Comments on: Guardian Genius 93 by Paul

By: Jan

Jan — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 22:48:27 +0000

Thank you, Duncan, for a superb blog and thanks, Paul for another very enjoyable puzzle.

I’ve little to add. The liver transplant was also my way in and I’m still chuckling at the thought of picking nosebeans this summer.

By: Dynamic

Dynamic — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 22:22:55 +0000

Thank you Duncan and also Paul. I enjoyed this as much as Tramp’s debut crossword in January’s Genius. Over the following week or two I’ve smirked to myself whenever a reference to Liverpudlian or Wagner/Ring Cycle has cropped up. Those two transplants piqued my sense of the absurd beautifully. Like Mr Beaver, I tried in vain to fit in Ride of the Valkyries. Paul seems to be a master at this sort of thing – he did it to memorably once before with ‘drunk’ hinting at Brahms and Lizst when the actual solution was Batman and Robin. Bravo!

By: Wanderer

Wanderer — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 16:48:35 +0000

Thank you Duncan for your very full blog. This was only the second Genius I have managed to complete, and I found so much to enjoy in it: the sheer inventiveness of the central idea; the all-pervasive good-humour and sense of the absurd; the brilliance of the Hitler firing Beethoven anagram, which was also my way in; and much more besides. It took me a long time even after I worked out what I was supposed to be doing, but this was a pleasure. Thanks Paul.

By: Judge

Judge — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 13:35:06 +0000

Beautifully illustrated explication, Duncan.

By: Mr Beaver

Mr Beaver — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 08:48:15 +0000

Thanks, Duncan – a meticulous blog. Unlike you, we found this ferociously hard and only completed it last night!
This wasn’t helped by my initial assumption that the definition of 18,32 was THE RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES, to which I clung for a long time despite contrary evidence!
Thus it was a long while before the penny dropped re the nature of the ill-advised exchanges.
Still, we got there in the end, and I guess it would be disappointing if a Genius crossword was easy!