Comments on: Independent 8212/Phi

By: old newbie

old newbie — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:22:39 +0000

I pick up an Indie every so often in my local pub (they throw them away at the end of the day) and have been doing Xwords for a year or so. Usually the Mail cryptic (my wife’s paper).

So the Indie is quite a challenge and I loved this one. I got all but 12 and 23, and didn’t use any cheats (such as a list of OMs). Thanks Phi

By: Bertandjoyce

Bertandjoyce — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 23:12:14 +0000

Not our favourite puzzle but as it’s Phi we’ll forgive him. We tend to agree with K’sD about the rather random choice of OMs but it’s still an achievement to have fitted so many of them in. We didn’t need any electronic support apart from 14d. 10ac was our last one in – as with K’sD – maybe there really is some morphic resonance going on here!

Thanks Phi and John.

By: pennes

pennes — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 20:30:41 +0000

I look forward to Phi’s puzzles. I always start at the end of the down clues and work “upwards” so was enjoying the solve until the acrosses. I got the gateway clue but decided this just wasn’t for me, the theme just didn’t appeal to me and I’d probably have not been able to finish without use of aids, which I find unsatisfactory.
Phi hardly ever disappoints so I’ll look forward to next weeks’s puzzle

By: Laconic Observer

Laconic Observer — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 18:01:26 +0000

One wonders why John, with his self-professed dislike of “unfair” grids and themes, still considers the crossword as something he’ll enjoy.

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 16:58:41 +0000

Thanks, John.

Not really my favourite Phi ever. Kind of a random theme (okay, I know all themes are random) but when so many answers are surnames it can make life tricky and personally I don’t get much pleasure from solving a clue that results in someone’s name. On the plus side, the gateway clue was easy, so you could get started; and indeed many of the other clues were almost Quiptic in nature. Perhaps Phi was trying to give us plenty of crossing letters for the surnames.

I managed it without recourse to a list of OM holders: the only one I had to stick into a wordsearch was THATCHER (something subconscious going on there …)

Not one for me today, but others seemed to have enjoyed it, so fair enough.

By: Conrad Cork

Conrad Cork — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 15:09:48 +0000

Not really playing the game to access a list of OM members, is it? Phi deserves better than that.

By: allan_c

allan_c — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 14:42:12 +0000

I looked at the grid, with unches round the perimeter and thought, “Aha – nina!”. Quite a surprise, then, to find a themed crossword instead. Fairly simple with access to a list on OM members, but I would have struggled like Paul A otherwise.

And I agree with Paul A about 12ac.

Thanks, Phi and John

By: Rishi

Rishi — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:59:30 +0000

The plural form of OPUNTIA was used in a crosword on Big Dave’s website last year.

The clue and a picture of the prickly-pear can be seen here:

http://bigdave44.com/2012/11/03/ntspp-143/

PS: To prove that I am not a robot, I had to put two and two together, that’s all!

By: Pelham Barton

Pelham Barton — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 11:42:58 +0000

Thanks Phi for an entertaining puzzle and John for the blog.

I am not a great fan of thematic puzzles, but this one comes across as a very good example of its type. As is so often the case, my favourite clue was a non-thematic one: in this case 15dn, but I am sure Phi must have enjoyed finding the wordply for 10ac, where the surface is so wonderfully ironic.

14dn: An obscure word no doubt required by the construction, but this is one where an anagram helps. Given the checking letters, there was only one sensible way of filling in the rest.

By: Paul A

Paul A — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 11:17:31 +0000

12a – I think Shied could be the ‘Shrank’, as in shied away from.
Doing the DTV on the train made the thematic answers a lottery – just guessing at famous names, and wondered what Papandreou was doing there. OK in the end though