Comments on: Independent 7,802/Anax

By: Allan_C

Allan_C — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 07:21:09 +0000

Just about got there when after long consideration I spotted the pattern having looked up ‘charm’ in a thesaurus and found grisgris, a new word to me (and, btw, hyphenated). But stuck on 26a; all I could think of to fit _O_S_O_S was ‘couscous’ and no way (of course) could I make it fit the clue.

By: anax

anax — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 23:27:32 +0000

Greetings all – many thanks to Ali for an excellent blog and to all for your kind comments.
This 1234/1234 pattern (I don’t have a name for it either) is by no means new. I saw it used in (I think) a Times puzzle a couple of years ago but it was restricted, if I remember correctly, to four 8-letter answers at 90 degrees symmetrical rotation. This was by no means a weakness – just a limitation of the grid. The only reason I dared to attempt more in this puzzle was the Indy’s policy of setter-designed grids, so I had the freedom to adapt it if things got sticky.

By: flashling

flashling — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 17:10:52 +0000

Good grief (charlie brown) that was tough and failed on 17ac – never heard of it. The double word plays certainly helped but whilst I got 5 on first read through after that it was the usual struggle to see definitions let alone wordplay that’s typical of Anax, much tougher than his Sunday Times recently.

Tough one to blog, thanks for that Ali, and a begrudging thank you to the setter

By: Richard Palmer

Richard Palmer — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:17:17 +0000

Like the others I found this very hard going but rewarding. The clue to OLIGARCHICAL was outstanding. It was only after discovering the repeating pattern that I managed to finish the bottom part except for 26 across. I was convinced it was going to be COUSCOUS but couldn’t reconcile that with either a definition or wordplay.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 15:44:07 +0000

Thank you, Thomas. I see it now. As Pontius Pilate says in Life of Brian: Welease Wodger! Welease Woderick!

By: Thomas99

Thomas99 — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:21:06 +0000

K’s Dad – but you’re reading it out wrong! It’s a woman like Cicewo, not a woman like Sophia Lowen or Gina Lollobwigida!

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 12:59:21 +0000

I too found this very tough. Thought I was going to be unable to solve any clue on first run through, but then got EYELESS, one of the last of the downs. I eventually saw the pattern on the LHS and I was able to finish at a quicker pace after that, getting the words on the RHS which followed the same pattern. Many thanks, Anax and Ali.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 12:14:17 +0000

Just about managed it, but it was a long struggle. Very good puzzle though, with POOH POOH and TESTES both priceless. I didn’t see the word patterns either: I think you just get so focused on solving the next clue that you don’t step back to take a look at the big picture – which in this case would no doubt have helped.

I can usually now do an Anax more often than not if I can get a start – then perseverance is the key, since it’s all there to get if you can see how it works.

If I have a nanoniggle, it’s that the O sounds in WOMAN and ROMAN are different, so Wossy wouldn’t actually pronounce it that way; but the clue was funny and setters get away with much worse, so well done to Anax for an excellent crossword and thank you to Ali for a very helpful blog.

By: Wanderer

Wanderer — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 12:09:35 +0000

One of the best I can remember doing, and certainly one of the hardest. Among the many misdirections, I thought this was going to be a pangram — in fact all letters are here except Q, and towards the end I was sure it was going to be used. Nope, wrong again! I noticed the double-word device, but not its symmetry, so it didn’t help me as much as it should have done.

I thought the clue for OLIGARCHICAL was outstanding. I don’t know exactly what constitutes an &lit clue, but is this one not an example of the whole clue defining the solution?

Many thanks to Anax and Ali.

By: Pelham Barton

Pelham Barton — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 11:52:24 +0000

Thanks Anax for an excellent crossword and Ali for the blog.

Like others, it took me a long time to get going, but I spotted the device from 1/9/10ac. Then 5/23/25ac were easy from the checking letters – 24/26ac slightly less so.