Comments on: Independent 7810/Tees

By: dialrib

dialrib — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 20:08:57 +0000

Thanks, Allan_C

By: flashling

flashling — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 19:38:04 +0000

Late on parade, still wearing suit after interview, went ok thanks for asking. found this tough and flummoxed by the NOs as I tried to do this on a train with no access to resources and failed a bit, thanks to all who knew better and PB/Tees for a toughie.

By: Tees

Tees — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:58:17 +0000

Looks like you enjoyed this one – I’m really glad! Thanks to everyone who commented, and especially to John for his blog.

By: Uncle Yap

Uncle Yap — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:06:02 +0000

I normally do not come here as I would have solved the puzzle hours ago and by the time the blog and the comments appear, I would be having dinner or drinks with friends or watching tv. But this morning, when Dr G and I solved this together, we had so much fun and laughter at the cleverness of Tees that I must come here and participate. First a big Thank You to Tees for a fantastic collection of clues.

The mini-theme of the first James Bond film, Dr No (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._No_%28film%29) was presented so well that my COD must be 22A for that irresistible def “No” with 15A as a close second, again for that same audacious def. Bravo, Paul!

By: Allan_C

Allan_C — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:29:24 +0000

dialrib @ 15; I’ve always encountered it as ‘fit to bust’ but I see that both forms are given in the Macmillan dictionary – see http://www.macmillandictionary.com/thesaurus/british/fit_41#laughing-crying-coughing-fit-to-bust-burst_1
And btw, googling the expression shows that it has been adopted as the name of a lingerie shop in Leeds, and is also the title of a book: “Fit to Bust: How great companies fail, by Tim Phillips.” – see http://www.director.co.uk/MAGAZINE/2011/4_April/books-fit-to-bust_64_08.html

By: scchua

scchua — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:41:22 +0000

Thanks John and Tees.
This was en excellent solve for me, I think the best Tees I’ve come across. Amongst others, I ticked the 2 No’s JULIUS and JOSEPH WISEMAN, 9A DOCTOR WHO for its clever and misdirecting definition and 6D FIT TO BUST for its cheeky surface.

By: dialrib

dialrib — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:36:29 +0000

‘Fit to burst’ is common enough but I don’t recall coming across ‘fit to bust’ before.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:24:54 +0000

Thanks for the blog, John.

A little late to the party today [I've been out since mid-day] but I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed this.

I thought 2dn was brilliant. I blogged Rufus’ Guardian PI LOT ['religious group'] on Monday, so ‘devout company’ [PI CO] leapt out at me but ‘holy mount’ [which would normally, to me, suggest SINAI, TABOR, IDA, PARNASSUS, HELICON ...] cluing ‘ass’ made me laugh out loud.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen the whole of a James Bond film but the cluing of 22ac was so good that I got the answer and then, like Allan_C, was surprised to see who Joseph Wiseman was, revealing the virtually hidden definition,’No’- super clue.

Naturally, I didn’t know Dr No’s first name, so, similarly, I got 15ac purely from the wordplay – a really original way to clue and define this word.

Many thanks, Tees!

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:23:19 +0000

Yes, like others, I found this hard and challenging (though I got there in the end) with some really excellent clues eg PASTRAMI, YEAST, INDY, RIOTER, LEADERSHIP. Thanks, Tees, and John (whose blog explained a couple where the wordplay escaped me).

By: Thomas99

Thomas99 — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:28:21 +0000

Oops – sorry Tees. Much better