Comments on: Guardian 25,335 – Brendan

By: Huw Powell

Huw Powell — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 02:44:33 +0000

Oh so much fun! I noticed a vague theme in so many depressing clue words, but utterly failed to see the Nina until it was explained here. Surely a tiny clue as in a special instruction would have been a nice tease? Like “it’s all around” or something equally distracting.

Lovely puzzle, Brendan, and great blog Andrew, I liked the coyness regarding potential spoilers for the theme!

By: MikeC

MikeC — Mon, 30 May 2011 21:48:27 +0000

I completely missed the love affair with Nina (in the back of my Cortina), so thanks Andrew, Eileen and others. Brilliant crossword, Brendan.

By: PeeDee

PeeDee — Mon, 30 May 2011 21:29:27 +0000

Thanks Andrew and Brendan.

Failed to spot the theme completely, so thanks for pointing this out to us. I had ‘Jack’ for 2dn – ‘to lift up with work’ and ‘a servant’. Hack is better answer, regardless of the theme. Quite a difficult puzzle I thought.

By: Martin P

Martin P — Mon, 30 May 2011 21:17:06 +0000

Quite a toughie I thought.

Macaroni: I wondered about “macaron”, “confectionery”+ “i”, “Italian” but the fashionista explanation sounds most likely to me. Don’t the Italians call it “maccheroni”, though?

2 down and 10 across were the last I got.

Megohm, yes, not often the prefix precedes a vowel but OK for a techie.

All in all a testing refresher after a twelve day crossword fast for me.

By: flashling

flashling — Mon, 30 May 2011 20:15:35 +0000

Well as an Indy regular seeing grids like this sets warning bells off and Brendan used to set for us… so the Nina was expected, good stuff didn’t really get macaroni, so thanks folks & Brendan for the fun

By: chas

chas — Mon, 30 May 2011 20:03:38 +0000

Brendan – see my comment @24.
Araucaria used some letters on the perimeter to pass a message.
If my memory serves right he also had a bank holiday special some years ago where the whole perimeter was used – but explicitly.

By: Brendan

Brendan — Mon, 30 May 2011 19:16:24 +0000

Thanks, everyone.

I just want to acknowledge that I learned the idea of using unchecked letters for messages from Paul Henderson, though he was probably not the first to exploit this device — anyone know?

By: muck

muck — Mon, 30 May 2011 19:02:54 +0000

Thanks Andrew & Brendan
I spotted the nina early enough to help me with a few answers

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Mon, 30 May 2011 17:14:25 +0000

Marvellous crossword.
So extremely well clued that I really cannot choose any clues that stood out from the rest.

Like many of ye all, we spotted the Nina only after solving.
It had the ultimate effect on us.
I looked at my PinC and literally said: “Strange, no theme? There must be one” after which she pointed at the perimeter.

Chapeau, Brendan!

By: Manu

Manu — Mon, 30 May 2011 17:12:41 +0000

The PERIMETER. Dear me, I should have checked it earlier on, knowing it’s Brendan and the theme can come up anywhere ha ha.
I was checking for broken words across and down, for anagrams, e-ve-ry-thing. Didn’t get it until the very end.
Chapeau, Monsieur Brendan!