Comments on: Independent 8170/Scorpion

By: Bertandjoyce

Bertandjoyce — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 23:08:49 +0000

Well……. we started off quite well. We noted the possibility of a pangram early on and sorted out the relevance of The Beatles in 8ac. However, the SW corner proved very tricky and some electronic help was required. We’d not come across 14d before.

Thanks John for the parsing of 17d and 20ac.

Thanks Scorpion for the head-scratching!

By: Pelham Barton

Pelham Barton — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 15:24:04 +0000

Thanks Scorpio for an excellent crossword and John for the blog. I started with PROXY which had me on full pangram alert, reinforced by QUISLING. The last different letter I got was the F in 20ac. Favourite clue the “& lit” at 19dn although I take John’s point.

3dn: I was going to make the same comment as John – this is the safest way to avoid any possible ambiguity. Also worth noting that it is essential to avoid ambiguity here, as the homophones differ only in an unchecked letter.

16ac: Here we have two definitions with a modifier in the middle, but “time over start of Christmas” means that the modifier only works one way round, so there is no ambiguity here either.

25dn: I was another who read this in the golfing sense, but the motoring sense is equally good.

6dn: I raised an eyebrow when solving at the use of “abrupt”, but Chambers gives “truncated” as one of the meanings, so no complaint there.

By: Thomas99

Thomas99 — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 15:22:31 +0000

Agree with Querulous and NeilW re TRAP. I don’t really think a speed trap is an obstacle.

By: Querulous

Querulous — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:25:19 +0000

Thanks Scorpion and John.

In 25D, I had TRAP as meaning a bunker or similar that a (golf) driver might encounter.

By: NeilW

NeilW — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:23:56 +0000

Thanks, John. As Cumbrian says, solving online left me completely mystified by the definition in 8ac, although the construction was clear enough.

I think you’re not being fair about NORTH SEA – the N of Britain is needed to put together the anagram in this excellent &lit – although I suppose you’re right that “Norway’s Westernmost..” would have worked as well.

The TRAP I took to refer to sand rather than speed.

By: Cumbrian

Cumbrian — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 11:29:09 +0000

A couple of clues beyond my ability (as your average Bear of Little Brain) but great stuff, and a pangram to boot. I totally missed the theme – a drawback of how the clues are displayed in the online version – so couldn’t understand THE BEATLES at 8ac – my initial attempt was THE SETTERS until it mucked up 5d. All is now clear, thanks to the blog.