Comments on: Independent 7,971 / Dac

By: NealH

NealH — Wed, 02 May 2012 18:04:53 +0000

I remember the “Two Guys” stuff from a few years ago. What irked me afterwards was that he reputedly went on to become a millionaire – quite a nice reward for failing a job interview (which he did).

Anyway I enjoyed this puzzle. It was mostly on the easy side but I had to do some hard thinking to work out the parsing of 12. I’ve seen Ratatouille and Amelie, so no problems with 7 down, although I did hesitate over whether juke was a word for dance or not.

By: RatkojaRiku

RatkojaRiku — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:50:13 +0000

Thanks to Miche for setting me straight on all the points raised in the intro to the blog. I searched high and low for the “v” but just couldn’t see for looking. That’s what comes of burning the midnight oil, I suppose.

On 7, it all makes sense now it has been explained: I saw the reference to Audrey Tautou but just couldn’t sort out the “le” at the end of the word. I think the film itself is a tad obscure, nonetheless.

On the pangram issue, suspecting this grid might be a pangram (even though I WRONGLY convinced myself that it wasn’t!) helped me with both 6 and 16, in much the way Anax describes. Obviously, an “uninitiated” solver would not know to look in the first place.

By: Wanderer

Wanderer — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:26:13 +0000

Thanks K’s D and eimi @17 and 18 for your thoughts on country. Like you, K’s D, I put TIBET in without any difficulty, but I am now intrigued by whether there is an agreed definition. Eimi, I think you raise a very interesting question with ‘if Tibet was a country, is it OK to define it as such’. On reflection, I think it probably is, at least for me, and would allow all manner of intriguing possibilities such as Aragon, Navarre, Flanders, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and so on.

I should add that this enhanced my enjoyment of the puzzle by sending me off on an enjoyable byway.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:17:53 +0000

I too found it quite a bit harder than usual for Dac – enjoyable as ever. Trickiest ones that took me quite a while at the end – CONDITIONER and BEATLEMANIA. Thanks, Dac and RR.

By: eimi

eimi — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:07:46 +0000

@16, it’s a moot point in crosswords. If Tibet was a country is it OK to define it as such, in the same way as Nero might be defined as a Roman emperor rather than as a former Roman emperor?

I’m no expert but …

if anyone needs cheering up on a bit of miserable May day, here’s someone else who’s no expert:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atfNL0_KAcs

His face during the introduction is pure comedy gold.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:01:58 +0000

Wanderer, that’s an interesting question about countries. Kathryn’s just finishing her MA in Middle Eastern studies, so she might be in a position to talk about lines on maps …

I think in crossword terms, the definition is more flexible than in strict usage, and I must say I put in TIBET this morning without further thought. And setters get away with clueing NI and ULSTER as being the same thing, which they’re not. Our friends across the pond often equate England with Great Britain/United Kingdom, which is also not true.

So to answer your question: I’m not sure I have.

By: Wanderer

Wanderer — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:27:15 +0000

Thanks RR and Dac, enjoyable puzzle and I too found it more difficult than normally from this setter.

Thanks also to Miche for explaining RATATOUILLE — I had RAIL and LE, but thought non-U gave us the OU, leaving me with an inexplicable TAT…

I wonder if there is a universally accepted definition of country? Certainly, if UN membership is the rule, TIBET is not one. But then by the same rules, nor are Scotland or Wales. Can anyone help? Country seems to me an unsatisfactory definition for TIBET but I’m not sure why.

By: Dormouse

Dormouse — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:27:21 +0000

Didn’t spot it was a pangram, but it didn’t give me many problems. BEATLEMANIA I got eventually, but I couldn’t parse. Took me a while to see why TABLET was a PC – I knew it was a catholic paper. Find I can’t spell POMFRETS and the F looks like a P in my handwriting. And the last cinema I went to, about a year ago, was a Curzon.

By: Tees

Tees — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:21:29 +0000

I think pangrams are useful too. Or even three. But I wonder how FEW letters one could use to set a 225? Is there a record for this, does anyone know, or care?

By: Jean

Jean — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:02:40 +0000

I got stuck on ‘Curzon’ as well. ‘Conditioner’ was tricky but my fault for not thinking of hair! A good puzzle nevertheless.