Comments on: Independent 7898 / Phi

By: eimi

eimi — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:11:53 +0000

I never imagined that either. It’s the most shocking thing I’ve read. I suppose we ought to get back to crosswords (or football) before the posse arrives.

By: Phi

Phi — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:35:52 +0000

Hardy, I think it was, who darkened the ending of one of his novels because it was too cheerful, leading one of the critics to throw it across the room because of the perverse way the author had steered it to the dark side. Two on a Tower, I think it was. I’ve been through most of Hardy as well, and give me Dickens any day! The sheer energy of the language carries the day for me.

I will grant that Jude the O gave me one of the best apprehensive moments in fiction, on the page before Little Father Time’s culminating act. I knew something was coming but I never imagined that!

By: Wil Ransome

Wil Ransome — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:52:19 +0000

Duncan you say there is no reference to him in The Times, but there is, though you have to solve a difficult puzzle first.

By: Bertandjoyce

Bertandjoyce — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:42:00 +0000

Bert is two thirds of the way through David Copperfield which he only reads when he has insomnia. It’s an enjoyable cure apparently as he started at least 2 years ago.
Good crossword, better than Punk yesterday we thought. Only a smattering of knowledge of the theme needed thank goodness – unlike Phi’s recent philosophical prize crossword. Thanks Phi for a good solve.
Excellent detailed blog – thanks Duncan.

By: NealH

NealH — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:56:59 +0000

I’m no expert on Hardy, but as far as I know, nearly all of his novels have depressing endings, so I struggle to see how anyone can find him uplifting.

I did my best to sabotage what was a fairly easy puzzle by not bothering to parse the anagram for 9, 19 and writing in Edwin Drude. That had me really puzzled over 24 until I realized my mistake. I was quite pleased to get Huffam just from the wordplay.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:37:17 +0000

Well, we can migrate into General Discussion if this blog becomes too much of a literary corner, I guess. Dickens is clearly one of the greatest writers in the English language and that’s rightly why we’re celebrating his anniversary today (even Chas’n'Cam are taking part, apparently). I never got much into Dickens when I was younger, whereas I’d read most of Hardy’s novels by the time I was twenty. Then you get exposed to Dickens through films and musicals, which I suppose doesn’t really give you an indication of the craftsmanship of the written word.

You’re right about Jude, eimi. Although Tess burying Sorrow the Undesired in the ‘shabby corner of God’s allotment’ comes close.

By: Paul B

Paul B — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:35:45 +0000

Or indeed any early doom metallist, though Bram Stoker was much more fun. Great work from Dunks again, and lovely stuff from Phi.

By: eimi

eimi — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:24:10 +0000

Wonderful blog, Duncan, as ever.

I hope Gaufrid might think it’s fair enough to make this literary corner today and I should put my cards on the table and say that I love Dickens and the humour far outweighs the doom and moralising. If it’s doom and gloom you’re after, K’s D, you can’t really beat Hardy in Jude the Obscure.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:04:37 +0000

Thank you Duncan and Phi.

As you say, Duncan, there has been a good deal of coverage of the Dickens’ bicentenary, so having had a brief glance at the clues, it was odds-on what the gateway clue was going to be. That said, some of the other references took a while for me to work out, but that’s because I’m not a huge Dickens fan (too much gloom and Victorian doom – give me Thomas Hardy any day).

An enjoyable, timely puzzle, with WHIRLIGIG my favourite today for its surface.

By: duncanshiell

duncanshiell — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:24:29 +0000

Phi@2

Thanks for the comments – I hadn’t noticed that all the thematic answers were of the form (x,x).

As regards 24, there is usually at least one clue in every blog where I tend to over complicate the parsing – clearly 24a is today’s occurence. I’ll update the blog.

When I first read your comment, I thought you were referring to a sentence in the clue when you said it came from Little Dorrit, so I typed ‘tales conveyed in literary gold’ into Google and was impressed when the first suggestion it offered was this blog, published less than an hour before my query. I realise now that it is the sentence ‘Who passes by this road so late?’ that comes from Little Dorrit (Book II, Chapter 22 according to Google).