Comments on: Independent 7,606 / Klingsor

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 21:29:12 +0000

Klingsor is the A of my ABC of favourite setters.
So, dear RatkojaRiku, a puzzle for you to find out.

Your blog was splendid.
And just like you I failed on 23d and 28ac, which I thought had to be the incompatible SALAD and PLUS.

SALAD wás right, and I should have seen that (although I never made any effort to see Dallas – one of those silly American soaps that were very popular at the time).
ODDS was beyond me, but perfectly alright.

Great puzzle, easier than recent Klingsors (so I agree, nms #5).
Liked the device for ‘dial’ in 27ac, even though I know that when I did a thing like that a while ago, some well-known person said “it might be amusing to the setter, but they will infuriate the average solver”
It wasn’t hard to find HAIRSTYLE (29ac), but I didn’t understand the definition – I do now.

Seeing UR in 4d clued by “You are speaking” did explain why a certain clue in my Dalibor crossword was particularly appreciated by Klingsor’s Alias [which btw, RatkojaRiku, does nót reveal the A of my ABC ].

Stand-out clues for me: 26ac (CALYPSO) and 7d (CABOT).

By: RatkojaRiku

RatkojaRiku — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 07:51:07 +0000

@ scchua – no, a slip of the “pen” on my part: the online version, which I use, also says “capital investment”, which is much better as far as the the surface reading of the clue is concerned. I’ve changed the blog accordingly.

@ Scarpia – thanks for a very useful link.

@ all – thanks for the feedback and for sharing your experiences of this puzzle with me – glad I wasn’t the only one who struggled with salad

By: scchua

scchua — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 02:10:55 +0000

Btw I deduce that there is a difference in the online vs paper version of the clue for 19A. The former says “capital investment”; the latter (to which I don’t have access) seems to say “capital embellishment”, which phrase is just as fitting.

By: Paul B

Paul B — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 01:04:03 +0000

‘Excellent blog’ seen in almost every post. Excellent puzzle too!

By: Scarpia

Scarpia — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 00:05:16 +0000

Thanks RatkojaRiku.
Super puzzle from Klingsor.I found the left hand side a lot more difficult than the right and although it had to be SALAD,I couldn’t see why.TV shows are not my strongpoint.
Spent some time trying to work the anagram at 1 across with U instead of S for the bends.
Loved the DA definition and also the use of i-pod in 14 across.

The excellent website recommended by nmsindy can be found here http://www.bestforpuzzles.com/index.html

By: ele

ele — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 23:34:20 +0000

Found this one difficult to finish – and I couldn’t see why salad or hairstyle – so thank you for the excellent blog. 19ac (which I gave up on in the end) was very good as the clue is so misleading.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:17:43 +0000

Most enjoyable puzzle. I found it quite tough, but gettable with perseverance.

I too liked SOUR GRAPES, and the duck’s arse in HAIRSTYLE made me laugh when I twigged it. I could handle another crossword from this setter in the Indy soon.

Excellent and full blog, thank you.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 16:42:04 +0000

Yes, this was excellent, and not too difficult compared to some earlier Klingsor puzzles, all of which were also v enjoyable. My favourites clues were SOUR GRAPES, GO STRAIGHT, EVICTOR. The surface readings were as always of the very highest standard. Thanks, Klingsor, for the puzzle and RatkojaRiku for the blog. With regard to ‘other guises’ of Klingsor, they very much exist. The recently established Best for Puzzles website (sorry not too good at pasting links) run by Michael Curl gives a lot of info on setters.

By: scchua

scchua — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 15:51:45 +0000

Re odds=advantage, I think that besides measuring probability, odds also means the difference in advantage that one has over another, eg. as in “He’s the odds-on favourite”.

By: Thomas99

Thomas99 — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 15:41:22 +0000

Excellent blog – clear but also enthusiastic enough to recreate some of the fun of solving.

Re 28a I think “odds” meaning advantage survives in expressions like “it makes no odds”, though I could be wrong.

What with this and Boatman in the Guardian it’s been quite a day – and quite tiring!