Independent on Sunday 1,655 by Italicus

16 comments on “Independent on Sunday 1,655 by Italicus”

1. Nothing too tricky this morning and a satisfactory solve with only a bit of headscratching to come up with the American bar in ROADHOUSE. I did smile at the Spoonerism and the homophone and nice to see Ur pop up: were there any other Sumerian cities???e.

   No particular favourites today – BLESS cam close – though I was COCK-A-HOOP to get 17d and would have been Hanoid not to get 22d.

   Thanks Italicus and a rushed PeeDe

2. I did get the chance to appreciate this as a few not so easy ones for me meant I couldn’t rush through. I didn’t know how ‘Mary Jane’ = POT in 28a (though should have guessed I suppose) and wasn’t aware of the ‘gem’ sense of CARBUNCLE (another meaning of which I see is “anthrax” – interesting). I took a while to realise that 10a was only a partial anagram and the parsing of DISMANTLE, TRINKET and my last in ROADHOUSE also took some working out.

   Lots of amusing surfaces, particularly those for CREWCUT and COCK-A-HOOP.

   Thanks to Italicus and to PeeDee for making the extra effort to post the blog – much appreciated

3. Lukewarm responses thus far.
   But I thought this was a terrific crossword.
   Together with Leonidas’ FT puzzle perhaps the most enjoyable I have done this week (and I’ve done quite a lot).
   A pity that I failed on 24dn but even so.
   I still remember Italicus’ phenomenal Brexit crossword from those ‘backstop’ days.
   Today 19ac (EXCEL) takes the palm for sheer elegance.
   Many thanks to PeeDee & Italicus.

4. Nice to see Italicus back again and he’s taught me another piece of drug terminology this morning along with a surprising alternative definition of CARBUNCLE.
   The surface read of 5a made me smile and my joint favourites were EXCEL and BLESS.

   Thanks to Italicus for the puzzle and to PeeDee for the review and for setting me straight regarding the parsing of the latter part of 14d.

5. 24D doesn’t seem complete to me: I’d have thought maybe something like ‘consecrate’ instead of ‘make’ would be better, but no doubt I shall be shot down! Otherwise all very good and enjoyable, so thanks Italicus and PeeDee.

6. Hi Tatrasman, “make a cross hand gesture” is what a priest does to bless someone: make the sign of the cross by touching one’s head, chest and then each shoulder. Hopefully this helps lift you up rather than shoots you down!

7. I do just the one crossword a day and I’m glad it was this one. Lovely smooth surfaces, some nice images and a bit of difficulty here and there (I was also trying to make a full anagram at 10a). Had no idea tosspot could mean alcoholic, rather than just an obnoxious person. Bless, excel and barista my favourites, but all good. Thanks to Italicus and to PeeDee – hope you can relax now!

8. I thought this was great – light and great fun with lovely smooth surfaces. The only problem I have with Italicus’ puzzles is that we don’t get enough of them.

   Many thanks to Italicus and to PeeDee.

9. Don’t believe I’ve seen Italicus before, and am always wary of my first attempt at a new (to me) setter. Very pleasantly surprised to have a steady flow of pdm’s as the various inventive wordplays revealed themselves to be first class and supremely well written. Very like Azed but without the obscurities. I don’t think I can detect a single superfluous word yet the surfaces are smooth and plausible.

   Also an elegant homophone that I wager would garner no criticism even on the guardian blog.

   My only complaint? Over too soon! More Please!

   Thanks Italicus and the unfortunate PeeDee who missed fully enjoying this excellent crossword as he deserved to.

10. Wow, what a great puzzle, fantastic surfaces. Many thanks to Italicus & PeeDee

11. Thanks Italicus and PeeDee, I thought this was great. Nothing much to add to what Blah said. Favourites were DISMANTLE, TRINKET, BARISTA and the simple but brilliant EXCEL.

12. A lot of great clues. I’m glad indirect homophones are more acceptable than indirect anagrams as EXCEL was brilliant. The only drawback was, for me, the Spoonerism. Thanks both and congratulations to PostMark on the crossword appropriate emotions.

13. Many thanks to Pee Dee for the accuracy of his blog despite the pressure he must have been under. And many thanks for all the generous comments.

14. On re-reading after baerchen’s comment I have to applaud the exceptionally good (and often funny) surfaces. I thought this was pitched pretty well perfectly for a Sunday.

15. Classy. Very few setters make it look so effortless.

16. Looking for a puzzle to fill a gap, I spotted Italicus’ name amongst the Indy’s recent offerings and remembered it from his early days a few years ago when he submitted a puzzle to the (now defunct) Your Puzzles open-invitation page on 1across.co.uk. That puzzle stood out for its well-constructed clues and silky-smooth surfaces, so I decided to try this one and wasn’t disappointed.

    19ac, EXCEL, was the best of a glorious bunch. I doubted it for a moment when I wondered whether EXCEL could be transitive like ‘top’, but Collins confirms it can indeed mean ‘surpass’. Best clue I’ve seen lately, I think.

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