Comments on: Independent 8113/Quixote

By: Paul B

Paul B — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 23:26:26 +0000

I admire Pelham’s tee-totality (please note solar eclipse punning in that one), and suggest to Pierre that among compilers, the percentage of persons regularly consuming more than the recommended amount (21 units, is it?) of booze per week is staggeringly (!) high.

I am not sure how many consume more than 21 units per day.

By: Pierre

Pierre — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 19:14:30 +0000

Maybe a partial solar eclipse, then, Pelham. I was being tongue in cheek, as you know.

By: Pelham Barton

Pelham Barton — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 19:08:45 +0000

Pierre @15: I cannot let that pass. It may be true that the vast majority of crossword fanatics are beer lovers, but not quite all – I for one have been teetotal since July 1981, and I did not really like beer before then. What is certain is that only a small fraction of beer lovers are crossword fanatics.

By: Pierre

Pierre — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 18:58:33 +0000

I’m sure I’ve mentioned it here before, but if you produced a Venn diagram of crossword fanatics and beer lovers, it would look like a solar eclipse …

By: Rorschach

Rorschach — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 18:31:04 +0000

Implication: All cruciverbalists are alcoholics…

Nice start to a week. Completed without any helps which is a rarity for me (I only have limited time to do crosswords and don’t want to agonise all day over a puzzle).

Thanks both!

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 17:44:24 +0000

Thanks, Quixote, for the puzzle and Pierre for an excellent blog. It took me a while to see the “It” idea but I did in the end. I guess “cruciverbalists” are not too particularly bothered one way or another about “It” as a drink but Quixote is referring to its frequent use in puzzles where, it should be noted, ITALIAN VERMOUTH has a very convenient 15 letters.

By: Dormouse

Dormouse — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 17:43:48 +0000

Thanks, I’m glad I wasn’t the only one to have trouble with 22ac. I quickly saw “drink” fitted, and finally a word search told me that it was the only word that fitted, but I couldn’t see why. (I couldn’t parse 20ac, either, but I sure “cholera” was correct for that.)

Two words used in senses I wasn’t familiar with. Actually, I think I vaguely knew “tensor” could be a muscle, but for me it was the point in university maths where I could go no further. And I can’t find “teleports” as communication centres in Chambers.

In the fifties, the great SF writer Alfred Bester wrote two classic novels, Tiger, Tiger and The Demolished Man. The former is set in a world where teleportation is commonplace. In the latter, a criminal tries to hide the fact that he has committed a murder from telepaths by thinking of an earworm called “Tenser said the tensor”. Is this a mini-theme?

By: Bertandjoyce

Bertandjoyce — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 17:40:24 +0000

Merci Pierre pour ‘le blog’.

Our last one in was drink although we had it pencilled in for a while. Not a lot else to add to the comments but an enjoyable Monday solve as usual.

Thanks Quixote

By: allan_c

allan_c — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 13:52:18 +0000

Pierre @ 9 and other frustrated would-be solvers. The full clues are available at http://www.independent.co.uk/i/cryptic-crossword-15-october-2012-8211543.html

By: Pierre

Pierre — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 13:38:29 +0000

Thanks for the link, Colin – our feathered friends are certainly getting an outing today …

As for the &lit for MARRIED, well, maybe not; but I’ve always been a bit confused about &lit, semi-&lit and &littish, which occasionally get used here. Whatever, it’s a good clue.

I was going to have a crack at another Quixote over lunch, in the Indy i, but the paper has printed two sets of across clues, which could make things a bit tricky …