Comments on: Independent 7559 / Nimrod

By: flashling

flashling — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 20:46:37 +0000

Thanks to BM for the emergency cover. Completed this on the train but what a struggle, dodged a bullet for a blog here.

By: Paul B

Paul B — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 19:23:34 +0000

Agree with 5dn revisions as posted. Def thus just ‘teaser’. Oops!

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 17:28:31 +0000

This puzzle was a 5 down, but I got there in the end. Thanks, beermagnet, for the blog and Nimrod of course.

By: RatkojaRiku

RatkojaRiku — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:53:29 +0000

Thank you to Gaufrid and DorothyS for the help with the wordplay on 1: I got no further then “op” for surgery and even wondered about a hip op!

As for 5, like IanN14, I needed Chambers to check ‘to’ for ‘answering’, I suppose in expressions such as “To that (comment) I would say ….”, and eventually resolved the wordplay in the same way as you did.

Thanks, Gaufrid, for the word “metonymy”: I was wondering how I would have explained “to live by the pen/quill” if it had been my blog today!

On 24/9, Chambers gives OUTSIDES as “the top and bottom quires in a ream of paper”, which I suppose explains why we are excluding the centre-spread! This was a new word on me, though.

On the whole, an immensely challenging and entertaining puzzle, in my view, on a lovely – and to me new – grid with lots of long entries – thanks, Nimrod! As for my favourite clue, I couldn’t resist the sauciness in 25

By: Stella

Stella — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:49:43 +0000

Great blog, Beermagnet, and congratulations on working out the parsings. I got through this, with a couple of aha’s and a foir amount of enjoyment, but like K’sD without fully understanding.

By: beermagnet

beermagnet — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:50:30 +0000

HTH Happy To Help
That’s one I can interpret

By: IanN14

IanN14 — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:41:18 +0000

I read 5d. the same as Paul B@1 as far as NUT, but I thought the rest was TO (answering) CRACK (first rate).
(I did have to look up “to” in Chambers, though, as I did for “arc” in 1ac.).
By the way, Paul, what does HTH mean?

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 13:31:49 +0000

Thanks for the explanations, Gaufrid (they’re still not my favourite clues though …)

By: crypticsue

crypticsue — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 12:56:50 +0000

Having seen this was a Nimrod, I was expecting far more of a struggle than I actually had. Very enjoyable crossword although I did need Gaufrid’s explanation for 1a.

By: Gaufrid

Gaufrid — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 12:47:25 +0000

Hi K’s D
The ‘hidden’ indicator in 22dn is ‘It’s necessary to’ which needs to be translated into ‘an essential part of’.

Regarding 20ac, under ‘quill’ Chambers gives “a pen generally, or by metonymy, the writer’s profession”.