Comments on: Independent 8037 / Dac

By: Rorschach

Rorschach — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 09:24:37 +0000

Dac is so good at what he does he rarely gets the praise he deserves. Some of the surfaces in this puzzle were so smooth they took the breath away. Thanks both!

By: Dormouse

Dormouse — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 08:20:24 +0000

Curious. I don’t recall the Czech spy story at all, and I consider myself a bit of a news junkie. I wonder what else was going on at the time that meant I never noticed it.

By: Paul B

Paul B — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 22:57:04 +0000

Stonehouse can hardly be described as obscure, at least not in UK, and in 2010 the whole story got a kick when it was revealed that he had been a spy for the Czechs, of all things. I imagine that story was quite a buzz around Europe too, Dormouse old bean.

By: Bertandjoyce

Bertandjoyce — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 21:23:03 +0000

A straightforward puzzle from Dac but very enjoyable. You need the variety from day to day and the Indy delivers!

We hadn’t heard of Shelta and epode either but both were solvable from the wordplay and were our last ones in.

Thanks Dac and Duncan.

By: allan_c

allan_c — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 20:30:17 +0000

Well, I can remember John Stonehouse, but then if I can remember the Temperance Seven I would, wouldn’t I?

And re 1dn, MEDIC may be a rare usage these days, but survives in the word ‘Paramedic’.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 19:45:28 +0000

I’d say you’ve heard Unchained Melody all right, Dormouse, maybe without realizing it. Unusually the words of the title do not appear in the lyrics at any point, I think. Jimmy Young, Righteous Brothers etc etc. Internet search will reveal all.

By: Dormouse

Dormouse — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 18:11:57 +0000

Not as much trouble as yesterday, but I did struggle with this. Finally got stuck on 10 & 26ac and 8 & 21dn. Electronic searches got me three of them – don’t know why I didn’t do that for 21, as I entered “evoke”, for no obvious reason.

Does anyone remember John Stonehouse these days? I thought that was so obscure I said so out loud. Just as well I was sitting on my own at home and not on a train.

Unchained Melody is one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century? I knew the name but I’ve no idea if I’ve ever heard it.

But I did know “Shelta”.

By: allan_c

allan_c — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 10:35:51 +0000

Thanks, Dac, for a satisfying puzzle, and Duncan for the comprehensive blog. I had heard of SHELTA and EPODE but with both it took a while for the penny to drop. As it did with PASADENA (memo to self – dig out that old record of the Temperance Seven). Some very neat clues; I particularly liked LOAF.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 06:46:51 +0000

Thank you, Duncan, for your blog. For once, I didn’t need you today; this all went in very steadily, with – like you – only SHELTA and EPODE holding me up. SHELTA I had never heard of but I spent an interesting ten minutes reading about it online.

Fine puzzle from Dac with the usual smooth surface readings. Thanks to him.