Comments on: Guardian crossword No 25,500, by Brummie

By: PeeDee

PeeDee — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 08:34:55 +0000

Thanks Stella. I enjoyed the rambling nature of the “theme”, it made the crossword interesting but didn’t give too much away as more conventional themes do.

By: mhl

mhl — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 23:18:47 +0000

Thanks for the post, Stella, and to Brummie for an excellent puzzle. I do love this style of linked thematic crossword — knowing nothing at all about “A Star Is Born” didn’t present any problems.

For what it’s worth, I solved this significantly faster than the Chifonie puzzle yesterday (which the majority of commenters described as easy) but I suppose that’s yet another demonstration of how out-of-step I am with most people’s assessments of the difficulty of Guardian setters :)

By: Trebor

Trebor — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:42:54 +0000

Good solid puzzle with nice mini-themes. Only thing I’ll add (haven’t read all comments so may have been mentioned) is that recent talk suggests Red Dwarf is to be reprised.

By: apiarist

apiarist — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 17:59:44 +0000

I was determined not to cheat with this one so I was amazed to find I had guessed my way tnrough it except for the word “night” instead of “light” assuming it would be connected to the stellar sub-theme !

By: Stella Heath

Stella Heath — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 17:27:02 +0000

Hi Giovanna@14 – actually this was Brummie not Bonxie

Thanks on their part for the complimant to my dogs. Here’s a photo I forgot to include of Bo, the dog: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_%28dog%29

By: Stella Heath

Stella Heath — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:59:33 +0000

Thanks for the clarification, wolfie, I just chose it cause it looked pretty

By: chas

chas — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:50:31 +0000

Thanks to Stella for the blog. I needed you for the explanation of 9,16.

For 26a I had DISHWASHER fairly early on but did not write it in for a long time. All I could think of was that this is the name of a machine rather than a role. Once I had all the crossing letters I looked at it again and immediately saw it was right. If I remember correctly there have been many comedy situations where somebody goes to a restaurant and is unable to pay the bill – hence finishes up washing the dishes

By: tupu

tupu — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:17:00 +0000

Thanks Stella and Brummie

I enjoyed this with its several charades and generally entertaining cluing.
I had to go shopping before finishing and had only got the first half of 14a. Then my eye lit on the answer while perusing the Xmas snacks shelf!

I did not remember the THomas quote but the answer was eventually clear through the related clues and crossing letters.

I liked 11a, 14a, 24a, 8a, 6d, 7d, 21d.

Re 6d, I guessed ‘sleeve’ and then took an odd second or two before the penny dropped. I think the original ‘secret’ reference is conjuring tricks.

By: Wolfie

Wolfie — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:38:04 +0000

I enjoyed this from Brummie. First in was ‘The dying of the light’ – perhaps a bit obvious given that the clue gave the poet’s name – but then some intriguing astronomical cross-references.

Nice blog too Stella. Interestingly, though stars are indeed born in nebulae, the Crab Nebula photo you have used to illustrate the blog shows the death of a star – the remains of a supernova seen in 1054 when a star exploded.

By: Miche

Miche — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:47:38 +0000

Thanks, Brummie and Stella.

Enjoyed this. I initially balked at “triumvirate” cluing three letters (or three of anything other than people) but, sure enough, Chambers says it can mean any trio or triad. So fair enough.

Thanks for explaining 5, 10. I got it quickly because I already had 1a, but wasn’t familiar with the presidential dog.