Comments on: Independent 7932 (Saturday Prize Puzzle 17th March 2012) by Nimrod

By: flashling

flashling — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 23:50:46 +0000

cookiepuss no but the Indy setters are mostly not elderly folks, well the ones I know anyway, did wonder if Bicarb was an order for the post dinner celebrations

By: cookiepuss

cookiepuss — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 23:14:25 +0000

Time was when I could usually complete these crosswords within 45 minutes, but no longer. I don’t think my mental faculties have deteriorated that much, but recently the answers seem to be more obscure. I’m pretty well-read and know Latin and some Greek. I also speak French, German, Spanish and Dutch. I do not want to have to resort to Urban Dictionary or similar. Am I really such a dinosaur?

By: twencelas

twencelas — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 20:38:47 +0000

Flashling - I'm in full agreement, re. the absence of teh all important "dinner". Not just my excuse for not spotting the relevance of the date. The Listener crossword is weekly entertainment for me and March is the time of the annual gathering for their awards will provide details of past dinners

By: flashling

flashling — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 20:20:29 +0000

After a long day doing household chores started this about 4pm, saw Nimrod and nearly gave up, after struggling to start, POUNDS SHILLINGS and PENCE suddenly appeared in my mind but couldn’t see why to begin with. Then the LSD thought hit me and the other two LSD hits came along for actually quite a quick finish. Now I know about the Listener setters’ dinner, was quite surprised that JH didn’t put DINNER in the grid somewhere.

By: Dormouse

Dormouse — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 13:12:28 +0000

Did wonder if 9ac was part of the theme as I recall a sixties song called Judy in Disguise (with Glasses) which started from a mis-hearing of Lucy in the Sky, and Google tells me Lucy in Disguise was Lily Allen’s vintage clothing shop.

Didn’t have too much difficulty with this for a Saturday puzzle.

By: Allan_C

Allan_C — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 09:58:12 +0000

A bit of serendipity came to the rescue here when a few crossing letters suggested LUCY etc for 6/19/23/29 and the LSD theme soon became apparent. 2d was one of the last in when it obviously couldn’t be anything else, but I share Quixote’s reservations about the appropriateness of it in a crossword for the average solver, even if it is a Saturday prize puzzle.
Just a comment too on 7/1 about ‘saved’; this had me puzzled for a bit till I realised that cash saved is cash not spent and we haven’t been able to spend shillings and (old) pence for the last 40 years. Of course we have been spending pounds, but I guess we don’t refer to them as ‘L’ these days.

By: crypticsue

crypticsue — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 09:57:42 +0000

I greatly enjoyed this crossword and don’t think you needed to have noticed the Listener connection to solve it. Being of a certain age I just thought it referred to LSD and the 60s. I will admit to having to look up the D word in 11d but apart from that, judging by my handwriting on the grid, can’t have had that many problems. Clue of the day for me had to be the lovely 22d – interestingly Mr CS who refuses to have anything to do with cryptic crosswords (sad man) got that clue straight away too when I read it out to him. Thanks very much to Nimrod and Twencelas too.

By: pennes

pennes — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 09:45:44 +0000

I’ve been doing the Indy crossword for about four years and on seeing Nimrod’s name I was beaten before starting. I now get about halfway with them, but then start to feel the effort and time is just not worth it as the clues are just too tortuous, rather clumsy and for some reason not satisfying. A shame because some of his cryptic definitions are great I liked 22dn twiggy and once he did one of my favourite clues which was transvestite as solution for “basque infiltrator”.
I did hear a feature on radio 4 pm about 5 years ago, which suggested that crosswords were starting to not gain newcomers; clues such as “listener setters” do seem indulgent, and some of the specialist themes that we have had in the Indy recently have little general appeal. I’m thinking of a recent puzzle about whistleblowers and one themed around “the Dubliners”.

By: John H

John H — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 09:43:01 +0000

The Listener Crossword is surely well enough known (surely even legendary) to have it in a celebratory puzzle which contained several ninas which you didn’t need to spot to complete it.

I was giving a playground talk on crosswords to the kids in Year One the other day, and they’d all heard of the Listener Crossword.

Gonna get my LSD fix now.

By: Bannsider

Bannsider — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 09:26:30 +0000

I enjoyed this, and I think the LSD connection may be related to the Listener Setters’ Dinner of the 17 March (!) Initially only, of course