Comments on: Independent 7695/Dac

By: flashling

flashling — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 22:44:08 +0000

Thanks John fortunately didn’t need the blog and to Dac for an expert puzzle as ever.

By: lenny

lenny — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 12:11:16 +0000

Thanks John. This was quite a gentle stroll except that, not knowing anything about dogs and knowing that South Africa can be SA or ZA, I went for Toza.

I like the clue for Clowning and I was glad that the ancient city was not Ur for a change. Anyone raised on salad cream in the post-war period will know that it bears more resemblance to shaving cream than mayonnaise but the dictionary supports Dac’s definition.

By: walruss

walruss — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 11:00:01 +0000

Yes, agreed. Another excellent puzzle from the Independent. As mentioned above I don’t think there’s any controversy about the FRAT, and this was in any case a nice one. My fave or COD too was CAMEL’S HAIR. As for ‘I’d help rebuild’ etc, I think Dac considers the anargam fodder as either two words or a string of letters to justify the plural usage. It doesn’t need to be ‘rebuilds’. There you are, going to the Crossword Centre mesage board occasionally can actually help!!!

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 10:54:25 +0000

Delightful Wednesday fare from Dac, as always. All went in steadily, with my favourites being pretty much the same as nms.

Thanks for blogging, John.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 10:38:35 +0000

Thanks, John, and Dac. Some great clues here, some already mentioned, eg WHOLESALER, GRUESOME, CAMELS HAIR, CLOWNING, but all excellent.

By: scchua

scchua — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 10:05:40 +0000

Thanks John, and Dac for another enjoyable puzzle.

Re 10A FRAT, I think it works if one considers the definition as “US student group”.

My favourites were 11A WHOLESALER, a double homophone, 25A KEELOVER, one of those clue-like answers, and 21A CAMEL’S HAIR, the anagrind being woven into the clue.

By: Thomas99

Thomas99 — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 10:02:42 +0000

Re 10 – Is the printed version different today? Online the clue is “US student group in Far East, oddly”, with “US student group” the uncontroversial definition. Hang on – you did it online too! Didn’t you notice “group”? Or maybe they’ve corrected it since you did it.