Comments on: Independent 7972 / Morph

By: Morph

Morph — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:13:49 +0000

Yes, that was the idea, though the surface didn’t quite work anyway. “Dog’s reversal” would’ve been better in this case.

By: Rorschach

Rorschach — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:24:37 +0000

Reminds me of a nonsense poem about Richard Dawkins which boasted the line “Hell! If he was dyslexic he’d probably hate Dog too”

By: Rorschach

Rorschach — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:22:42 +0000

It’s a shame – I like the clue – I’m guessing it’s a pun on the fact that “dog” is “God” reversed? I mean, the surface reads a bit funny but I do like it!

By: Morph

Morph — Fri, 04 May 2012 07:49:51 +0000

Thanks Bertandjoyce for the appreciative blog, and all for comments. 1ac came to me as I sat trying (unsuccessfully) to come up with a clue for RECOLLET in the Azed clue competition, around the time of Mr Maude’s ill-fated fuelling of the omnishambles.
Rorschach correctly parses my original clue for RECUR, although it was queried by the ed for impenetrability more than for politico-religious incorrectness – I hadn’t even thought about religions that don’t do God! Interesting though, I always thought the i ran old recycled puzzles, not the on-the-day one.
As for the pangram, Bertandjoyce, I think you got it about right there!

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Fri, 04 May 2012 06:27:42 +0000

Thanks, Rorschach, that does explain it, and I agree with you about RE, which is more about, er, religion. Syllabuses (or is that syllabi?) tend to be agreed locally, and certainly round here there’s a nod to humanism as part of the course.

By: Rorschach

Rorschach — Fri, 04 May 2012 00:24:40 +0000

Great puzzle. Particularly enjoy the Johnny Cash clue, England Manager is clever, Bing (!) and 6ac.

By: Rorschach

Rorschach — Fri, 04 May 2012 00:05:44 +0000

I’m confused too re: 22ac

I’m guessing the clue is “it’s about God” as RE (Religious Ed) but I’m guessing Eimi baulked at it because RE isn’t all about monotheistic religions you know Morph!

Seems as though he replaced it with a hidden clue though. There you go.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Thu, 03 May 2012 19:08:38 +0000

Good blog, B&J, thank you both.

Didn’t get to this till this evening, which is usually not a good idea since I am a morning person as far as crosswords are concerned. But it was a lot of fun – I always enjoy Morph because you’ll get some inventive clueing and some contemporary references. Plenty of smiles too – PROP UP was good and I also liked the surface for ALIVE AND KICKING. And a bit of footie as well.

Confused by 22ac: because I came to the puzzle late in the day, I did it in the Indy i, where the clue is ‘It’s about God – dog’s return’. I was hoping someone would explain that, because I get the CUR bit, but not the rest.

Fine puzzle from Morph. After his patriotic contribution last year on the date of Will’n'Kate’s nuptials, I expect eimi’s already booked him in for a Diamond Jubilee spectacular next month …

By: Dormouse

Dormouse — Thu, 03 May 2012 18:23:32 +0000

Thought I was going to get stuck on the bottom right corner, but they all finally came to me – without electronic help, I’m pleased to say, although I did have to look up 14d – I vaguely knew the word, but couldn’t remember how to spell it or just what it meant. Quite a few clues I was sure of the answer but couldn’t see why; 3d for instance. Just didn’t see Merc in there.

25ac, as a long time Lewis Carroll fan I knew the term, but for a long time I thought it was going to something WOOD – wrong Natalie!

By: Bertandjoyce

Bertandjoyce — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:57:14 +0000

Thanks for all the comments so far. We solved the Pasquale puzzle this afternoon over a cup of tea and both smiled when we came across the example of 25a!
Still smiling about 1a as well.
Thanks again to Morph!