Comments on: Independent on Sunday 1,200/Donk

By: cumbrian

cumbrian — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 10:19:38 +0000

Gaufrid@5 Many thanks for the explanations – I just couldn’t see 1C in 1ac but so obvious; another case of not analysing the clue sufficiently and falling for the clever surface. 11ac I’d forgotten that Wenger is French (if I even knew), and missed NRA; a fair clue though. Everything else fell into place, albeit with much head scratching in places.
Many thanks to Donk for a puzzle with a good mix of chuckles, groans and Duh! moments.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 23:31:05 +0000

Capito!
And, once more, thanks for such a good crossword.

By: Donk

Donk — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 23:15:39 +0000

Hi Sil,

In my 12th Ed. Chambers, ‘for starters’ is defined as ‘for a start’. It’s just a phrase I use so often that I didn’t think twice about how to defend it!

Donk

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 22:48:31 +0000

Hi Donk.

“I used ‘for starters’ in the sense of ‘first of all’, which is fair in my book”.
Can you explain this a little further? (please)
Still don’t get it completely.

You’re right about 6d, so I am not with Sidey anymore.

Terrific puzzle.

By: Donk

Donk — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 22:11:09 +0000

Evening all,

Many thanks to Ali for providing the blog, hope you enjoyed the trip to Wembley!

It’s always great to hear comments from solvers, so thank you to everyone who’s taken the time to leave comments.

I used ‘for starters’ in the sense of ‘first of all’, which is fair in my book.

6d parses as: MEL B (Spice) A (a) TOAST (drink to)… the definition is ‘accompany cheese with this?’

Once again, really appreciate everyone dropping in with queries – hope you all enjoyed solving it as much as I enjoyed compiling it!

Donk

By: Robi

Robi — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 21:53:19 +0000

Good one, although I’ve only just got deer=does, doh!

Didn’t see MASKING TAPE either. Thanks to Ali, Querulous and Gaufrid for sorting it all out.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 21:45:16 +0000

Thanks, Gaufrid.
I saw that 1ac was 1C inside something, but I was focused on DEES (verb instead of noun). DEER, yes, ‘does’. Clever.
After the explanation of 11ac, I am not sure whether ‘for starters, Wenger’s the’ means “put LE in front of”. I fear I am not completely happy with ‘starters’ as a plural, even if LE can be seen as two (plural) letters [but LE as a word is only one thing].
And Sidey, I see your point. Perhaps, your option is better.

But all in all, IMO once more a great puzzle from Donk who has become a real asset to Crosswordland in only a few months time!

Thank you, Ali.

By: sidey

sidey — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 21:32:51 +0000

In retrospect I can see some very clever stuff here. Far too convoluted in parts for me though. For instance, 'cheese with this?', 'cheese on this?' would work for me. Hey ho, probably be more to my taste when I've done a few more.

By: Gaufrid

Gaufrid — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 20:57:12 +0000

Thanks Ali
I seem to have beaten to it but I was going to add this:
22ac STaGE (organise) with ONE HEN (single bird) replacing (for) the ‘a’
27ac RATIO (relationship) in (entered into) A DON (dress {verb})
28ac GR AND SON (King George’s family business)
6dn MEL B (Spice [girl]) A TOAST (drink)
18/25 ‘sorTA PErson’ is hiding, or MASKING, TAPE

By: Dormouse

Dormouse — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 20:53:02 +0000

I think 6dn is Mel B for spice [girl] plus a toast for a drink. Do you eat Melba toast with cheese?