Comments on: Independent 7,884 by Radian (Saturday Prize Puzzle, 21/01/12)

By: Bertandjoyce

Bertandjoyce — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 21:55:31 +0000

We also noticed the references to Germany but completely missed the hidden theme, despite learning German at school! It was fun finding them all this evening.
4d was the last one in and like the rest of you, we needed to google it although it was obvious when you had all the checking letters.
Thanks Simon. Thanks also to Radian. We’ll keep a better eye out for your themes in future!

By: Simon Harris

Simon Harris — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:36:46 +0000

That’s reassuring, James. I made exactly the same mistake, and probably found the same site as you did!

By: James_M

James_M — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:28:26 +0000

I was thrown by 4D. I figured it was EHOKHRI (OK in (H + H) in IRE), which after much Googling I discovered was a little-known historical site in Gujarat ! Too bad as it stumped me for 1A.

By: Lenny

Lenny — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:36:23 +0000

As Allan_C says this was totally solvable. This was despite the fact that it contained a couple of abbreviations, a brand name and four words totally unknown to me: Ageratum, Benthos, Sechs and Khokhri. All the words were gettable but I needed all the checkers for my last one in, Khokhri. I can’t find it in Wiki or Google maps. There is a reference to it on an Indian website mentioning that it has a population of 835, making it perhaps the smallest place ever used as a crossword answer.

Needless to say the hidden theme passed totally over my head, despite the frequent German hints in the other clues, since I cannot count in German. On the whole this was quite cheeky, very clever and great fun. Thanks to Radian and Simon

By: Raich

Raich — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:12:48 +0000

Thanks, Radian, and Simon. Yes, I spotted it but only after Bannsider said the strange grid and the fact it’s Radian means it’s likely there is something. SECHS gave me the key then. Funnily enough the first Raich puzzle (ONE TOO MANY) to appear in the Indy Weekend Mag series was also based on German. I took the precaution beforehand of running it all past a professional translator who I know, which was just as well as some challenged whether the basis of the puzzle was correct.

By: sidey

sidey — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 11:24:13 +0000

Thank you Simon and Radian, good fun.

Shame I can’t count in forrin though.

Wouldn’t A funny-lloking little car be Welsh? ;^)

By: Bannsider

Bannsider — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 10:24:00 +0000

“I’m not sure if there’s a theme here. There are certainly a few references to Germany”

There certainly are – look again! Though I have my colleague Raich to thank for spotting them for me …

By: Allan_C

Allan_C — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 10:02:52 +0000

A totally solvable puzzle, though some words were unfamiliar and I couldn’t parse all the clues, and I was held up for a bit on 4d thinking 1a was “misspeak”. Thanks, Simon, for the blog.

Re 5a, although “drunk” looks like an anagrind it can just as well be a “hidden in” indicator. If you have drunk something you can be said to have taken it in.

Re BRER (11a), the older generation may remember the Brer Rabbit stories.

14a raises the question again (a FAQ?) about abbreviations/acronyms. Should it be (4) or (1,1,1,1)?

Yes, 18d is an &lit. Chambers defines it as “the flora and fauna of the sea bottom or lake bottom (opposed to plankton and nekton)”.