Independent 10,996 by Bluth

18 comments on “Independent 10,996 by Bluth”

1. Never liked ‘imaginary number’ since all numbers exist in an imagined world and only have ‘real’ meaning when applied to real world problems. Imaginary and complex numbers have a huge number of such applications. As some will know, electrical engineers (and other engineers) use j not i since i is also used for an electrical current. That aside, it is common parlance initially introduced as it wasn’t thought that such numbers had real significance.

   Great crossword with a lot of thought needed in places. HAGGIS was also my loi.

2. I really enjoyed this. It was a lot of fun, there were no over wordy clues, and almost all of the surfaces were excellent.

   Like Quirister, I struggled with the parsing of HAGGIS but got there in the end.

   With plenty of good clues to pick from, I think SNOOKER was my favourite.

   Many thanks to Bluth and to Quirister.

3. I was another STYMIEd / SNOOKERed by HAGGIS until the very end.

   I agree with all of Quirister’s favourites, for the same reasons, and I also had ticks for BALACLAVA, for the clever use of both actresses’ names and COCKATIEL and CONTRARY, both for their construction and surface.

   A most enjoyable puzzle – many thanks to Bluth and Quirister.

4. A DNF for me as I couldn’t see HAGGIS. Otherwise very enjoyable so thanks Bluth and Quirister.

5. I found this more than slightly tricky. I just couldn’t get INGROWING which made HAGGIS a bridge too far and there were some other bits such as ‘Price maybe’ at 6d and the SNOOKER PLAYER at 23d which passed me by. Didn’t know about Charles Hawtrey’s (I’d better say) alleged peccadilloes which added to the surface meaning of 16d.

   A good one (too good!) to get the grey matter into gear for the rest of the week.

   Thanks to Bluth and Quirister

6. Add me to the people who couldn’t see HAGGIS until the end of this very good crossword

   Thanks very much to Bluth and Quirister

7. I really enjoyed this, though for me too HAGGIS proved a bit indigestible. I think you could argue that say and etc are both needed for MAINSTREAM MEDIA because the definition refers to all the media of which the BBC and the Independent are examples. Thanks, both.

8. It’s all been said: really good crossword, very enjoyable, a bit of a tussle for a Monday, The ingrowing/haggis combo was a stumbling block until the very end. Don’t think I’ve seen the ‘make do’ trick used before – very sly. That was my favourite among many, with a shout out for balaclava, too. Thanks to Bluth and Quirister

9. Thanks Quirister. And thanks all.

10. Same haggis ingrowing here. Made the error of thinking it ended with a silly grin* . thanks Q and Bluth. Not easy not easy at all..

11. Another great crossword from Bluth. I failed to solve HAGGIS, but everything else went smoothly. However, the HAGGIS clue brings up an interesting point about homophones (at least I think so). In most clues the direction is: definition in clue -> [word defined] -> homophone of that word. In the clue for HAGGIS, though, the direction is: definition in clue -> [homophone of that definition] -> word that means the same as the homophone.
    How unusual is this?

12. HAGGIS and INGROWING were my LOIs as well, with HAGGIS remaining largely unparsed – I eventually, eventually made it to HAG, which solved my initial conundrum of ‘What on earth is ‘which’ doing there?’, but the ‘on’ continued to trip me up, and it’s simply there for the surface as far as I can see.

    Alliacol@11 – I’ve not seen clue>homophone>synonym of homophone before, although I don’t think I mind it.

    Tough for a Monday, but as ever, smart and witty.

    Thanks Quirister and Bluth.

13. I too failed on HAGGIS. Ironic, given my blog-name. Thanks both.

14. Jim @12 my intended parsing for HAGGIS is slightly (ever so slightly) different to that given by Quirister, but I think I can account for the ‘on’.

    Broadcast which = HAG
    group of = G
    islands = IS

    The GIS is on HAG

    (Alliacol’s point about homophones is frying my brain a little!)

15. Late thanks Quirister, I couldn’t see past DORM = room which seemed to be outside the USTST not the other way round, you have unravelled that nicely, and I shared (with plenty of others, so some consolation) the difficulty in arriving at HAGGIS. Agree with your other observations, in case anyone cares “Abroad” was Hawtrey’s last appearance in that series, which added to the fine surface for me. My favourite was INGROWING – I made the same mistake as Flashling@10 which held me up for a long time, how cunning to construct the wordplay in “reverse order” to make full misleading use of the first and final three letters being the same. Thanks Bluth, another very good one.

16. PS Alliacol@11 great point, totally unscientific but just glancing bask over the past week or so, for all the homophones that I have seen the “usual” process has been in operation. I can’t recall having seen the HAG process before ( but I am no veteran) and will keep my eyes peeled from now on. I wonder if this might generate some debate along the lines of the “indirect anagram” discussions which pop up from time to time. Like Jim@12, I am fine with it but reserve the right to change my mind if/when I have seen a few more, especially if I don’t get them!

17. Bluth @14 I think what Alliacol means is that the steps are reversed when compared to a lot of other homophone clues…

    Broadcast hag -> witch -> which
    1) think of synonym
    2) convert to homophone

    Broadcast which -> witch -> hag
    1) convert to homophone
    2) think of synonym

    Is the former fairer than the latter? They feel pretty similar to me. * shrugs *

18. Raider @17 – ah yes, I see. I don’t think it’s all that unusual.

    How about this example from Knut, November 17 2021:
    17D: Props up Marx reportedly propping up leaders of Soviet Union [SUSTAINS]

    Marx reportedly
    1) convert to homophone – Marks
    2) think of synonym: – Stains

    I’m not sure it can be this way round when the homophone leads to the whole solution because when you have to have a definition joined to the wordplay it starts to feel wrong.

    ‘Broadcast which crone’ for HAG or ‘Blemishes Marx, on the record’ for STAINS don’t feel right to me because the combination of the definition and the word that sounds just-like-a-synonym-for-it feels too clunky. It’s sort of like having a double definition clue only where both versions just have the same meaning.

    But when it leads only to a part of a word – that need for the definition to also be there is removed and it seems fine, I think.

    I expect the majority of homophone clues are for the whole solution – which would account for this construction being rarer. But not vanishingly so.

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