Comments on: Independent 7,990 / Nestor

By: Bertandjoyce

Bertandjoyce — Fri, 25 May 2012 06:35:22 +0000

Phew! Started this last night and had to leave it with only about a third of the grid completed. We needed a bit of electronic help this morning to finish it off. Thank goodness for 225 for 8d and 10ac. We’d never heard of the writer and we only did a quick search for feminist writers concentrating on more recent ones! So, thanks RR for your blog.
Thanks Nestor for dropping by and letting us know that all is well!

By: Dormouse

Dormouse — Thu, 24 May 2012 22:59:20 +0000

Well, this one totally defeated me. OK, I was out this evening, but even so I must have spent a couple of hours on it and got only about a third of the answers, and now I’ve run out of time and am going to bed.

By: Nestor

Nestor — Thu, 24 May 2012 21:36:10 +0000

Sorry if my Nina worried anyone. It was just a convenient (7,7) phrase, nothing to do with anyone leaving the workforce. I had a vague idea in my mind about crossword solving being a natural way to waste time, nothing more.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Thu, 24 May 2012 20:12:46 +0000

Indeed, I too hope it’s nothing too sinister …

By: RatkojaRiku

RatkojaRiku — Thu, 24 May 2012 20:08:43 +0000

Despite blogging the puzzle, I hadn’t spotted the Nina either, since looking for Ninas when not instructed to by a preamble is just not part of my solver’s DNA.

In this case, as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t have anything to do with the puzzle; however, more generally, if you happen to spot that a grid spells out a phrase around its perimeter, wholly or partially, then the Nina can provide letters to help the solver crack any remaining clues. And more often than not, there is some sort of connection with (the theme of) the puzzle.

In any case, I rather hope this particular Nina doesn’t spell anything sinister along the lines suggested by flashling, and that Nestor’s job is as safe as houses.

By: flashling

flashling — Thu, 24 May 2012 19:46:05 +0000

I just wondered if this was Nestor’s farewell and it was a cryptic hint that a new setter would be coming along or it was something he’d got about redunancies from his proper job… hope I’m wrong, but good lord this was tricky, certainly would have affected NMS’s ratings

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Thu, 24 May 2012 18:54:20 +0000

Er, ok, in case we are all talking at cross purposes, I will spell this out in words of one syllabub: I see that NATURAL WASTAGE appears in the left and right hand columns of the puzzle, I understand its meaning, but I am still completely unaware of why the setter has put it there, and cannot for one minute believe that it has nothing to do with the rest of the puzzle.

My bedtime is coming up shortly, and I shan’t sleep well tonight if this mystery is not solved …

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Thu, 24 May 2012 17:43:20 +0000

Re postrophe at #12, not sure if you are referring just to the outer columns (which have already been commented on) or to something more than that to be found in the completed grid.

By: postrophe

postrophe — Thu, 24 May 2012 17:10:00 +0000

To see the NATURAL WASTAGE, take a good look at your completed grid

By: Jean

Jean — Thu, 24 May 2012 16:18:21 +0000

Can’t see ‘natural wastage’ – are we all talking about Nestor’s 402?