Comments on: Independent 7,616 / Phi

By: Scarpia

Scarpia — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 11:12:03 +0000

Thanks RatkojaRiku
… and Phi for a very entertaining puzzle.
I got the 3 linked clues fairly quickly which made the rest of the puzzle quite easy but I still found plenty to enjoy.
Theme made me dig out the c.d with the Warsaw Concerto that I have (played by Christina Ortiz).I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it,after not listening to it for years.
Allan_C – thanks for the Rachmaninov fact,the piece is obviously Rachmaninov influenced and that compounds the link.

I guess Friday’s puzzle will probably feature a big red nose.

By: Allan_C

Allan_C — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 07:34:26 +0000

This was more to my taste than Monday’s offering. Wonder if Phi was listening to the same CD as mine of piano concertos from the movies?

btw the Warsaw Concerto was composed for the film after the producers failed to get permission to use the Rachmaninov second; David Lean obviously had more money or more clout a few years later for Brief Encounter.

By: Phi

Phi — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 06:15:09 +0000

I was looking at (not even listening to) a CD of great cinema piano concertos, and the fact that DANGEROUS MOONLIGHT was (9,9) struck me, and then that SPELLBOUND split into (5,5) and that 9 + block + 5 gave me a row of a puzzle. I also decided that I could readily get WARSAW C in as well, and that ADDINSELL fitted was a nice find. There’s an aborted attempt at the composer of SPELLBOUND too. Nothing else, though I was aware that MMF was a film and spent a bit of time trying to work some form of comp anag of M RUTHERFORD around it.

Who knows what Friday’s theme might be?

By: flashling

flashling — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 21:44:32 +0000

Thanks R for the blog, odd, had a slow start, couldn’t see anything to begin with and then it was all done. Loved the Murder most foul. So what has Eimi planned for Friday? I have a good inkling even if no tip off.

By: RatkojaRiku

RatkojaRiku — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:53:15 +0000

@Gaufrid – I wondered about that, but I wasn’t sure that “on” as a synonym for “up for” was part of my active vocabulary. Maybe I’ve lived outside of the UK for too long to know whether it’s part of anyone else’s!!!

@all – the broader cinematic theme hadn’t dawned on me either – perhaps Phi will drop in later to reveal whether the other cinematic references were intentional or purely coincidental?

By: ele

ele — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:53:04 +0000

Had to look up the composer too when I got home, but the rest went in pretty easily. Thanks to Phi for the usual enjoyable puzzle and thanks to RatkojaRiku for explaining Delta. I was so glad to get it in the end that I didn’t look too hard at the why. First in was Murder most foul, and last in was acronym. It’ll have to be something special on Friday.

By: Lenny

Lenny — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:41:55 +0000

This was my fastest-ever Phi solve, helped by a friendly theme with which I was very familiar. Most of my solving time was spent in working out Delta as I worked through all the possible Dutch towns such as Dolma (famous for its Greek restaurants) and Delia (twinned with Norwich). 15 was a new word to me, but I obviously am one.
I am not convinced by the conspiracy theory that the hidden theme is cinematic. If you key any word or phrase into IMDB you will find a surprising number of corresponding films. To give you just one example, there are six films called Delta.
Department of useless information: I used to live in Den Haag and commute each day to Rotterdam. The train stopped at Delft on the way. The guard always used to announce it as Deleft. I never found out whether he had a vocal impediment or whether this is, in fact, the correct local pronunciation.

By: walruss

walruss — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:57:21 +0000

No Ratko, I can’t see why this one would have to be today either! So I’m going with you, that the Friday puzzle is something else. A nice puzzle today though, in Phi’s quite straight syle.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:57:00 +0000

Unfamiliar with the theme here, but with the help of friendly wordplay, got all of it out, except for having to look up the composer that was an anagram of landslide. All very good, favourite clues, ACRONYM, ON SIGHT, MR BIG. Thanks, Phi, and RatkojaRiku.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:15:01 +0000

I did enjoy this – had to flirt online to understand the theme, but happy with that because I learned something.

MURDER MOST FOUL was extremely clever, and ALBUM made me smile too. I noticed when I checked out the film that this year is the sixtieth anniversary of its release; not sure if that’s relevant or not.

I think MR BIG just about works in a business context too, although I prefer the inexplicable TOP BANANA.

Thanks to both setter and blogger.