Comments on: Independent 8087 / Phi

By: Martin

Martin — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 22:23:57 +0000

23A: I think Phi should buy a good atlas. Part of Turkey may be in Europe, but the larger part of that country is in Asia, as is Ankara, which is slap bang in the middle of Anatolia, or Asia Minor.

By: Dormouse

Dormouse — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 20:52:14 +0000

Not a breeze, but not a stinker – nicely in the middle. A couple gave me a problem at the end but only 12ac required a word search. 26ac took me ages as I don’t think I’m familiar with the dandelion as a salad plant. (I did wonder if “salad” was part of the wordplay.) To me a dandelion is a yellow weed that grows on lawns and I was always trying to kill off when I worked as a gardener.

I’d heard of 27/28 but knew little about him, so I didn’t associate 10ac with him. Curiously I’d just been looking up the fictional character Hilda Tablet the other day, so the name was fresh in my memory.

By: Phi

Phi — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 19:38:12 +0000

I do of course work in the justice sector and I’m well aware of the legal distinction – and I’m also aware that such things as police evidence tends to say ‘X assaulted Y’. I’m sure there must be lawyers who groan inwardly (“You mean ‘X battered Y’, surely?”) but I’ve never seen that quibble brought up. The consequences for the victim are surprisingly immutable.

I wondered about COOKHAM but dismissed it as being too unfamiliar. It’s a charming place, though, with a good Spencer museum, and it had a decent gastropub when I was there. I recall it being one of those places where they rather pedantically built the railway station near the railway rather than near the village, so it’s quite a walk in.

By: flashling

flashling — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 17:00:49 +0000

Theme went straight over my head but got there despite it, ta B&J and Phi

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 15:16:11 +0000

I too enjoyed this one, but struggled in the NW corner. Got fixated with SA being the French company, which didn’t aid matters. I too liked DANDELION, but there were enjoyable clues elsewhere too. Not heard of the artist, but no matter – you didn’t need to (although I did flirt with STEPHEN as a first name to begin with, since that was in the anagram fodder).

Thanks to S&Bs.

By: Thomas99

Thomas99 — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 15:06:43 +0000

Ian SW3 (1)
That is only the legal definition of assault. By the same token you could say that “bar” only means a collection of barristers. The law often has to use words differently from normal English; that doesn’t mean all other usages become obsolete. Some relevant OED definitions here are:

- a. gen. An onset or rush upon any one with hostile intent; an attack with blows or weapons – first recorded 1297
- The sudden rush or charge of an attacking force against the walls of a city or fortress – first recorded 1297
-An unlawful attack upon the person of another – first recorded 1447
- Hostile approach, attack, onset. – first recorded 1508

There is no record of a time when “assault” could only be used in the current technical legal sense, and the usage you objected to has been in the language since 1297. There is no precedent for your point of view and it isn’t logical either, although you do share it with many law undergraduates in their first term.

By: aztobesed

aztobesed — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 13:20:26 +0000

I couldn’t understand why Cookham didn’t get the gig at 1a with cockle, oceans and mail coming off it and then I saw the snarl-up at 3d. Pity. 6d tied me up. I had it as I in a PhD – and wondered if anybody had told the Sun that you needed a PhD to write for them? Very enjoyable but I needed you to iron out one or two wrinkles – I did not know the French company.

So thank you, B&J and Phi.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 13:03:33 +0000

Thanks, Phi, and B&J. I too found it a bit trickier than some of Phi’s puzzles but got there in the end – most enjoyable. Favourite clues DANDELION, DWELL. Despite the focus on the painter (as you have explained) which I would not have been personally very familiar with, I see classical music (a great interest of Phi) is not forgotten with SATIE in the tenth row…

By: MaleficOpus

MaleficOpus — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 12:52:09 +0000

Thanks Phi and Bertandjoyce.

My “recent” Funk & Wagnalls dictionary (1951) defines “assault” as “tr. verb: to attack with violence”. So I don’t think it is a problem if you read it as a verb.

By: rowland

rowland — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 12:28:19 +0000

Usage probably covers that, I’d say.

Rowly.