Comments on: Independent 8182 / Phi

By: pennes

pennes — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 20:49:58 +0000

Whilst we might be discussing favourite clues of the past year and Phi’s puzzle today, I have just been turning out an old drawer and found crossword no 5304, one of Phi’s; it has my favourite ever clue:
“Here’s fleche with direst warping”

Ans Chesterfield

By: BertandJoyce

BertandJoyce — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 19:07:45 +0000

Well spotted Pelham Barton! One of us sat and looked at the grid trying to find what Phi had hinted at but failed to look at the clues themselves.

Well done Phi, no more humphing required!

By: Pelham Barton

Pelham Barton — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 19:03:05 +0000

Phi @8: Thanks for popping in. I have just found Demetrius and Lysander. Does that complete the thematic set?

By: Dormouse

Dormouse — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 19:02:12 +0000

Well, not only did I fail to spot the Nina, I failed to spot the asymmetry.

By: Phi

Phi — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 18:46:20 +0000

I wonder how EVIL slipped through. I do a lot of clueing away from the grid, though I do mark the list of words to be clued A [followed by Across words] then D [followed by Down ones], and maybe I misplaced the D. Though I’d have expected to spot it when typing up the puzzle. Humph – annoyed with self, annoyed with self…

Anyway, you do seem only to be looking at the grid for your full complement of Nina…you need to right the gender imbalance.

By: pennes

pennes — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 16:55:56 +0000

Nice puzzle. I searched for the nina early on and with the letters I had, my first idea was “plebs” so I thought it might be something to do with Andrew Mitchell.
2 dn lodestar my favourite today. I watched an old QI last night: M. Leotard invented the leotard

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 16:52:31 +0000

I got through this pretty quickly this morning. Even to Nina-blind people like me, the grid screamed that something was going on, and I guessed the quote – which is pretty well-known, to be fair – early on, which helped fill in the rest of the answers. I liked PLANT POT too, and agree that EVIL is not right as an across clue.

All good stuff to end the week – thanks to Phi and to B&J.

By: Rowland

Rowland — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 13:47:04 +0000

Perhaps it was a clue he had used before, with the down indication unchanged, slipping through. No other quibbles for me though, another good Phi-day!!

Cheers
Rowly.

By: Pelham Barton

Pelham Barton — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 13:08:56 +0000

Thanks Phi for a very enjoyable puzzle and B and J for the blog.

9ac: This is a complete “& lit” clue: every word is relevant to both definition and wordplay.

28ac: A mistake by the setter here, I think. I can see no justification for “up” in an across clue, and “turn back” would give just as good a surface.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 13:00:26 +0000

Hi B and J

I didn’t do this puzzle but your blog intrigued me and prompted me to seek out this wonderful &lit anagram clue from a Guardian puzzle a few months ago from … Puck, of course!

8,2,14 As I said in 15 27 4 23: “Funny farm? The whole lot are dolts, boss!” (4,4,5,5,7,2)

The puzzle is here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/crosswords/cryptic/25704