Comments on: Independent 7,787/Phi

By: Allan_C

Allan_C — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 13:04:45 +0000

As of Saturday afternoon the blog seems to have lost the answers to 7d and 8d.

Thought we were getting another pangram, but in the end no J or Q.

By: Wil Ransome

Wil Ransome — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 22:50:57 +0000

Usual good stuff from Phi. I agree with you, K’s D, more difficult than you expect from him. The usual Phi classical musical references, so perhaps this will act as a counterweight to pop themes, which some would say are more than occasional in the Indy crossword. The pop enthusiasts are I suppose entitled to moan about the classical music references, even though I am very much on Phi’s “side”.

By: NealH

NealH — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 15:37:54 +0000

I didn’t notice the numbering of the Glowworm puzzle, so did all of that before coming here only to find I needed to start again with Phi.

I found it quite tricky to get going with this. Although clues like 17 were quite easy to decode, it was hard to get until you had quite a number of crossing letters because of the unfamiliarity of the word. I’d never heard of tick as meaning a cover for a pillow or mattress – it gives a whole new meaning to saying “my bed’s covered with ticks”.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:33:11 +0000

Yes, this was good as always from Phi. My favourites were ACHIEVERS, REPARABLE and YOGHOURTS. Thanks for the blog, Ali. I think there’s a double definition element in TICKING with the two meanings but I guess you could say it was cryptic too with the pun on ‘ticking’.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:40:38 +0000

Thanks, Ali.

I too started the online puzzle this morning before realising that it wasn’t right because of the numbering. I’m guessing glowworm will be the IoS prize puzzle for this weekend, which given that the ‘reveal’ button was available, wouldn’t be ideal.

Might just be me, but this was the hardest Friday Phi I’ve done for a while. Looking at your explanations (which actually I didn’t need today) I can’t see why now. I sussed the anagram fodder for 1ac but couldn’t work it out for love nor money; it was my last one in. GREYWACKE and CORNELIAN were unfamiliar, but I’ve no excuse for struggling with the rest.

YOGHOURT is one of those words that has a number of different spellings, like POPPADUM.

Thanks to Phi for the usual dose of Friday enjoyment.