Comments on: Independent 7963 by Mordred

By: Bertandjoyce

Bertandjoyce — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:59:15 +0000

Didn’t notice the theme initially but when we read the preamble we picked out the theme entries fairly quickly. When we saw Mordred, we thought ‘theme’ but then forgot about it! It’s an age thing we feel!

One or two slightly tenuous clues but otherwise a good start to the week.

Thanks Mordred – glad to see you dropping in – and nmsindy for the blog.

By: Mordred

Mordred — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:51:08 +0000

yep!

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:41:33 +0000

That would be “cod” then?

By: Mordred

Mordred — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:03:36 +0000

Thanks for kind words KD. Had a succession of viruses which dragged me down a bit. but fine now. There is one ingredient of a fish supper which forms only part of an answer – in Newark, where I lived for 20 years, you had to order it in the chippie as you went in the door – not so in London. No need to worry about themes – for me they are there to add a bit of seasoning and as an additional help, not necessary for solving the puzzles

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:36:11 +0000

… although of course LEMON and TEA separately would be ideal accompaniments. I am so crap at themes.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:34:34 +0000

Yes, sidey, I forgot to add BREAD AND BUTTER. LEMON TEA would be a bit posh around here though …

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:19:27 +0000

Thanks, nms. I’m glad others found this a puzzle of two halves: the top fairly flew in, but the bottom took a lot longer. Needed you to explain TRANSIT and ODESSA today; and ABBA was new to me. ROCK SALT and LOOK, SON! were my favourites today.

A fish supper with chips, a sprinkle of rock salt, accompanied by mushy peas and tartar(e) sauce? I’m salivating already.

Fine puzzle from Mordred, who used to comment fairly regularly on the Indy daily puzzles, but whom we haven’t heard from for a while. If he’s listening in, I hope all is well with him.

By: sidey

sidey — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:04:32 +0000

Aren’t all the food items possible ingredients of a fish supper? Depending where you come from of course.

By: scchua

scchua — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:16:54 +0000

Thanks nmsindy, and Mordred for quite an enjoyable puzzle, though I thought this was not as difficult as the Mordreds I’ve come across.

Only saw the theme of food items after finishing, but that didn’t matter. The SW corner was last to be completed, but I did get hung up for a bit with 26A TRANSIT: It couldn’t be anything else, and I got the I in TRAINS being moved, and the last letter of “front”, but couldn’t quite understand what the significance of “up” was.

By: Pelham Barton

Pelham Barton — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:00:03 +0000

Thanks Mordred for a puzzle of which I enjoyed quite a lot and nms for the blog. I too found the top half easy and came unstuck in the lower half. Favourite clues 1dn and 2dn.

22ac: Nice surface, but the word “is” does not really work as a link with this structure.

26ac: I think your explanation must be correct. I can readily accept “moving one up” to mean move the I later in the word in an across clue, but do not think “front eventually” is a satisfactory indication for “last letter of the word front”, however many times compilers may have used it in the past.

21dn: I am coming firmly to the view that cryptic definitions are best kept for long answers. Mordred did not give me enough information to solve this clue.