Comments on: Financial Times 13,758 / Mudd

By: The Button

The Button — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 08:00:47 +0000

I went for the obvious Nevis too, but unfortuntely left it as the correct answer.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 23:03:11 +0000

Good to hear from again, Scarpia.
And, Richard Tauber – he was my father’s heart delight!

By: Scarpia

Scarpia — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 22:57:38 +0000

Thanks Gaufrid.
As you say,a fairly straightforward puzzle from Mudd.All good fun though,my favourite clue being 24 across.
One other surviving monocle wearer is boxer Chris Eubank.
Other famous wearers include Percy Topliss(The monocled mutineer),Radclyffe Hall,the tenor Richard Tauber
and,in fiction,various P.G.Wodehouse characters and Wilkins Micawber(David Copperfield).
Also from Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Patience” Reginald Bunthorne,the source of the pseudonym of the much missed crossword setter.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 18:54:58 +0000

Thanks for the blog, Gaufrid.

Re the unusual number of double definitions: I’ve pointed out, in my [tomorrow's] blog of last Saturday’s Guardian [Paul] puzzle, that this had no fewer than eight – quite extraordinary, I thought.

I agree with Sil’s favourite clues. [And Patrick Moore is the only person I ever remember seeing with a monocle, let alone being the only surviving one.]

Every good wish for your wedding day tomorrow, Mudd!

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 18:33:53 +0000

In the end, I am a bit with Gaufrid when he mentions ‘double definitions’. Don’t know why, but Mudd seems to use them more than in his Paul and Punk puzzles. Not a good thing.

That said, it wasn’t a walk-over for me [is it ever? ].
I think MONOCLE, UNDERSCORE, DUNDERHEAD, COLOUFAST and GUFFAW stood out – that’s five, not a bad underscore.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 18:13:49 +0000

Andrew @ 3

Of course, Patrick Moore!

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:28:34 +0000

Thanks Gaufrid – I didn’t find this as much of a walkover as you obviously did: the bottom half took me a lot longer than the top, though as is often the case there’s no obvious reason for that when I look back.

Bryan, I think Sir Patrick Moore is probably the only surviving monocle-wearer.

By: Bracoman

Bracoman — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 12:33:07 +0000

Many thanks for the blog. I,too, enjoyed both Paul and Mudd today.

I found this a little bit trickier than you did but it came out in the end. I liked 24A and spent ages trying to find the connection between underscore and stranger before the penny eventually dropped.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 11:44:18 +0000

Many thanks Gaufrid & Mudd

Another enjoyable solve from today’s Double Bill set by Mudd and the other fellow.

I entered MONOCLE but didn’t understand the clue until now. Do people still wear monocles? I don’t recall ever having see one except in old movies – for example: Ginger Rogers in 42nd Street (1933).