Comments on: Guardian 25,445 – Puck

By: Huw Powell

Huw Powell — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 23:13:42 +0000

Hats off to any who solved this unaided! I surprised myself by at least managing to figure out “what” to research (ignoring the obvious, Oct 5 1911). I got lucky with PEDALLER, which led to POLICEMAN and some anagram-busting. So what if I then was able to use wikipedia to fill in two quick title and two possibilities for the author’s name? It was still fun.

Thanks for the blog, manehi, and the nice puzzle, Puck!

By: sidey

sidey — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 23:53:56 +0000

jmshaw, quite how was I proclaiming my ignorance? I was simple stating one fact, namely that most of the usual websites that mark anniversaries do not have this one. And an opinion that I find this sort of puzzle tedious. I made no comment on the literary merit of the chap concerned.

I hope that makes things clearer for you.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 23:49:15 +0000

Hated it – I was on a train, tired, with no artificial aids, and as it turns out unlikely to get very far due to my ignorance of Flann. No happier having read this excellent blog.
I’m trained as a Physicist and also read books but always get annoyed when literary ignorance is sneered at yet scientific cluelessness is often a badge of pride. Illogical Captain………………………….

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 22:21:41 +0000

Well, we are down to the theme ‘theme’ again.
Indeed, what RCW says @1 is just as it is.
When you’re familiar with it – in this case, a writer – this crossword is not really a challenge.
But when you’re not, this was certainly hard work. For that reason, for us it was.
We tackled the puzzle, as always, far away from any form of resources. And not having any knowledge of the writer, we were pleased to find out that we eventually made only one mistake. We wrote ‘The poor South’ instead of ‘The poor Mouth’ – unable to explain why, even though we were suspicious re the potential naughtiness of ‘flathk’.

The fact that the solutions are (mostly) gettable without googling is certainly a plus for this crossword.
And, of course, it is very nice of Puck to put Flann O’Brien into the spotlight.

But what about the cluing as such?
We thought, it was typical Puck.
A bit too elaborate at times, at the expense of the surface reading.
However, always fair and precise.
And with perhaps 7ac as the Winner of the Day [as it was for some others].

That said, in our opinion, this crossword contained just a tad too many cross-references (I admit, to things that we didn’t know) to make it fully satisfying (to us).

So in the end, well, I don’t know.
What I do know though is that we were extremely pleased to fill every single square (even if our S at 24ac should have been an M).
That wás satisfying.

Thanks Puck.
And manehi for blogging!

By: stiofain

stiofain — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 22:15:50 +0000

@Sidey There was also a pull-out supplement tribute in the Irish Times Brian/Flann/Myles centenary try some of the Cruiskeen Lawn columns and investigate his work on the establishment of "ladies Conveniences" in central Dublin. @RCW Then you are impressed by the drollery of other nationalities?

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 21:32:57 +0000

Well,after compulsory obeisance to the compiler, we now have required obeisance to the theme subject!
Many years ago my close friend,a devoted Flann fan tried to persuade me to join him.
When I showed little interest he bought me a copy of The Third Policeman. I gave it a real try and I am sure he is a genius but it was not for me. I am not impressed by Irish drollery.

By: jmshaw

jmshaw — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:55:43 +0000

Well said Wolfie.

By: Wolfie

Wolfie — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:50:12 +0000

Sidey @33 – there was a nice tribute to FOB’s centenary in last Saturday’s Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/sep/30/my-hero-flann-obrien-sansom

By: jmshaw

jmshaw — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:49:59 +0000

sidey,
Perhaps you would care to explain your desire to proclaim your ignorance in such a spectacular way. I found it difficult to reply without expressing myself with four letter words!

By: Wolfie

Wolfie — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:46:04 +0000

Thanks Puck – I enjoyed this ‘tribute crossword’ very much, as an admirer of the work of Brian O’Nolan under all of his pseudonyms. Even though I was able to write in the book titles from the word-counts there was much enjoyment to be had from the inventive clueing – 17,24 had me foxed for ages and I laughed out loud when I finally worked it out.

The variety of styles, themes and levels of difficulty that I encounter in the Guardian cryptics is one of the reasons why I continue to enjoy them so much, so I find myself perplexed by some of the comments on this blog. Themed crosswords might not be to everyone’s taste, but if you can’t enjoy them when they come along, why not put them down and do something else instead? Perhaps read some Flann O’Brien – you will be in for a treat…

Thanks Manehi for the blog.