Independent 11,238 by Wire

11 comments on “Independent 11,238 by Wire”

1. Very pleased to finish this without aids. PHAT was my last one in – got from the definition and then guessing TOPHAT. Didn’t care for the ‘westwards’ in 9a. Really the word is cycled one place to the east, which leads to the E then cycling to the front.

2. It had to be MOPED at 24a but the misdirection of ‘removed’ made me hesitate putting it in without crossers.
   FARCEUR new for me.

   I like this type of puzzle – one where you know you have nearly got it but takes quite a bit of work for penny to fully drop. Lovely stuff.

   Thanks to Wire and Q.

3. Not quite as hard as yesterday’s Leonidas in the FT by the same setter, but still challenging enough and fun at the same time. I’d barely heard of the relevant sense of GOOSEBERRY and both THIRD WHEEL and PHAT were new. GAFF for ‘accommodation’ also went in unconfidently.

   I had to come back for a second try to finally get ZEPPELIN which I’d almost given up on. I liked the I-SHOP for ‘Apple store?’ and the MOPED for ‘Wheels’.

   Thanks to Wire and Quirister

4. Dont remember any trouble with Leonidas (aka Wire?)-enjoyed it but today-I’d heard of TOP HAT and seen PHAT in a Thai restaurant (doesnt it mean FRY)
   but if it makes it into some dictionary then who am I to complain?
   But its not going in mine!

5. Thanks both. Lots to enjoy, however it was another struggle, eventually taking mid-solve assistance by looking up the definition of THIRD WHEEL which like others was new for me – I wonder if it is an Americanism? LOI FARCEUR which I suspect has not been used for centuries even to describe recent individuals in the political spotlight

6. Almost got stuffed by FARCEUR and depressed by MOPED and tried to get Steve Ovett into OVERTURE, but none of that proved any thematic impediment to my enjoyment of a great puzzle. Thanks, both.

7. Well, with Coe coming up in the Guardian, why wouldn’t you?

8. As Wordplodder@3 says, not quite as hard as yesterday’s Leonidas in the FT by the same setter, but still challenging enough and fun at the same time. We got all the answers, but couldn’t parse some of them (e.g. HYDRATE) and needed to confirm a few guesses in Chambers. We liked GREEN BELT (after we’d checked ‘dojo’ in Chambers) and MARSHAL. We weren’t sure if everyone’s GK includes the boroughs of New York, and found 7ac slightly odd in that although the blunder is usually spelt ‘gaffe’ Chambers gives an alternative without the final E. No matter, it was a satisfying solve.
   Thanks, Wire and Quirister.

9. allan_c @8…but the “accommodation” is the definition therefore the GAFF not GAFFE. “Fancy coming round to my gaff?”. All shameful Carry On innuendos intended. Or is that not what you mean?

10. Salad@9: What I meant was that since the blunder can also be spelt GAFF it can be seen as a homonym rather than a homophone. But as the blunder is usually spelt with the final E there’s no real problem with the clue indicating a homophone.

11. I found this very difficult to get started and got stuck with only half completed. I then watched some Star Trek, which cleared my head. I also noticed I’d entered an answer wrong. Got everything except PHAT, which I only knew to mean sexy. And there were several I couldn’t parse.

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