Comments on: Independent 7669 by Quixote

By: walruss

walruss — Mon, 16 May 2011 15:56:16 +0000

Well thank-you for dropping in, Mr Quixote! I am honoured.

By: Quixote

Quixote — Mon, 16 May 2011 14:23:27 +0000

In answer to walruss: an earlier effort was too hard for the competition (it subsequently was diverted to The Indy) and another too American (in yesterday’s New York Times). That said, I think you need to realise that there will be many others out there who will find this puzzle exactly what they want in terms of difficulty and I thought it good enough to deserve an airing over here (with permission duly given). Bloggers may be a bit one-sided in terms of market research!. Thanks to all for the feedback, anyway. (And it won’t be long before there’s a hard puzzler’s puzler’s thematic, I suspect.)

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Mon, 16 May 2011 14:09:31 +0000

Re Mustyx’s comment at #10, one of the those super-fast solvers (who I’d be in awe of) once told me that, as he writes in the answer for one clue, he’s reading and solving another.

By: walruss

walruss — Mon, 16 May 2011 14:03:24 +0000

Rather too easy, I feel. Not much of a challenge and a tad boring, so I think Rufus probably edges ahead in the battle of the ‘Monday Easies’. Maybe as a competition puzzle it HAD to be so simple? Woh knows.

By: Mustyx

Mustyx — Mon, 16 May 2011 13:54:57 +0000

Just over 12 minutes for me. But how do these guys do it in 4 minutes or so. It takes me 1 minute 15 seconds to read all the clues and two minutes 5 seconds to write down the answers. 3 minutes 20 seconds means the winner could only have spent around 45 seconds thinking about the solution. That’s 1.7 seconds per clue. Blimey.

By: caretman

caretman — Mon, 16 May 2011 13:45:30 +0000

Thanks, Neal and Quixote. I too initially figured there had to be an inventor named ‘Burnaby’ (maybe the Vancouver suburb was named after her/him), but BARCODE READER squashed that. I particularly liked the MUSICAL CHAIRS clue. As with the others, a nice quick solve to start the week.

By: flashling

flashling — Mon, 16 May 2011 12:50:55 +0000

Quick monday solve here, probably about 10 minutes but wasn’t timing it or trying to do it quickly. As this was used in a UK v US competition I’m surprised no-one noticed the republic issue before mind you I missed it as well.

Thanks NealH and Quixote.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Mon, 16 May 2011 11:30:40 +0000

Thank you, Neal.

I found this straightforward, but enjoyable. All very clearly clued, and an excellent puzzle for less experienced solvers, with all the main clue types on display. FINE TUNE and ELBA were my favourites today.

The fact that LIECHTENSTEIN isn’t a republic passed me by; I’m happy enough being able to remember how to spell it.

By: Quixote

Quixote — Mon, 16 May 2011 11:19:36 +0000

Apologies for republic — don’t know where that came from, since I generally check all my definitions!

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Mon, 16 May 2011 10:59:08 +0000

Very pleasing puzzle, which I did find quite a bit easier than the Indy average – my average solving time is about 34 mins or so, this took me just 11 mins which is v fast for me. Thanks, Quixote, and NealH for the blog. Re Liechtenstein, a curiosity is that its national anthem has the same tune as God Save the Queen – Collins calls it a principality.