Comments on: Independent 7549 by Scorpion

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 10:23:32 +0000

Thanks, Eimi, for those who do not still have yesterday’s Indy, the first letters of clues read MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL READERS.
New Year resolution, routinely read first letters of clues, I used to do it in the themed puzzles but then got out of the habit, think Azed did it also in a recent competition puzzle.

By: eimi

eimi — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 01:08:35 +0000

There’s a Nina, but it’s in the clues, rather than the grid.

By: Jack Aubrey

Jack Aubrey — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 01:03:12 +0000

Oh dear. Far too many drams. I meant the FT quiz, of course…….

By: Jack Aubrey

Jack Aubrey — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 00:29:47 +0000

Thanks for an instructional blog. They all seem to work very well. Obviously I didn’t.

Got a few but frankly I was struggling with this after using up the aged Aubrey brain on the Indy quiz of the year and the big general knowledge crossword (and maybe having one or two whiskies too many…..).

You know you are dated when Macgowan, Everett and Excel come to mind as “modern references” and it takes a while before you realise that they span about at least 25-40 years ago!

By: Simon Harris

Simon Harris — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 22:27:37 +0000

Nearly finished this, with some persistence, but had to come here to get the last two. I did wonder about the names, too. Spotting the pangrammatic grid helped with a couple.

By: Welsh pete

Welsh pete — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 21:27:57 +0000

Anyone else see adios in row five? Is he trying to tell us something?

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 21:00:10 +0000

That was a good one, thanks, IanN14 (not for the first time!) for spotting it! The high numbers of names in the grid did strike me as unusual all right but I never thought of that. Have a feeling that, with modern practices in hospitals, it’s a diminishing breed…

By: IanN14

IanN14 — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 19:26:49 +0000

…Just a shame he couldn’t get (Alastair) Cook, for topicality, in there at 22d. perhaps, with a couple of small alterations?…

By: IanN14

IanN14 — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 19:23:01 +0000

I think the reason for all the proper nouns here is that (at least) seven answers were born on Christmas Day.

By: flashling

flashling — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 17:24:38 +0000

I couldn’t finish this either, very tough. Thanks for the blog NMS