Comments on: Independent 8,229 / Anax

By: Bertandjoyce

Bertandjoyce — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 07:00:39 +0000

It was a busy day yesterday and we started this puzzle late and finished it just before midnight. We found it difficult to start and also to finish! We can really sympathise with Dormouse!

Perhaps if we’d had more time we may not have resorted to the couple of electronic searches which we needed towards the end. This doesn’t mean though that we didn’t enjoy it but as non-football fans we’d never heard of GIVEN.

Thanks Anax and RR!

By: Dormouse

Dormouse — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 23:17:27 +0000

Bounced off of this one. Only managed four answers all day.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 23:14:56 +0000

A toughy, Anax!

I thought 24d (NIL) was extremely well clued.
Fantastic surface & fine construction for such a common word.
A gem.

That said, the relatively simple clue @22d (ACTS) is also quite good.
A lot to admire today, constructionwise [if that is a word - probably not].

Many thanks RR for blogging.

By: Raich

Raich — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 22:37:20 +0000

Comment at #6: “Soccer is a minority interest and those with none have no way to confirm this sort of clue without internet access”.

I’d say when used in this sense there very few things that would not be seen ‘a minority interest’ if ‘soccer’ is regarded as such.

Internet access esp for those solving crosswords in UK publications is pretty widespread now not least with its availability on mobile phones.

By: Pelham Barton

Pelham Barton — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 21:51:12 +0000

Thanks Anax for a tough but ultimately satisfying puzzle and RR for the blog. I did not get the reference to Shay Given, but the wordplay was very precise and I thought it might have something to do with the number one shirt.

However, even though it was the last one I solved, I must give my award for favourite clue to 19ac for recognising that soccer is not the only form of football.

By: Lancastrian Bluenose

Lancastrian Bluenose — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 19:12:44 +0000

I solved the puzzle.That is an achievement for me to solve one of Anax’s !

By: sidey

sidey — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:48:14 +0000

referring to Shay Given, the goalkeeper for Aston Villa

Oh, of course, dreadfully clever that. Just another reason that Anax leaves me cold. Soccer is a minority interest and those with none have no way to confirm this sort of clue without internet access.

By: RatkojaRiku

RatkojaRiku — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:48:09 +0000

Thanks, Kathryn’s Dad – I did mean to write cricket, but evidently lost leave of my senses momentarily – it happens at 7 am occasionally

By: flashling

flashling — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 10:45:06 +0000

Indeed well done RR and Given was sneaky. Found this tough to break into, not helped by no lights on the train.

Thanks Anax and RR.

By: MikeC

MikeC — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 10:28:12 +0000

Thanks RR and Anax. Very well done, both! Lots of neat clues, not all of which were parsed fully by me. COD 4d, possibly, with its leopard print connections. My reasoning on 7 (ICE) was very slightly different, in that I thought of ICE=diamonds=rocks – yours is more direct, therefore better.