Comments on: Independent 8088 (Prize 15-Sep-2012) Bannsider

By: redddevil

redddevil — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 22:54:00 +0000

OK thanks for that Bannsider. One of the interesting and educating things about crosswords is that there is no definitive dictionary so I can live with that(though it would have been an easier solve otherwise!).

By: Bannsider

Bannsider — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 18:41:55 +0000

I THINK the mystery can be explained as follows:
The electronic dictionary I use to fill my grids has Mao Ze Dong. Interestingly, another version of the same dictionary does have Mao Zedong.

By: redddevil

redddevil — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 17:02:46 +0000

Thanks for that beermagnet – it does rather support my 2 word version so it surprises me even more that Bannsider went for 3 – he’s not from Singapore or Malaysia as far as I know!

By: beermagnet

beermagnet — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 15:41:55 +0000

reddevil:
Funnily enough I thought that very thing myself when I recently saw it in the Guardian as Mao Zedong. Probably this article http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/16/chinese-protests-japanese-islands-dispute

The Guardian site’s search facility is handy for this
(e.g. http://www.guardian.co.uk/search?q=mao+zedong&target=guardian )

Mao Zedong 642 results most recent a few days ago
whereas
Mao Ze Dong 3 hits; 2 from 2004 and 1 from Aug 2008

Then I thought of looking in the Guardian style guide
http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2004/07/15/styleguidepdfjuly2004.pdf
which rather explains those results:
====
Chinese names
Mainland China: in two parts, eg Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Jiang Zemin
Hong Kong, Taiwan: in two parts with hyphen, eg Tung Chee-hwa, Chiang Kai-shek (exception: when a building, park or the like is named after a person it becomes three parts, eg Chiang Kai Shek Cultural Centre); note also that Korean names are written the same way, eg Kim Il-sung
Singapore, Malaysia: in three parts, eg Lee Kuan Yew

For people with Chinese names elsewhere in the world, follow their preference — but make sure you know which is the surname
====

By: redddevil

redddevil — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 15:15:23 +0000

Probably a bit late for this comment but I struggled to find Mao’s first name(s) in the ‘Z version’ as other than Zedong (i.e. all one word). Can anyone point me to a reference where it’s 3 separate names?
Other than that thoroughly enjoyed this – hard but fair.

By: allan_c

allan_c — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 18:01:12 +0000

Well I doubt if I know the names of all my local team, let alone Arsenal! But I got QUARTETTI (tho’ putting “quartetto” at first) from the definition through knowing about the Quartetto Italiano string quartet. Over 30 years now since they disbanded, but still much appreciated through their recordings.

Held up for a while on 7d by not remembering the new transliteration of Mandarin. “Beijing” is common enough but the late chairman tends to be still “Mao-tse-Tung”.

Thought 14d was topical and &lit-ish.

Thanks, Bannsider and beermagnet.

By: Bannsider

Bannsider — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 17:20:11 +0000

Thanks to all for their comments and especially to beermagnet. DID GERI DO O was certainly dreamed up independently by me. I suspect it’s probably been done by others as well. (I never ask about ideas being used by others in caser the answer light be “yes” which would leave me feeling obliged to think again!).

I’m sorry if ARTET(A) was a bit obscure – which it was, in fairness.

A happy Bannsider after our demolition derby against Ballymena United

By: Lenny

Lenny — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 13:58:39 +0000

I particularly liked the ingenious definitions eg “Possible argument with van”, “right across the US”, “Rabbit to get round”. I agree with BM that it’s a bit much to be expected to know the name of an Arsenal midfielder. On the other hand the clue about van Persie was one of the best, particularly as he fortuitously spells his name with a lower case v.

I managed to finish this surprisingly quickly. Surprisingly, because I often struggle with the Monday morning Rufus. Like many keen solvers, I suspect that I am better at intricate wordplay than I am at CDs and DDs.

I don’t think I would have got 27 had I not remembered the identical Did Geri do O construction in a Redshank crossword in the FT on 13 July. The wordplay is so good that is not surprising that two brilliant setters have independently discovered it.

By: beermagnet

beermagnet — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 10:57:47 +0000

Thomas99 @8: Yes, I certainly had an odd blind spot. Weird. Understand now. Most of my #7 is rubbish
yains @10: Yes. Underlining hot in 18 now.

By: yvains

yvains — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 10:48:09 +0000

Thanks very much for the blog, and the parsing of 26, which had me beat. So many superb clues in one stunningly good crossword – one of the best I’ve seen in a while, and a real challenge! I especially enjoyed 17 and 20. In 18, shouldn’t ‘hot’ also be underlined?