Comments on: Independent 7550 by Math

By: Tokyo Colin

Tokyo Colin — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:16:19 +0000

Too late to be relevant I know, but I have been reading the comments and following links and now realise that what I thought was a good, slightly puzzling crossword was in fact a tour de force for anyone familiar with the comedy duo. I hope Math produces a puzzle of this quality again based on someone I know next time.

By: Dynamic

Dynamic — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 02:42:21 +0000

Agree that “Laters!”, derived from “later”, itself a shortening, means “see you later” among the young crowd. It is to be heard on TV and written, doubtless as dialogue, in numerous works of fiction, so I’m quite sure it’s in the latest dictionaries.

I thought the puzzle was superb, and very OF THE MOMENT (18a), given the imminent broadcast (BBC1 or 2) of the fictionalized story of when the double-act in question got together and found success, much in the style of Frost/Nixon, The Queen, When Harvey (Goldsmith) met Bob (Geldof), and topical of course because they, like the Two Ronnies were Christmas stalwarts for decades.

Thanks for pointing out that The Stripper is also thematic, Eileen, referring, of course, to the Breakfast Sketch.

14/18 with 1 was magnificently done, Math, and with the double act’s forenames and surnames very fairly clued plus Tea Urn, Stripper, Arsenal (gesundheit!) and (Andrew) Preview you put just the right amount of themed clues, to my mind, without having to go for very obscure solutions to fill the grid.

A real joy to solve, though I admit cheating on 21a, which was new to me.

If anyone missed it and has the crossword solver software (formerly at crosswordsolver.info), the puzzle can be downloaded from
http:/
/independent.co.uk/independent.co.uk/editorial/xword/c_281210.bin
(I’m not posting full links as I’ve used my quota and don’t wish to trouble a moderator)

By: flashling

flashling — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 00:13:03 +0000

Laters is Yoof speak round here for see you later.

By: Martin H

Martin H — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 00:09:21 +0000

‘laters’ in 15 – you can say just, “Later” when you mean ‘see you later’. I guess this is what’s being done here, but, as I said above, the plural doesn’t seem to fit.

By: Scarpia

Scarpia — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 00:06:12 +0000

Thanks all – I said fashion wasn’t my strong point!
Can’t find it in any dictionary,only TONISH,probably in Collins,which I don’t have.

By: Martin H

Martin H — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 00:04:34 +0000

‘in’ as the definition in 18 – thanks for that, Wil at 17. Yes, that is good.

‘Ideal’ for ‘apotheosis’, though? Literally ‘deification’, so ‘ideal’ – well sort of – by quite a stretch. It’s to be found by googling, to be sure, but then what isn’t?

By: Wil Ransome

Wil Ransome — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 23:50:37 +0000

Tony: this is a rather doubtful adjective from ton, which means fashion.

18: The definition is ‘in’. It’s ‘oft’ round (as indicated by ‘entering’) ‘them (= these people) omen (= sign)’. Another wonderful clue. I thought this crossword was full of them and my only very slight grumble is that ‘on’ arguably puts rep and airers in the wrong order in 25ac.

I didn’t see what ‘laters’ meant in 15dn.

By: sidey

sidey — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 23:50:13 +0000

It’s tony not Tony as in having tone.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 23:41:11 +0000

Re some of the comments here, I think TONY = CHIC (classy) originally North American usage. In 18, which I did like, the definition is, I think, simply “IN” (ie fashionable just now) with the rest of the clue being the wordplay.

By: Scarpia

Scarpia — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 23:29:34 +0000

Thanks flashling.
Really enjoyed this one,even if I didn’t spot all the thematic entries.I did know the Grieg reference so was disappointed to have missed PREVIEW as thematic.(Super clue BTW).
I didn’t understand the definition in 11 across – fashion is definately NOT my strong point!
Still don’t understand the definition in 21 across,is it the name Tony or just Tony Curtis that is synonymous with CHIC?