Comments on: Independent 7642/Anax

By: Jim T

Jim T — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 10:49:44 +0000

Tough but thoroughly enjoyable despite my not knowing some of the films. Clues were superb – loved 27A,2D,23D especially. Can’t see anything wrong with construction of 1D – very good clue.

By: Quixote

Quixote — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 09:08:47 +0000

I do agree with eimi that Saturday puzzles shouldn’t necessarily be hard, but if there are real stinkers to be solved my view would be that they belong to the weekend, so there’s no inconsistency in my view. That said, I respect the decision of the crossword editor who will obviously have a much wider view of his particular solvership.

By: eimi

eimi — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 08:59:49 +0000

Dram @25, I fell into the same trap: the 4 in 6 Down isn’t a reference to clue 4, but to Radio 4, home of the Archers. I was also trying to find some connection with archery rings, until Anax pointed it out.

Obviously, this was at the top end of the scale in terms of difficulty and Bannsider makes a good point about the less well-known films effectively lacking a definition. I’m a little surprised to see Quixote suggesting this as a Saturday puzzle, as I’m sure I remember him arguing elsewhere that prize puzzles shouldn’t necessarily be the hardest. I sometimes schedule fairly benign offerings on Saturday to give the lesser mortals a chance of winning a prize, but the Thursday slot is pretty well established now as home of the more difficult puzzles. They’re not all as hard as this, and there’s light and shade with Dac and Phi either side and a Quixote to look forward to on Monday.

By: Quixote

Quixote — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 07:48:43 +0000

If Bannsider (a setter of pretty hard puzzles, himself) couldn’t quite finish it (and I needed ‘aids’ for the last three clues) what hope for the average cryptic crossword solver, I wonder? Maybe this should have been a Saturday puzzle?

By: Bannsider

Bannsider — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 07:18:48 +0000

Thanks, belatedly, to Anax, for this. My main problem was working out what on earth could fit at 9 down, and not seeing, for ages, the brilliance of the EMERGENCE clue, despite registering that EMCE(E) might feature in the answer!
I think a lot of the difficulty from this puzzle arises from the fact that there are so many film titles which are really just ordinary words or phrases (HACKERS, THEM, STRIKE, OUT OF THE BLUE etc etc) and are all just defined as “film”, so effectively have no definition.
I got them all bar “RANSOM”, which I should have stuck with, inventing the unlikely “SAWSOM” instead.
Top quality clueing though and therefore highly satisfying to (almost)solve.

By: Allan_C

Allan_C — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 06:22:01 +0000

Just about totally beyond me. Never heard of most of the films, and even the non-film clues were too abstruse. ‘Droshky’ and ‘hymn’ were about all I could manage.

By: dram

dram — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 23:42:45 +0000

Although I did not get anywhere near finishing (no surprise for me)I really enjoyed the write-up – thanks for the blog John and to Anax for a very cleverly worked grid fill and some really entertaining clues. SODA and HACKERS my faves. Still do not understand the reference to Lord of the Rings for the Archers.

By: BertandJoyce

BertandJoyce — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 22:22:35 +0000

A devilish good solve! We needed the internet to check a few of the film titles but the clues were sufficiently clear to be reasonably confident. 16ac and 25ac were new to us and required some electronic assistance!

We were very impressed with how many film titles were included in the grid and yet only these two unusual words. Thursday always appears to be a tough solve and this was no exception but very satisfying.

Thanks to Anax for his comments and for another excellent puzzle. We wouldn’t have liked to be in John’s shoes today though!!

By: flashling

flashling — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 21:29:53 +0000

Anax needing a health warning? Not sure what a nervous breakdown/frustration symbol would be. I failed on this, several films I didn’t know but as a theme it’s fair enough and Anax’s style is bleeding obscure defs and very clever wordplay. As for soda, well it has bubbles, a double hint and I thought a brilliant clue. Just hope I don’t have to blog another of his ever again!

By: NealH

NealH — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:49:10 +0000

Having not even attempted the last few Anax puzzles, I thought I’d give this one a real go since the film theme seemed a reasonable subject for me. Sadly, the theme barely helped since most of the films were either extremely old or so obscure I’d never heard of them. My progress was similar to that of a character in a Dan Brown novel – about one clue solved for every hour’s worth of reading. In the end I finished it with the exception of 5 across, where I would never have equated “was shown” with ran. In future, I suggest putting a “frustration warning” on Anax puzzles similar to the health warnings on packets of cigarettes. I did like the soda clue, however.