Comments on: Independent 7565/Phi

By: Phi

Phi — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 23:51:02 +0000

I think I’d better come clean on this, folks. I sat down to do the puzzle having selected one of the standard Independent grids (I do still use them from time to time) and pondered about the four letter lights in the NE and SW corners. They always feel a bit semi-detached so I looked for a useful (4,4,4,4) phrase, found MAKE BOTH ENDS MEET, and thought it would be interesting to alternate the words, and that, yes, it would sort of join up opposite corners in a semi-thematic way, yada-yada-yada.

And that’s about as far as it went. MOBIUS STRIP just happened to fit as I filled the rest of the grid, and there aren’t enough science references in crosswords so it was preferred over other options.

Incidentally, K’s D, I say ‘make both ends meet’ but ‘making ends meet’, but not vice versa – must be something to do with the number of syllables.

By: Testy

Testy — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 11:50:30 +0000

Why did the chicken cross the Mobius strip?

To get to the same side!

By: flashling

flashling — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 01:08:32 +0000

Thanks Phi / John and all. Did this on the train and found it usual Phi standard, pleasant that didn’t need outside help. RE the mobius strip thing, surely the half twist required would mean crossword joined to back page so the both/meet bit doesn’t work alas. (Without some incredibly lucky editing by the sports staff!)

By: Scarpia

Scarpia — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 00:03:11 +0000

Thanks John.
The usual excellent stuff from Phi,which for some reason I found easier than some of his puzzles.Saying which,I failed to parse 1 across(thanks Gaufrid).Also had to look up BLAT.
A wide range of subjects covered here – Opera,ballet,physics,architecture but nothing too obscure.
I’m not a scientific person but I have known of the Mobius strip for a long time and have used it,along with card tricks,to amuse/amaze various nephews and nieces.

By: pennes

pennes — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 23:20:19 +0000

Great crossword and even more so since fully understanding mobius strip. I liked 24ac Odettewhich was nicely hidden and I only got it with crossing answers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bcm-kPIuHE

This link shows what can be done with a mobius strip. Amazing. You would need a superbly spatial brain to work it out. I can’t

By: Robi

Robi — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 22:01:04 +0000

Thanks Phi, John and Gaufrid. 1 made me laugh when I saw Gaufrid @1.

By: John

John — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 21:41:50 +0000

Thanks scchua@5 and Stella @10, corrected now, also Gaufrid for explaining 1ac. As I thought, pretty obvious.

What amazing cleverness with Möbius.

By: Stella Heath

Stella Heath — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 14:22:30 +0000

Thanks John and Phi. I think you’ll find the anagram fodder for 18 has ‘hail’, not ‘hair’

I didn’t come to the four-answer clue till I was almost finishing, so it was fairly clear by then, although the second word took a little more thought.

Thanks for explaining 1ac, Gaufrid

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 13:18:30 +0000

Yes, this was excellent as always, thanks, Phi, for the puzzle and John for the blog. My favourite clue was BLOW-BY-BLOW.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 13:14:48 +0000

Thanks, Mark B. I see that the expression ‘make both ends meet’ does exist, and given your insight, this makes it an even better puzzle. That is seriously clever.