Comments on: Independent 7,768/Anax

By: PeeDee

PeeDee — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 09:34:26 +0000

Thanks Ali and thanks Anax.

Too tough for me, the first crossword I have been unable to finish in a long time. Very good though, I just need to think harder next time.

Like Arachne I was born in Altrincham, so any easy first in for me.

Is the Indie really only 20p? Gosh

By: anax

anax — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 23:05:38 +0000

Darren, I’m afraid, is just ‘he’. ‘Sees’ is a pointer to the wordplay; the answer A sees B inside C.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 22:51:39 +0000

Well, anax, that’s fair enough then.
But … who or what is DARREN?

By: anax

anax — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 22:38:10 +0000

Hi there Sil.
Yes, to a degree it was an odd choice of ‘theme’, but the truth is it was plucked out of the air. All that happened was I was skimming through a TV listings mag looking for a film to watch, and there was one that featured Matt Damon. My mind working the way it does, I just decided that Damon was a slightly unusual name – perhaps more so because it immediately made me think of it as the first name of an ex-racing driver… followed by the realisation that Matt/Hill both had 4 letters and each could be clued as a non-name. And that was it really. Racer/Actor were just bonuses that fitted in with the number of letters in Damon.
Since these two, er, celebrities have nothing else in common that I could think of there wasn’t really anything I could do to develop things further, so it was just a case of placing these bits symmetrically in the grid in the hope they might be spotted to help out with unchecked letters.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 22:18:13 +0000

A puzzle like this makes me realise that I am still very much in a learning process. It was hard, wasn’t it?

In the end the only thing I didn’t like was the hidden indicator (‘keep’) in 28ac, but at least I got the answer rightaway.
Oh, and just like Wanderer I am still waiting for who or what DARREN is.

Damon Hill – racer, actor – Matt Damon.
It’s a nice challenge for the setter to get them in an (appropriate) grid, but why?
Is it just for the sake of having Ninas?
To be quite honest, I find a thing like this pointless. The two have nothing to do with anything else in the crossword.
Maybe it is a welcome extra for some of you, unfortunately I cannot be bothered – nor about their appearance here neither about their appearance in real life.

But, all in all, a very good crossword.
Not completely on my wavelength (because of the lack of lightness, and the focus on cleverness), but certainly several levels up compared to what we normally see in the dailies.

Thanks A1 and A2.

By: flashling

flashling — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 22:11:37 +0000

Aye (i) K’sD bought the i on tuesday for way home and was treated to a nice virgilius about Hemingway. Nice 20p worth. Thanks Anax and Ali. 19 seems to be GO (shot) + 2* (TWIN) DO + F (loud) and 13a TOTAL (sum) + L(arge) + I.N.G. totalling being a total write off something that petrolheads would know all about.

I found this easier than some Anax’s but realising the Nina(s?) helped a lot. Cheers all and Tees I’d never ever holiday in florida(y), a few hours at Miama airport was quite enough – don’t intend to return

By: ele

ele — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 21:51:36 +0000

This wasn’t my breakthrough Anax, but I did get a lot of it after some struggle and there were some great clues. Liked Sceneshifter. Failed on 1d, 5d and 6ac, and doubt I’d have seen Damon, but it would have been a help. Thanks Ali for the explanations. turbellarian was my first one in too and without that I’d have probably given up and gone home.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 19:39:42 +0000

Well, I had a go and got about half of it, but a bit over my horizon today. I laughed at ISLE when I realised the self-referential bit of the Independent i. It has a good cryptic most days with a selection of the regular team on parade.

By: Gaufrid

Gaufrid — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 19:05:28 +0000

Hi scchua
Under ‘how’ Chambers gives “a low hill; a tumulus or barrow (dialect)”.

By: scchua

scchua — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:17:00 +0000

Thanks Ali and Anax.

Wonderful puzzle. Last one in was HILL and only because I saw the DAMONs. But I confess to a blind spot: How does “how” define “hill”? Grateful if someone sheds light on this.

The other half that got away was ISLE. I got the SLE bit and the “key” bit, and I was sure that “I” = 1, number one, which is what you pay 20p to get into a public toilet to do. What the i newspaper costs I didn’t know.