Comments on: Independent 7536 – Phi

By: flashling

flashling — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 18:49:21 +0000

Allan C I was back in Reading last weekend for a funeral and TVU seems to have reverted to just Reading College, is it no longer a university? For such a huge sprawl as Reading is, it has a tiny town centre. For real ale/cider drinkers I recommend the Hobgoblin, which is quite unlike the rest of the chain, bit dear though. Hope to see you all in Derby.

By: Allan_C

Allan_C — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 17:34:22 +0000

Great puzzle, Phi, and an enjoyable fairly quick solve. But to be pedantic, Reading is one of the largest urban areas in the UK that does NOT have city status, despite having two universities and hosting a major music festival. Maybe they’ll get it for the Queen’s diamond jubilee in 2012.

By: Phi

Phi — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 05:06:54 +0000

I’d just add that I think the ‘national treasure’ concept is actually Japanese, and was originally applied to leading practitioners of such cluable words as gagaku and bunraku. There was a lot about it a decade or so ago when there was a Japanese festival in London, and the consensus was that the nearest British equivalent at the time was Alan Bennett (and he probably still is).

‘Mere’ is actually given under ‘bare’ in Chambers.

OK, will shut up now…

By: Peter

Peter — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 00:27:34 +0000

Sorry Pennes its a British Thing

By: Peter

Peter — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 00:26:02 +0000

National treasure? Gracie Fields, Vera Lynn, Stephen Fry etc

By: flashling

flashling — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 00:11:28 +0000

@ Pennes merely is roughly barely, wasn’t overly happy with it myself. As to the national treasure, well umm as Phi says it’s not dictionary clued, I think Tyrus did the same last week. Just a phrase for well loved performers but a well known phrase here, to me at least.

By: pennes

pennes — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 23:33:41 +0000

I can’t quite see how ” mere” = ” bare”, and I don’t understand how popoular entertainer is national treasure. Can anybody help?
I did know Bob the Builder as his slogan is “yes we can”, which was also the slogan for the Obama presidential campaign!

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 22:00:55 +0000

It might have been buried deep in my memory but I did not really know LITTLE GIDDING but I worked out from the wordplay, with the help of some crossing letters, that it was maybe a possibility. Took a look in the ODQ to see if it existed and that confirmed it, which was pleasing, like the puzzle.

By: flashling

flashling — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 21:40:41 +0000

Thank you Phi for the comment, always nice to see the setter comment. I don’t have any children, must be just my inner child that gave me Buzz/Bob. Had to look up Little Gidding, I knew the name from somewhere but not that it was an Eliot poem. To infinity and beyond!

By: Phi

Phi — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 18:03:52 +0000

The thing about ZIGGURAT was that it was (implausibly enough) the second time I’d had to clue it in a month, and the first one was about as gainly a clue as one can have for ZIGGURAT. The second one was always going to be a step down, and I hope never to see the word again in the list to be clued.

Other than that this was really an attempt to cram lots of long answers in and add a linked pair with NATIONAL TREASURE, which I don’t think has received an entry in a dictionary yet.