Comments on: Independent 7652/Anax

By: anax

anax — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 14:44:34 +0000

A very late thank you to all for your comments. Sorry I’ve not dropped by earlier – as Minx mentioned above I was on holiday for a week in Italy; internet connection was OK (apart from when the house got struck by lightning!) but we just weren’t around often enough for me to use it apart from replying to urgent emails.

By: redddevil

redddevil — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 15:23:17 +0000

Don’t know that I’ve ever done a crossword where I’ve guessed so many of the answers but dismissed them ’cause they appeared not to fit the clues. Too many obscure words for me I’m afraid as well.
Enjoyed the 60% or so I completed though.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 14:13:48 +0000

This is either really spooky or planned … bought the Indy i today and having a crack at the cryptic my eye was drawn to the solution for the i cryptic yesterday (Tuesday). The fifteen letter solution across the middle is RAIN CATS AND DOGS, and the majority of the down answers are exactly that. FOXHOUND, SHELTIE, LABRADOR and TIGER all make an appearance. I didn’t buy the paper yesterday so I can’t say who the setter was. Perhaps eimi was giving the Indy audience a BOGOF day; if it serendipity it’s scary.

By: Allan_C

Allan_C — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 08:38:59 +0000

Yes, really tough. Needed lots of help from wordfinder, Google, etc. Eventually had to come to the blog for an outright cheat on 20a, and only then did I realise there was a theme – but then I was able to finish.
Got CERBERUS straight away from the definition but took ages to work out the wordplay. And in 15d ‘rad’ for excellent was new to me as well.

By: BertandJoyce

BertandJoyce — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 08:29:16 +0000

We didn’t start this until late last night and hadn’t cracked the theme before we decided to ‘sleep on it’!

A difficult solve this morning but very enjoyable. Really annoyed that we didn’t spot the ‘rain’.

Thanks Anax for another great puzzle and also to John for explaining 19D.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 08:02:35 +0000

Hi Minx @19

Thanks for dropping in.

I didn’t see the show last night but have just watched it on iPlayer. Great to see you and – what a coincidence with Anax’s dogs! [I hadn't thought about the missing setter but perhaps that's quite appropriate. ]

By: Rishi

Rishi — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 03:48:12 +0000

@Wanderer #6

“Raining cats and dogs” is an expression that is used commonly in India even today.

Even people who have had only moderate education can be heard saying it.

As you said of the Russians, Indians in the early decades of the past century may not have travelled abroad frequently and all their education was from textbooks.

It was a requirement to read grammar books (e.g., Wren and Martin). Incidentally, modern-day schoolboys may ask “Grammar, what’s that?” as all their concentration is on the sciences so they may have better job opportunities. These books, especially the one I mentioned above, had many quaint expressions, literary tags and Latin phrases in the exercises and thus even those who had had only school education were conversant with them and dropped them in their conversations.

By: theminx

theminx — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 21:32:55 +0000

Hi all…I really enjoyed this as i love dogs ( some of you might have seen me on the one show tonight? Doglost.co.uk)

I know Anax is in Italy this week with his daughter and taking a well deserved break…so may be a while before he replies…but reply he will!

He is not into dogs himself….but found it strange he did not take the opportunity to use Setter..or did I miss something?….Probably as phones have ben ringing all night.

Or I have not managed yet to complete it?

But be warned…when he comes back with a refreshed mind…they will get harder to solve!

First time I have posted on this site…but in his absence had to explain why.

By: Thomas99

Thomas99 — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:38:05 +0000

I found this incredibly difficult. My reaction to all dogs, in reality or in print, is to look away and try to imagine they’re not there, so I suppose it’s not surprising I only spotted that part of the theme while I was putting in the last two answers. And yes I realise nearly everyone else loves dogs and I’m the weirdo. (The other themes I’m afraid I only spotted by coming here.) To me this is the hardest of all recent Anaxes, but very satisfying (and slightly surprising) to finish it at last. The clues all seem very fair (perhaps I can be forgiven for not knowing “Ba” though?) but still managed to be maddening at the time!

By: flashling

flashling — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:04:59 +0000

Not as bad as some Anax crosswords but beaten by the Egyptian cats which I’ve not come across before, still a fine puzzle for my commute home this afternoon with the usual unusual angrinds and definitions we’ve come to expect of him, thanks Anax and John.