Comments on: Independent 7659 / Dac

By: RatkojaRiku

RatkojaRiku — Thu, 05 May 2011 12:07:49 +0000

Thanks to Gaufrid for plugging the gap. This shamefaced blogger simply got his days wrong – on account of the public holiday, no doubt – and turned up with his Dac blog today instead of yesterday. Am glad you enjoyed the puzzle in my absence and hope to be back with a blog next week, hopefully on the right day.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Thu, 05 May 2011 09:37:53 +0000

Re ele’s comment at #11, MOOR did require some thought as to which to choose but I think it was unambiguous with ‘for’ leading from wordplay to definition. If it was the other way round, a link such as ‘of’ or ‘from’ would have been appropriate. In case clue is not ready to hand it was “Extra having audition for Othello, perhaps (4)”

By: Allan_C

Allan_C — Thu, 05 May 2011 06:56:49 +0000

Thanks, Gaufrid for the explanation of RUNG – I’d temporarily forgotten run=ladder and thought ‘step’ was doing double duty as definition and a doubtful synonym for ‘run’.

Bamberger @4: baconers are pigs intended for bacon, as opposed to porkers – those intended for pork. You would hear the term used in the market reports in ‘The Farming Programme’ (if they still have them – I’ve not heard the programme for years).

By: ele

ele — Thu, 05 May 2011 00:20:34 +0000

Liked Pack it in particularly and architecture but was delayed a bit by initially putting ‘more’ rather than ‘moor’ in for 23d down. Seems that from the clue alone either could have been the entry. Is there anything in the precise wording of a clue like this that tells you which homophone to choose?

By: anax

anax — Wed, 04 May 2011 23:04:36 +0000

I didn’t have a problem with 12a Wil. ‘Step’ is the def for RUNG, then there’s the G of ‘gingerly’ which goes ‘onto’ RUN (ladder). It’s largely accepted now that on(to) in an across clue indicates a juxtaposition instead of (as it was in the bad old days) offering a choice between left/right of the preceding fodder.

By: Wil Ransome

Wil Ransome — Wed, 04 May 2011 22:45:05 +0000

Good stuff as always from Dac, but I was unhappy with 12ac: ‘Step gingerly at first onto ladder’: Quite apart from the ‘onto’ which I don’t like and feel, despite dictionary evidence to the contrary, should be two words, it seems that ‘onto’ is a rather weak link-word. [Wordplay] onto [Definition] doesn’t seem right.

By: Scarpia

Scarpia — Wed, 04 May 2011 22:01:39 +0000

Thanks Gaufrid and Dac for the usual faultless puzzle.
For those that couldn’t find it,the definition for MAGPIE is given on Chambers online
http://tinyurl.com/4ywk8fa

By: scchua

scchua — Wed, 04 May 2011 18:03:48 +0000

Sorry nmsindy, crossed with your #5. Hate this iPad keyboard, takes ages!

By: scchua

scchua — Wed, 04 May 2011 18:01:02 +0000

Thanks Gaufrid for the blog, and Dac for his usual fine puzzle.
Last one in was MAGPIE whose 2nd definition was confirmed in the dicts. Favourites were 5D ONE HORSE TOWN, 6D OUT TO LUNCH, and 18A ARCHITECTURE.
Hi bamberger@4, I think that setters love to make up words like “ski pit”, which do not exist outside crosswordland, in furtherance of their craft!

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Wed, 04 May 2011 17:33:31 +0000

Re 7D, Bamberger, I think the ? in the clue is there to suggest the “SKI PIT” is fanciful.