Comments on: Guardian 25,822 – Bonxie

By: Brendan (not that one)

Brendan (not that one) — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 22:59:01 +0000

Well!!! Two cracking crosswords, one even nominated for crossword of the year followed by this.

Must be the easiest crossword of the year. Not expected on a Thursday.

Thanks to Manehi.

By: brucew_aus

brucew_aus — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 04:09:20 +0000

Thanks Bonxie and UY

This setter usually gives me a lot of trouble and although there were some challenges with the parsing – particularly with 22a, 22d, and 5d, it wasn’t quite as bad as the normal Bonxie. Many clever clue devices such as 1d, 8d, 11a, 20d and 23d and the brilliant surfaces such as 15d.

All in all a pleasure to do.

PS I’m having the occasional print problem with IE8

By: xjp

xjp — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:23:33 +0000

Wow what a crossword. On and off took me all day, but worth it. All fair, and I didn’t have to google anything. Not that I object to googling, just enjoyed a crossword that relies on pure thought.

By: Brendan (not that one)

Brendan (not that one) — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:43:04 +0000

A really great crossword. Didn’t start off promisingly but there was enough steady progress to keep plodding on.

Last in was NIKE. Why do some hidden words hide so well?

Thanks to BONXIE for another great crossword and to UY for the blog.

By: Morpheus

Morpheus — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:37:58 +0000

When we got the marvellously clued Girls Girls Girls I was rather hoping for an Elvis themed crossword. Despite the disappointment it was a fine workout, though a bit too tough for the 45 minutes we had available tonight.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:05:15 +0000

One can argue about ‘headlights’ for L, also about ‘old woman’ for ‘mother’ and about Bonxie using ‘ultimately’ in 23d. Not even sure whether ‘ex’ is (always) one’s ‘first wife’. One can also be annoyed by that linkword ‘on’ in 5d. And perhaps some would agree with me that, however clever, the definition in 15d was spread out a bit in an impure way.

But, yes but.
This was all in all a Great Crossword.
For us, Bonxie normally produces puzzles that are a bit of a slog.
However, this one was transparent as can be and provided a Brendan-like aha-moment when we discovered all those girls!
I am sure that it is quite a tour de force to fill a grid with words that suit the theme. It is also a tour de force to write clues in such a nifty way (as my PinC put it).

I am not a real Bonxie fan, but for me this was a contender for the Guardian Crossword of the Year. Beware, Picaroon!

Thanks UY.
Let’s put some music on now – what about “Girls Girls Girls” by Sailor?

By: PeterM

PeterM — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 18:32:09 +0000

… and Dee !

By: phitonelly

phitonelly — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 16:17:42 +0000

@ Mitz and EllisB

There’s Ita and Alva too. As for abbreviated names, there’s also Ali, Sam and Phil.

Oh, and the lass from the East End, Efl.

By: muffin

muffin — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 15:12:49 +0000

Thanks Uncle Yap and Bonxie
Enjoyable but frustrating – I didn’t get DEEP, and had to use the “check” (rather than “cheat”) function on several.
I may be missing something, but wouldn’t the “top to bottom” in 22ac work better in a Down clue?

By: Rowland

Rowland — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 14:01:13 +0000

Gah 11 = no no no! I hate that sort of thing. Some good ones, like ROSIER, but a few old chestnuts like the US one, and lots of overblown ones for me.

Cheers
Rowly.