Comments on: Independent 7,649 / Phi

By: RatkojaRiku

RatkojaRiku — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 03:10:45 +0000

Thanks, nmsindy, for pointing out my slip with the anagram indicator at 1, which has been adjusted accordingly.

By: Allan_C

Allan_C — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 07:33:51 +0000

Grasping at straws for a theme but with the 10/2 and 20/20a arrangement could one say the grid was 3?

By: flashling

flashling — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 21:24:32 +0000

Thanks RR and the others in my quartet, whose blogs I’ve missed whilst incapacitated. Silly fall and broken ribs, lots of pain and morphine! Got bam from bamboozle and worked from there. Roll on next week – wonder what day we’ll see Phi?

By: Phi

Phi — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:04:40 +0000

20D/20A went that way for symmetrical reasons – the double clue for SIDELINE went in the Acrosses, so this one went in the Downs. Which means it isn’t symmetric in the grid, of course – but then I was never one who thought that symmetry was just an added-on folderol to a grid, but something to be played with.

By: bamberger

bamberger — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 17:50:20 +0000

Flushed with success at solving the Guardian, I tried this and only got 12a for sure,.
For 17a I knew the answer had to be smut or tums but couldn’t decide which and obviously without checking letters, I could only pencil both in.
5d the answer occured ot me but I couldn’t see the wordplay so didn’t write it in.
Thought 6a, 15a, 18a and 4d very hard -didn’t know bam=hoax.
Thanks for the extremely helpful blog.

By: scchua

scchua — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:38:31 +0000

Thanks RatkojaRiku for the blog, and Phi for an enjoyable puzzle. Quite straightforward, the last one in being the contemporary term in 6A.

Favourites were 15A CROWDSOURCING, another contemporary term, 1A OEDIPUS COMPLEX, another one of those clue-like answers, and 9D CARRIAGE RETURN.

By: Wanderer

Wanderer — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:10:06 +0000

Thanks RatkojaRiku and Phi, this was thoroughly enjoyable. OEDIPUS COMPLEX a marvellous clue, I thought. Special mention for the two broken grid entries at 10/2 and 20d/20a. Both were of the same type, with a container going round the outside; but what I discovered is that if I can actually see SIDELINE written out in full, I can immediately spot that it’s DELI in SINE. Arranged as it is on this grid, by contrast, I found it almost impossible to “see” what was going on. Perhaps this just demonstrates that I need visual confirmation more than other solvers, but those clues did provide a level of complexity (and satisfaction) for me which I don’t think they would have if they had not been broken.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 15:35:46 +0000

Yes, caretman, ‘On the QT’ is also common in British English.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 15:33:20 +0000

Thank you, RatkojaRiku. I too was half expecting a Phi theme, but it appears to be just the usual Phi excellence.

I think the setter has mentioned previously that he likes to include neologisms from time to time, and I was pleased to get both WEBISODE and CROWDSOURCING from the wordplay, never having come across either. I never knew that CLERESTORY was a part of a church; I’ve always known it from the GWR railway carriages with the sticky-up window bits on the top. Probably comes from playing with my train set instead of going to church when I was a lad.

Needed you to explain CUPIDS, so thanks especially for that.

By: caretman

caretman — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 14:11:26 +0000

Oops, I see that my comment on 16d didn’t come across in the way I typed it. I had thought REE came from removing the LS from REELS, still leaving most of that synonym of ‘rocks’.