:55 +0000

Ursula K Le Guin’s work is certainly Science Fiction – at least enough for the people who hand out the Hugo Awards and similar – and by the same token – not obscure.
Wiki
Her childrens’ stories (Earthsea) are more fantasy, but the main novels typically explore political and psychological themes, while being set among alien peoples on alien worlds.
I put her in the same category and esteem as Margaret Atwood, Doris Lessing and Iain M Banks.
I would particularly recommend /Left Hand of Darkness/ and /The Dispossessed/

11A was one of the first I got – well I would wouldn’t I.

Didn’t finish it – despite spotting the alpha-Nina which helped me along a bit, it was just too hard for a Friday lunchtime.

Don’t think it’s a pangram – no J (at least).

By: Gaufrid

Gaufrid — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 17:44:54 +0000

By: Gaufrid

Gaufrid — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 17:40:47 +0000

Simon & K’s D
Extract from Wikipedia (my emphasis):

“Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (pronounced /??rs?l? ?kro?b?r l???w?n/; born October 21, 1929) is an American author. She has written novels, poetry, children’s books, essays, and short stories, most notably in the genres of fantasy and science fiction.”

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 17:04:14 +0000

So I guess we’re going with Ursula at 11ac? In which case I’ll add this to my list of obscurities.

Normally (actually, always) Phi is very precise with his clueing and, consequently, his ninas when he decides to tease us with them. So I can’t really see what we’re missing here – if you’re going to do the alphabet thing, then what’s happened to the missing letters?

Anyway, the weekend beckons, so a good one to all.