Comments on: Independent 8051 / Phi

By: Dormouse

Dormouse — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 22:34:59 +0000

Found this on the tough side, myself.

“Bada bing” defeated me, too. Knew the term, but not what it meant (and I’d not seen The Sopranos, either). As there these two 4,4 clues in the top right and bottom left, and as 7dn was “home”, I guessed 22/23 might have “away” in it. that didn’t get me very far, nor help me in getting 24 and 26ac.

“Quant” and “fritto misto” were new to me.

By: Lenny

Lenny — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 16:12:17 +0000

Not many Sopranos fans here today. I got Bada Bing straight away but I always thought it was the name of a strip club and did not know it had any other meaning.

I’m sure your parsing of Amiens is correct Duncan but I got it as an anagram of emains, taking remains unstarted as the contrary of remains unfinished. Admittedly this give me “in appearance” as a rather unsatisfactory anagram indicator.

By: flashling

flashling — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 15:19:02 +0000

Having never seen the Sopranos I took Bada Bing as Phi intended, was held up a bit justifying the end of 1d but it’s fair enough and educated guessed Fritto Misto.

Thanks Duncan/Phi.

By: rowland

rowland — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 11:40:29 +0000

Very nice. I’ve been dipping in to this one through the morning, having polished off the Guardian offering rather too quickly, or so it seemed! More variety in these clues, some tricky words maybe, and COD HOME RULE.

Thanks Phi & Duncan.

By: allan_c

allan_c — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 11:30:51 +0000

Have to admit that I only got BADA BING by trial and error. But a Google search turned up http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bada%20bing%2C%20bada%20boom which explains the expression and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bada_Bing for the reference to The Sopranos – which I’ve never seen.

Otherwise pretty straightforward although PIKER and FRITTO MISTO took a few moments to emerge from the subconscious.

Thanks, Phi and Duncan

By: Thomas99

Thomas99 — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 10:05:58 +0000

In the Sopranos the Bada Bing is actually a bar – named after the already widespread (in the US) phrase. I used to think of it as the American equivalent of “Bish, bash, bosh”, although that usually refers to things like making money rather than anything more exciting/violent. Now of course I associate it with the Sopranos, although I’m not sure they actually said it much except when referring to the bar.

By: Phi

Phi — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 09:19:37 +0000

I should perhaps point out that I’ve never seen anything more than adverts for The Sopranos, and it’s news to me that the phrase comes from there. I’ve encountered it as part of BADA-BING-BADA-BOOM, which certainly seems to imply a detonation of some kind, but even then it was always in print, and as a sort of ‘Ta-da!’ before or after some sort of revelatory statement. Perhaps I should have tried that irritating ‘Boom! Tish!’ that seems to be used in a would-be ironical way after ancient jokes.

By: Wil Ransome

Wil Ransome — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 09:13:37 +0000

I think the first interpretation of 1dn is the correct one, because if you take “most of” formula you get form not for.

Agree with K’s D about BADA BING, of which I’d never heard.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 06:59:32 +0000

Many thanks, Duncan.

I agree with you: a pleasing, no-frills puzzle to end the week. I liked SESAME STREET for no other reason than my kids really loved watching it when they were little. Also thought BLACK SHEEP was clever. Slightly spoiled in my opinion by BADA BING, which I couldn’t get. The phrase is an obscurity if you have never seen that TV series, the crossing letters are not super helpful, and since plenty else fits, some other word(s) could easily been clued there. Small niggle though in a good crossword.