Comments on: Independent 7748/Monk http://www.fifteensquared.net/2011/08/16/independent-7748monk/ Never knowingly undersolved. Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:04:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Allan_C http://www.fifteensquared.net/2011/08/16/independent-7748monk/#comment-167592 Allan_C Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:58:20 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=33098#comment-167592 Thanks, sidey, I’ve just beamed him up. (What was that in a blog the other week about famous non-quotes?)

]]> By: sidey http://www.fifteensquared.net/2011/08/16/independent-7748monk/#comment-167573 sidey Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:42:20 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=33098#comment-167573 Fomous Bashir scientist https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Julian_Bashir ;^)

]]> By: Allan_C http://www.fifteensquared.net/2011/08/16/independent-7748monk/#comment-167547 Allan_C Wed, 17 Aug 2011 07:36:17 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=33098#comment-167547 Not much one can add, save that I was looking for a suitable name of a scientist in 8d, which held me up for a while. Thought of ‘Bashi[r]‘ to give ‘bashing’ but there are no well-known scientists named Bashir – though doubtless some obscure ones.

]]> By: Monk http://www.fifteensquared.net/2011/08/16/independent-7748monk/#comment-167519 Monk Tue, 16 Aug 2011 18:38:32 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=33098#comment-167519 Thanks to all for the blog and encouraging comments, several of which elicit a response. [1] Wanderer @ #1: yes, this was the intended parsing. [2] Caretman @ #4: anaglypta wallpaper was a la mode with landlords in the 70s, so I learnt the word as a student in digs. [3] Wanderer @ #5: you have a fair point. [4] Ele @ #7: the construction “A on B C” in 12ac was to be parsed as [ (A on B) + C ] = [ (A after B) + C ] = [ B + A + C ], with “on = after” agreeing with across-clue convention. Your suggestion “A in B C” parses as [ A in (B C) ], which is also [ B + A + C ]. [5] K’s D @ #9: just to add that the only occurrences of Hydrogen and Carbon outside the schematic ethane molecule were in ETHANE and MOLECULE. [6] Jacinth @ #3,6,10: thanks for being a real sport and letting others enjoy the penny-drop. Also, re #10, I used a similar idea many year ago in a blocked advanced puzzle. [7] Gaufrid @ #12: the possible Elvis and cricket connections are most definitely purely coincidental.

]]> By: Wanderer http://www.fifteensquared.net/2011/08/16/independent-7748monk/#comment-167513 Wanderer Tue, 16 Aug 2011 16:32:06 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=33098#comment-167513 Amazing! Thanks to Jacinth, K’sD and Gaufrid for further illumination.

And to think when I started this I thought I was just doing a crossword… next time a Monk puzzle turns up, I shall probably spend the whole day trying to decode it.

]]> By: Gaufrid http://www.fifteensquared.net/2011/08/16/independent-7748monk/#comment-167510 Gaufrid Tue, 16 Aug 2011 16:15:57 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=33098#comment-167510 I wonder if it is pure coincidence that this puzzle has appeared on the anniversary of the death of Elvis (who was used in the wordplay for 15ac).

I also wonder if there has been a degree of prescience by Monk. The six Hs form an oval around the central square and the letters within the boundary of this Oval can be rearranged to form, amongst other things, ‘non-cricket’. Is this a reflection that the Indian touring team are going to continue as they have done in previous matches when the next Test starts on Thursday? And who will score the double century in the middle of the Oval?

]]> By: Kathryn's Dad http://www.fifteensquared.net/2011/08/16/independent-7748monk/#comment-167509 Kathryn's Dad Tue, 16 Aug 2011 16:10:33 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=33098#comment-167509 This is what I was trying to do, which explains it better:

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rhn6lTRfM9Q/TVZvFsrgwPI/AAAAAAAAAAo/l5Ig30ohHo4/s1600/Ethane-flat.png&imgrefurl=http://intrestingthings4u.blogspot.com/2011/02/aliphatic-hydrocarbons.html&h=830&w=1100&sz=10&tbnid=YCdSuaZTUmnHpM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=119&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dethane%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=ethane&docid=bysmvSQ6pnXK2M&sa=X&ei=4I1KTqbmMciLhQe-tvGPCA&ved=0CHAQ9QEwCg&dur=316

Can I have the trophy for the longest link ever posted on Fifteensquared, please?

]]> By: Jacinth http://www.fifteensquared.net/2011/08/16/independent-7748monk/#comment-167508 Jacinth Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:54:05 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=33098#comment-167508 That’s it! I don’t recall this being done in the Indy before, and it prompted me to write something here for the first time in a year or so!

]]> By: Kathryn's Dad http://www.fifteensquared.net/2011/08/16/independent-7748monk/#comment-167507 Kathryn's Dad Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:47:22 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=33098#comment-167507 Got it! The C2H6 structure is displayed with the two Cs in the middle row and the six Hs arranged around it in the pattern you would get if you drew the representation of the ethane molecule. I could explain that a lot better if I could do the diagram here, but I don’t think it will come out properly:

H H
H-C-C-H
H H

Anyway, you get the idea. Very clever indeed and good to see a real science-based puzzle. Bravo Monk.

]]> By: Kathryn's Dad http://www.fifteensquared.net/2011/08/16/independent-7748monk/#comment-167506 Kathryn's Dad Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:38:17 +0000 http://fifteensquared.net/?p=33098#comment-167506 Thank you, John. Quite a tough one, but I managed it in the end. I too was convinced that because of the number of unusual words, there must be a theme or Nina, but I couldn’t see it. Liked ETHANE, ANNEXE and the NOTTING HILL GATE anagram.

Well, since Jacinth is teasing us, all I can contribute is that the formula for ETHANE is C2H6, but where that gets us I don’t know. I’m going to have one more look then pop back here later on to see the mystery revealed.

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