Comments on: Independent 8102 / Radian

By: Dormouse

Dormouse — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 23:04:25 +0000

Well, I’ve managed about half of it…

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 17:00:01 +0000

Yes, good fun puzzle from Radian and excellent blog from B&J – the beer one reminded me of an ad for some well-known gin or whisky many years ago which had (with people dressed as explorers) – “Pioneers drink it in exotic climes”. Favourite clue CUCKOLDED, also esp liked toot = traffic warning in 6D.

By: allan_c

allan_c — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 16:58:50 +0000

Yes, I liked this one though it caused some head-scratching, and some of the parsings passed me by, e.g. BEER (which I ought to have known) and BLOTTO (which I couldn’t fathom at all having got hung up on the frequent crossword device of ‘live’ = ‘be’ or ‘are’) so thanks to bloggers and commenters.
As well as the canine connections there is something of a subsidiary drink-related theme – INEBRIATED, BLOTTO, OUZOS, BEER, etc.
Thought 8d was clever, but we seem to have had PSST in quite a few crosswords recently, albeit clued in different ways.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 14:12:05 +0000

I don’t like dogs, but I did like this puzzle. I got lucky with getting HAIR OF THE DOG quite early from the enumeration, so that helped with the themed clues. And to be fair, all the breeds were pretty well known ones.

CUCKOLDED appealed to my sense of humour, and I also thought PSST was clever.

Fine puzzle and blog; thanks all three.

By: aztobesed

aztobesed — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 12:44:57 +0000

I’d forgotten that Radian is one of the aliases of one of my favourite setters – a few clues in were enough to remind me. At 22 I fairly recently found out that ‘Dog’ ia a way of ordering Newcastle Brown Ale – it comes from the Geordie excuse “I’m just off to walk the dog, pet”. I believe it’s well-enough established to be written on the back of the bottles.

Lovely crossord, thanks to setter and B&J.

By: rowland

rowland — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 12:15:33 +0000

Fits much better with the ‘muddle-headed’ defintion for me, and, like you B&J, I had no idea why PIONEER = TT! Maybe a bit dark for a daily, but I still liked it. Fave rave IZZARD, though I’m tempted to quibble the grammar… dangerous territory!

Cheers
Rowly.

By: Bertandjoyce

Bertandjoyce — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 12:15:00 +0000

Thanks Thomas99 – we obviously need to broaden our dictionary access! Many thanks.

By: Thomas99

Thomas99 — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 08:00:31 +0000

Sorry – me again.
Re 15d – Dogberry is a busybody or “busy” for short in the (often Liverpudlian) sense of a policeman (he’s a constable), and Collins (again) says “a foolish, meddling, and usually old official” which would seem to fit too. I think it’s a fair description of Dogberry in Much Ado too. He keeps trying to take charge, explain things etc. and is in fact uselesss.

By: Thomas99

Thomas99 — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 07:48:56 +0000

Here it is – Collins (The Free Dictionary, online):

Pioneer1
n
a total abstainer from alcoholic drink, esp a member of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association, a society devoted to abstention

By: Thomas99

Thomas99 — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 07:46:20 +0000

Re 22d – “Pioneer” is a type of teetotaller, so Beer would be “improved”, BeTTer, with the investment of the pioneer.

I really liked this, in spite of my hopeless unfamiliarity with the theme – he made it accessible for non-dog people. Thanks for the blog.