Independent Prize Puzzle 8758 / Tees – 08/11/14

10 comments on “Independent Prize Puzzle 8758 / Tees – 08/11/14”

1. Yes, an enjoyable puzzle. Tug stood out from the start as looking like it was going to be a gem, but although it was one of those where as soon as you see it you know it’s right I thought it was slightly let down in that there didn’t seem to be any connection anywhere else in the crossword to Pisa or something else that would give it context.

   I was delayed for a while trying to parse POLYGRAM for 11 across – I’d almost made it work before 5D became too glaringly obvious to ignore any more.

   Thanks for explaining the VI in 23 down – that had been niggling at me.

2. Like Joyce, the majority of my Latin knowledge comes from crosswords as I was in the German O and A Level groups.

   A splendid crossword, thank you Tees, the highlight of which has to be the d’oh moment that was 24a.

   Thanks to B&J too

3. Thank you to setter and bloggers,

   A good challenge without being too difficult though 3d and 13d were new to me. I was going to complain about the definition for 11 (Global) being incomplete, thinking of ‘pandemic’ as a noun, but see now that it can be used as an adjective. Yes, 24 was fun – I also couldn’t find any other references to the obvious related structure.

   A pleasant way to finish the crosswording week.

4. Thoroughly enjoyed this crossword – a huge thank you to the setter. And to the bloggers, without whom I wouldn’t have been able to parse three words at all.

   I got THE LEANING TOWER purely on guesswork through the crosses but simply couldn’t parse it beyond tug=tower. I do the crossword on an Android app, and nuances like the clue being in italics simply don’t show up! 🙁

5. Thanks B&J for a great blog, and to all who commented.

   16dn is supposed to work as ‘mining X (the hidden fodder) to offer Y (the answer)’, which is pretty much as you have it anyway, but I was hoping to get the whole thing to work across the phrase. Erm, well there it is.

   Thanks indeed!
   Tees.

6. For once, Beth (my PinC) and I did this Indy prize puzzle on the day itself – and I can’t say how much we enjoyed it!

   Despite Abhay’s minor objections, I’d wish 24ac will, at one point, enter the Guinness Book of Ultimate Crossword Clues.
   What a gem!

   Tees in less than devious mood, Tees also in a more than …. [fill in yourself!] mood.
   A puzzle that deserves a lot more comments than the six so far.

   Thanks as ever to B&J (&T).

7. B & J –
   You wondered about the choice of ethnicity in 4ac. The Yazidis are those poor people who were surrounded by ‘Isis’ on Mount Sinjar – some 6,000 remain there, cold and exposed, and are still surrounded. Of the majority who escaped to be refugees in northern Kurdistan, most are in freezing conditions. Thus the “choice of ethnicity” is clear and the clue speaks volumes!

8. ….is there a better ethnic group to be described as “out in the cold”?

9. Thanks William – hopefully you will come back to the blog. We have only just returned home after havi g a week away with very limited access to wi-fi.

   Your explanations at 7and 8 make a lot of sense.

   Also, about the number of lurkers you mentioned on an earlier blog of ours – do your two comments count as one and did we count as 2 lurkers or one before we started commenting?

10. Hi guys –
    I’m glad you saw my post. I knew you were away so made a point to check back later. I hope you had a lovely time (you doubtless needed/deserved a break after your worries with Joyce’s ma and pa, whom I trust are comfortable). In any case, it’s good – and important – to get away from the unceasing clawing of the internet’s many façades. And I’m no technophobe!
    As for lurking, though I hardly know you, I reckon I’m safe in presuming that isn’t your style. And, like me, you’d probably give yourselves away somehow! (By ‘lurkers’, I really meant non-posters. I wanted to remind you that your kind efforts were probably being appreciated by more than several, but secretly!)

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