Comments on: Independent 7716 by Crosophile (Saturday Prize Puzzle 9 July 2011)

By: mc_rapper67

mc_rapper67 — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 12:47:56 +0000

Thanks for the added information Crosophile - layers within layers! The Peake/Gormenghast theme also appeared in the Inquisitor (1185) in the Independent magazine on the same day - which probably helped those who do both puzzles... Not an ideal situation, maybe, but they were both very different puzzles, and you only get one chance to celebrate a centenary!

By: Crosophile

Crosophile — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 23:22:27 +0000

Thanks for the blog and comments. And well done on identifying the extra bits of the theme (which was the reason for the thematic content of clues 12a and 14a).
I gathered a couple of months back that the manuscript of Titus Awakes was only disovered by accident a couple of years ago in the attic of Peake’s house, it being the secretive work of Peake’s widow, Maeve Gilmore, based on some notes by Peake. As this was due to be published to mark his centenary I’d hoped there might be a little splash in the newspapers to coincide with this puzzle. Maybe other unfolding events pushed it off the front page!

By: mc_rapper67

mc_rapper67 — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 12:44:26 +0000

Thanks for the comments at 1, 2 and 3.

#1. Allan_C – I hadn’t noticed the centenary link – although that explains some other Peake-related stuff elsewhere this week…or the Maeve connection.

#2. flashling – I have done (or at least attempted) several Charybdis puzzles over the years – indeed I blogged his EV861 back in April, so in fact this is like bumping into a new/old friend!

#3. Cumbrian …and I hadn’t spotted the link to the third novel – Titus Alone

By: Cumbrian

Cumbrian — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 11:26:33 +0000

Thanks for the puzzle, and the blog.

It took me considerably longer than 10 minutes…..

I didn’t know about Maeve, or indeed the sequel, but I did spot all three of the Gormenghast novels at 26d25d, 24ac, and 26d27ac.

By: flashling

flashling — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 08:29:27 +0000

I liked this one,(well once I spelled Gormenghast correctly!) Crosophile is aka Charybdis in several other places. This was great stuff and very enjoyable.

Thanks blogger MC_R

By: Allan_C

Allan_C — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 07:49:54 +0000

The theme, of course, was topical with the puzzle appearing on the centenary of Peake’s birth – as I learned from the previous week’s Radio Times. Maeve was Peake’s wife, who wrote the “sequel” 26D 14A.