Comments on: Independent 7,827 / Dac

By: Wil Ransome

Wil Ransome — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 23:41:16 +0000

I always thought Tim Henman had a very bad press, K’s D@6. He’s a mild middle-class boy and he tended to talk like a politician when he was interviewed, but he couldn’t help all those dreadful Come On Tim supporters. And, like it or not, he is by far the best tennis player England has produced in the modern era.

By: Pelham Barton

Pelham Barton — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:15:10 +0000

redddevil @7:

Based on the information in Wikipedia, Apulia is the Latinised version of the original Greek name for the region. The spelling Puglia is a modern Italian variation.

I knew of Stainer from having taken part in his best known choral work, the Crucifixion. It contains a Tenor aria “King ever glorious” which has the unfortunate line “Here in abasement”, which it is difficult not to hear as four words instead of three.

By: redddevil

redddevil — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:05:47 +0000

I thought the ‘English’ made the Henman clue too obvious myself. Substituting ‘ex’ would have been better on 2 counts! Despite being a classical music fan of sorts I’ve never heard of Stainer so left entering that – otherwise obvious – answer until last. I’d heard of Puglia but not as Apulia – another of our strange English attenmpts at foreign pronunciation no doubt!
Thanks for puzzle and blog.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:31:11 +0000

You’re right, nms, and I’m not saying the clue is faulty, it’s just a personal thing. And Pele was certainly a better footballer than Tim was a tennis player. And had a longer (full) name.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:00:34 +0000

Excellent puzzle and blog – thanks, Dac and RatkojaRiku. I too found it just slightly on the easier side – my favourites today were ATYPICAL, SCREECHER, TORSO and CAPITOL. I’m afraid I can’t agree with K D’s point at #1 re Henman, surely eg Pele can be described as a footballer?

By: NealH

NealH — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 13:25:48 +0000

Fairly easy apart from 20, which was impossible if like me you’d never heard of either a Puli dog or the Apulia region of Italy. In terms of clues, it was a slightly mixed bag – some nice ones like 12 and 2, as well as a few old chestnuts like 18 and 8.

By: Pelham Barton

Pelham Barton — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:46:05 +0000

Thanks Dac for a pleasant solve and RatkojaRiku for the blog. K's Dad: I take your point about 4ac. I think Tim Henman still plays occasional exhibition matches, which ought to be enough to satisfy the fussiest of tastes, but I would be quite happy with the clue anyway. 1dn: I thought I would look this up in the various dictionaries near at hand. Chambers 1988 and 1998 both have dumb-show hyphenated, but Collins 2000 has it as two words.

By: Allan_C

Allan_C — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:23:31 +0000

Quite a quick solve this morning, although I needed the blog to explain ENTERTAINERS, CHARTERHOUSE and TWO-HANDER fully. My first guess for 26a was ARDENNES (‘ard + ennes), though I couldn’t see where ‘ennes’ could have come from, but the correct answer soon became apparent.

Thanks, Dac and RatkojaRiku

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 09:42:59 +0000

Fine blog, RatkojaRiku. Needed you to explain ENTERTAINERS, otherwise all straightforward and beautifully clued as always. BONNIE AND CLYDE and SCREECHER were ones I specially liked.

I always have a hmmm moment when I see a clue like HENCHMAN, since Tim isn’t a tennis player any more; but I never raise an eyebrow when I get ABE for ‘president’, so I don’t know why. Perhaps because Tim’s still with us, but Abe isn’t.

Thanks to Dac for an entertaining puzzle.