Independent Crossword 8112 by Donk (Saturday Prize Puzzle 13-10-2012)

20 comments on “Independent Crossword 8112 by Donk (Saturday Prize Puzzle 13-10-2012)”

1. Thank you, twencelas, not sure whether I agree with you about the overall quality of this puzzle.
   That said, a warm welcome to Donk whose 15/24, 17ac and 4d were for me worth the price of last Saturday’s newspaper alone.
   However, clueing JOSE by ‘special one’ is, I think, perhaps witty but not fair.

   In 26ac, “B. Geldof’s partner occasionally” is M.URE (Midge Ure, of Live Aid fame – and, of course, Ultravox etc).

   BTW, I do not understand your explanation of 9ac. I do not see any reference to ‘child’ or ‘space’ in the clue.

2. Sil – I take your point on 26ac but the clue I have for 9ac is “Specialised track of child sent into space” (4,3) – Paper version the online version appears different

3. I liked EARLESS (favourite), JOURNALESE, ISOBAR, ASBESTOS and EYE CANDY, but not so keen on web=web in 3D, or the fruit and veg in 26. Very enjoyable, though – thank you to Donk and twencelas!

4. Thank you,twencelas, and Donk. Found this quite difficult so guess that was why it was scheduled for a Saturday. All very good and fair to the solver – favourite clue EYE CANDY

5. Well, I totally failed to get anything in the top left corner, although I guessed 1dn might be “isobar” but I couldn’t see why.

   I did get 21ac correctly, but even with your explanation I can’t understand it. Is Jose Mourinho known as “the special one”? Can’t say I’ve heard it.

6. It’s ‘subtly’, twenceslas.

7. Excellent debut and welcome to the team, Donk!

   I’d be interested to see an explanation of the online version of 9 across which reads

   Specialised track for runner – where to take a break from hammer (4,3)

   The first bit’s the definition and I presume that SKI is the runner, but I get lost after that. Any takers?

8. Paul B – Thanks – I’ve corrected it. My excuse – I’ve had a busy week.

9. Hi Klingsor @7

   SKI (runner) D (where to take a break [snooker]) PAN (hammer)

10. Thanks Gaufrid!

    (applies palm forcibly to forehead)

11. It was only a matter of time before Donk appeared in the nationals and this was a belting debut. My favourite was ONLINE for its seemless surface. Here’s to many more in the future – thanks old boy!

    Thanks to twencelas too!

12. I don’t normally do the Indy Saturday puzzle, but I picked up a copy last week and was intrigued to find a new setter. I remember enjoying this one, but finding the last few tricky to complete, and I needed you, Twenceslas, to help with the parsing of a couple.

    I guess JOSE for the ‘special one’ is going to disenfranchise those who aren’t into footie, but in the overall framework of the puzzle, I thought that was acceptable. EYE CANDY was also a contemporary definition, and my favourite clue in this one.

    Well done to Donk on the dayboo and thanks to Twenceslas for the blog.

13. Thanks for the blog and puzzle.

    I was stumped at the finish by 9ac, as I still have no idea what a skid pan might be, and I still can’t make sense of the on-line clue, despite Gaufrid’s reply @9. It’s odd that they went from a comprehensible clue in the paper to an incomprehensible one a week later.

14. Ian SW3 – expanding a little on Gaufrid’s response

    Specialised track for runner – where to take a break from hammer (4,3)

    The definition is Specialised track: Answer is Skid Pan (Chambers definition: a piece of slippery ground on which motorists can learn to control a skidding car.) i.e. a Specialised piece of road or track

    Construction ski (runner) + D (where to take a break from – i.e. when you play snooker) + pan (hammer)

15. Thanks. I’ve now read the Wikipedia page on snooker but find no reference to “D” as the place where the cue ball is placed at the start of a frame, though it is obvious from a diagram of the table why it would be called that. It also appears, though, that “break” in snooker does not mean (as it does in pool) the opening shot when the cue ball is placed there — it is any run of shots taken by a player during a frame, whether starting from the “D” or otherwise. I think the terminology is too obscure and muddled here to make a fair clue, so I still wonder why it was changed.

    I assume you meant to write “pan” instead of “ram,” and I can vaguely see that pan might sometimes be interchangeable with hammer.

    Apart from this one clue, I thought this was an enjoyable and well-constructed crossword.

16. ‘Break’
    It is, though, Ian. In fact it’s one of those unusual instances where a bit of terminology has a double meaning in the same field. Yes, a break is a run of scoring shots, but it is also the opening shot of the frame.
    “Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Fifth frame, Judd Trump to break”. To quote some referee or other.

    Marvellous debut from Donk – I had a lot of fun solving this.

17. Thanks Ian – I’ve corrected my comment – as I said earlier, it’s been a long week

18. Excellent debut. Does anyone know any more about the 2 versions of 9a? Both seem to be faultless, though the kid in space one seems easier to me (I did the other one, my last in, and I actually misparsed it a bit…). I wonder which was the original and which the replacement, and why. Thanks for the blog.

19. I thought the original a bit too tricky – and indeed several people have struggled to parse it. Unfortunately I failed to make the change in the 4D version.

20. Many thanks to twencelas for the fantastic blog and also to everyone for commenting so favourably!

    The online version of 9a was the original clue that was changed for publication as it was a little convoluted.

    Thanks again,
    Donk

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