Comments on: Independent 7723 by Morph

By: Morph

Morph — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:26:44 +0000

Thanks Neal, and all for your comments. I wrote the puzzle in May, so it was quite fortuitous (prescient?) that 1ac becamse so timely. As for 1dn, I’d better not comment!
Re the pronunciation of Qatari, I think the Arabic is between cattery and kerTARy, and Chambers lists both, so I felt I was on fairly safe ground running with the homophone. I think cattery was what I heard most frequently when I was in Doha last month.

By: NealH

NealH — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:08:07 +0000

Eileen,

18 works as a double definition because of the theatrical meaning of “wrap” – to complete the filming of something – although your explanation is also valid.

By: Wanderer

Wanderer — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 16:27:50 +0000

Thanks Morph and NealH. Difficult but fun.

Was there not a Rupert Murdoch mini-theme lurking in the NW corner? Not just in the overtly topical 1a, as noted, about police/mobile/tapped, but also in 1d: “Jumped-up porn baron in decline?” When RM bought The Times, by which time he already owned The Sun and NoTW, I remember lots of reaction along the lines of “Who is this jumped-up porn baron buying The Establishment Newspaper?” The “in decline” bit then becomes nicely topical as well. And the solution at 2d, PAY TV, also fits in.

No doubt I am just reading too much into it, but I kept looking for more.

By: Cumbrian

Cumbrian — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 16:09:16 +0000

Hi walruss @6. It’s only one undergarment, so it’s IN VEST MEN TRUST around T.

I found this tough and couldn’t complete it in my allotted time, and I’m generally too impatient to come back so I used the reveal button on a few. I did get SICK AS A PARROT which gave me a good groan for its use of “poll-wise”, and was my favourite clue. I hadn’t come across GIRN, having only ever seen GURN (thanks lenny @4 for the info); AFAIK the fine art of Gurning through a horse collar still flourishes in the West Country.

Thanks Morph and NealH

By: walruss

walruss — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 15:48:35 +0000

It can’t be ‘in vests men trust’ around T: I shall go to the puzzle and check the clue. Cheers Morph for a nice puzzle, and to Neal H for his blog.

By: Thomas99

Thomas99 — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 14:19:48 +0000

Apparently Qataris would pronounce “Qatar” with a stress on the first syllable, with the word sounding more like “cutter” or “gutter” than “catarrh”. So perhaps “cattery” for “Qatari” isn’t so wrong after all. As Kathryn’s Dad says, Morph should know (although I don’t think you should necessarily always try to imitate the residents – we still don’t say Paree, after all…).

By: lenny

lenny — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 12:40:05 +0000

Thanks Neal. This was a cracking puzzle from Morph. I found the SE particularly difficult with the substitutions and subtractions of Hassle and Hegemony and the outrageous Cattery.I read this as a DD with “home for Persian” being the first definition.

I only knew the word Gurn so Girn went in on the wordplay. I thought Girn must be a variant but, in fact, it is the other way round.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 10:21:49 +0000

Thanks for the blog, NealH, and Morph for the puzzle which I thought was quite hard. Favourite clues, RED CARDS and NAY, where I think there is a homophone.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 08:15:56 +0000

Many thanks, Neal.

Great start to the week from Morph. Just right for me, anyway – I found it tough in places, but ultimately gettable. Some very inventive wordplay: I specially liked PAY TV (‘woofer’ for dog made me laugh), and SICK AS A PARROT (ditto ‘poll’).

I too initially questioned ‘recalcitrant’, but my Thesaurus gives ‘contrary’, so fair enough.

I have always thought QATARI was pronounced CAT-ARE-EE, with the stress on the second syllable, but since if I understand it well, Morph’s proper job involves dealing with that part of the world, I’m sure he’s right. But too much information can be a dangerous thing: knowing the above, I spent far too long trying to shoehorn Mohammed KARSAI into 5ac.

Fine puzzle, and not a single reference to the royal wedding in sight …

By: Eileen

Eileen — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 07:55:38 +0000

Thanks for the blog, Neal, and Morph for an enjoyable and witty puzzle.

4dn is [b]EST I’M ABLE and in 18dn I think WRAPPED is a homophone [for broadcast] of ‘rapt’ [sent].