Comments on: Guardian 25,256 / Brendan

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 20:35:18 +0000

When the first post of a blog is not very favourable [even though in essence not unreasonable] it might set the tone for further posts. When another post (@8) is even less favourable and when the writer of the first post (which was me) feels the need to emphasise that [though having no intent at all to dismiss the crossword as a whole], it is not strange that the setter may be rather upset.
But ….. (to be continued @ General Discussion)

By: Geoff Chapman

Geoff Chapman — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 05:21:17 +0000

“In this spirit, I have one word (the etymology of which Sil will be well aware) ….

Poppycock.”

Oh Brendan. For this…I love you even more.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:53:32 +0000

I sincerely hope that Brendan will not be compelled to follow Virgilius into [even temporary] retirement!

By: Brendan

Brendan — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:42:19 +0000

In response to Matt (comment 45), Virgilius has, regrettably, retired, though I hope he will make a comeback sometime. I’m just too busy with my academic work right now.

By: Paul (not Paul)

Paul (not Paul) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 13:49:09 +0000

Its slightly ironic that when I had a little tantrum over Brummie’s use of “the top 10 list of really obscure composers” as a theme recently, it was Sil van den Hoek who (probably rightly) took me to task for going over the top.

That Brummie puzzle and this Brendan were well composed, fairly clued puzzles but on both occasions they failed to hit my Goldilocks zone. This will always be a personal thing anyway and I suspect that a great many solvers who only occasionally complete a prize puzzle will have found this one a treat.

By: matt

matt — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 13:03:42 +0000

Brendan,

Thanks for coming along, and thanks for all the puzzles. I get excited when I see your name in the paper.

Out of curiosity, has Virgilius retired?

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 10:49:58 +0000

Yes, Sylvia, you’re right.
Don’t know why I wrote Sylvie.

By: Sylvia

Sylvia — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 03:02:34 +0000

Sil, I think you meant to refer above (post 1) to Shirley (not Sylvie) as I quite enjoyed this crossword!

By: Paddywack

Paddywack — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 21:50:30 +0000

As an occasional solver (not a very good one) I found this puzzle hugely enjoyable. Many thanks to Brendan for some real fun and to Eileen for an enlightening blog. I loved both!

By: Martin H

Martin H — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 13:38:10 +0000

Hi Carrots – I’ve compiled a few crosswords, even occasionally using some sort of motif, but have never been minded to try a 100% theme – as a solver I usually find them tedious, and I shouldn’t want to inflict tedium on other solvers. But that’s a matter of taste, and not relevant to the points at issue here. I’m sure if I did try to compile one, I’d have just the same difficulty as you did – perhaps more as there’s no dog to blame for messing up the process. My point was simply that a good crossword is made of good clues, and themes, however ingeniously worked, can’t make up for poor ones.