Independent 8872 by Bucko

13 comments on “Independent 8872 by Bucko”

1. Thanks NealH and Bucko.

   I knew scrod from a story the late Alistair Cooke told. Apparently it is (or was) one of the legendary New York fish dishes. On his first trip there he asked the cab driver to ‘Take me where I can get scrod’.

   The driver said ‘I’ve been asked that a thousand times, but never before in the pluperfect subjunctive’.

2. I think you’ll find one goes to Boston rather than New York to get scrod.

   Thanks, NealH, and welcome (for me, at least), Bucko.

3. I’ve heard the scrod joke told in various ways over the decades, sometimes about a New Yorker arriving in Boston. No Boston cabby would ever mistake scrod for a verb, though, so I think it works best with a Bostonian asking a driver in New York (or London or anywhere else that the term “scrod” is largely unknown). For Alistair Cooke, though, to have asked for scrod in New York, he would have to have been muddled up, which he rarely if ever was.

4. Thanks NealH and Bucko.

   This is the first puzzle I have tried by this setter, so I didn’t know what to expect either, but I found it an enjoyable solve, with some inventive clues.

   It’s a minor detail, but I’m not sure that 1 across is really a double definition. I’d have called it a charade of DIMMER (less intelligent) and SWITCH (substitute).

5. I found this enjoyable, and as others have already noted it contained some inventive cluing. I agree with Tom_I@4’s interpretation of 1ac. The MERCURY/BADDY crossers were my last ones in.

6. Thanks, Neal. Definitely some inventive clueing in this (not all of which I understood, so thank you). MERCURY I would never have parsed in a million years (well, maybe a hundred years …)

   Enjoyed it. Thank you, Bucko

7. Some interesting stuff, I look forward to more.

   All NOOSEs slip but only when used on a scaffold are they fatal, just my reading.

8. Ian SW3, while I happily yield to your better knowledge, Cooke had the cab driver say ‘plupoifect’ which sounds like Brooklyn to me.

9. I didn’t find this particularly easy. It took me ages to get 7dn and several answers I couldn’t parse. But 25ac made me laugh when I first read the clue and again when I finally got it several hours later.

10. Conrad, one could imagine (for the purposes of a joke) Cooke having heard of scrod and thinking he could find it in New York. He may just have been telling an old joke (I’ve never before heard it attributed to him), but for retelling, I think it works best with a generic Bostonian looking for it out of town. Of course, it only works if the hearer has heard of scrod and associates it with Boston. All ireelevant to the crossword, though, so I’d best shut up now.

11. Really enjoyable puzzle – it’s lovely to have new ‘voices’ from time to time, and this did have a unique flavour. Most of the time it felt like “This is nice and straightforward for a Monday”, but then suddenly you would be hit by the odd clue which seemed to have drifted in from a much harder crossword. So I was grateful for one or two of your explanations, NealH.

    I was pleased that I spotted the DEF triplet; but Mercury was a mystery, as was the DD chest. Loved the Spotted Dick.

    Thanks both.

12. Thanks for all the kind comments everyone and to Neal for the excellent blog.
    Hope to be back soon.
    Bucko.

13. I found this puzzle short but so very sweet! It actually turned out to be the quickest I’ve ever completed an Independent crossword. But, what fun! 1A and 1D were both interesting and amusing and it went on from there. Is there any monosyllable anywhere that isn’t the name of a type of fish? I loved it, thank you, Bucko!

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