Comments on: Independent 8,103 / Dac

By: RatkojaRiku

RatkojaRiku — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 19:07:32 +0000

Thanks to Kathryn’s Dad for spotting the typo in 20, and to Dormouse for the NW v NE issue in the intro – I did mean the NW corner, so it looks as though we were held up by different parts of the puzzle. A sense of direction has never figured amongst my strong points, by the way!

By: NealH

NealH — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 18:26:18 +0000

I had only the dimmest memory of Man Alive, but I played the theme music from a web site and it definitely sounds familiar, so I must have watched it at some stage. I was a bit stumped on 6 down – I hadn’t really thought of the Waldorf as a specifically American hotel. I’d always assumed it was a sort of chain like the Hilton with branches all over the place.

By: Bertandjoyce

Bertandjoyce — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 17:34:57 +0000

We’re with K’sD and totally agree with comments on 4d. In fact we’d go further but it would be deemed to be offensive on this website. Can’t wait for the V to be changed to an N!

Enjoyed the puzzle, nothing too taxing but plenty to think about.

Thanks RR and Dac.

By: Dormouse

Dormouse — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 17:34:56 +0000

I, too, got held up on the NE corner (although RatkojaRiku says he did, but then refers to clues in the NW – I’m confused). Then, suddenly, 10ac and 5ac came to me, which gave me 6&7dn, although I couldn’t parse them, quite.

The references to “cultural figures” gave me no problems, but there were a few terms I wasn’t too familiar with – “seed capital” and “soft liner”. And I’d heard of “frappé”, but had no idea it was a cold drink.

By: rowland

rowland — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 12:17:16 +0000

Yes, very clear wordplay in a good puzzle. ‘Resisted change’ I liked for the anagram, but there are many delights here.

Thank you Dac, as ever, for a consistent high standard, and to RR for his nice blog. Now on to the challenge of Monk in FT!

Cheers
Rowly.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 10:07:07 +0000

Thanks, RR and Dac – excellent puzzle in which I was able to work the unfamiliar words out from the clear wordplay. Somewhat similar to comment #2, my favourites were BEMUSE and BRIEFS. I found the puzzle about average in difficulty for a Dac puzzle.

By: flashling

flashling — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 08:43:25 +0000

I found this, unlike K’s D quite hard to get going but finished quite quickly, Thanks RR did wonder about roach being a triple definition, but you seem to be right.

By: yvains

yvains — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 08:03:40 +0000

Thanks, Dac, and RatkojaRiku, esp. for the parsing of PLAYMATE. I liked BEMUSE, BRIEFS and STOLE, less keen on cockroach=bedbug.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 08:01:43 +0000

Many thanks, RatkojaRiku. I found this easy to get into but tough to finish. But BEMUSE, PLAYMATE and FIRESIDE were excellent clues; and I too liked GOVERNESSES (although the clue won’t age well because hopefully the muppet won’t be in office for too much longer).

MAN ALIVE is a bit of a blast from the past, which will have drawn a blank with anyone under 40, I guess. And EDITRESS was curiously old-fashioned: modern English, I think, tends to eschew words like POETESS and MURDERESS, and even female movie stars these days usually want to be called ACTORS rather than ACTRESSES, while STEWARDESSES are now flight attendants. GODDESS is unlikely to go away, though.

Lovely puzzle from Dac.

[ps you have a tiny typo in 20dn: you mean dope and not dop]