Rookie Corner 379

52 comments on “Rookie Corner 379”

1. Thanks Fez, and congratulations. You must have done something right, for I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish this, and it cheered me up after the disappointment of the penalty shootout! Hopefully I’ll comment further during the day on Monday…In the meantime, special mention to 20a and the wonderful surface of 2d. I haven’t yet fully parsed 22d, though what I have parsed of it is very nice indeed. Well done Fez!

   1. Thanks Conto, glad you enjoyed it – comments here have cheered me up this morning too!

2. Lots of ticks on our pages after a very enjoyable solve.
   We’ll leave the technical comments to others but suspect that they won’t find much to complain about.
   Thanks and well done Fez.

   1. Thanks 2Kiwis, much appreciated

3. Fez, like your first some head scratching required but, as I commented then, this is the third cryptic of my Sunday evening so it might just be ‘brain fade’ on my part.

   It was also one of those puzzles where it was fits and starts – several times I nearly put it to one side but another two or three clues ‘fell’ and so I carried on until it was complete.

   One, for me obvious, comment – I don’t think that UP in 18a is a valid anagram indicator. Chambers Crossword Dictionary only shows it as a reversal indicator.

   29a was a standout clue for me.

   Thanks Fez and thanks in advance to Prolixic.

   1. I think that UP (in the sense of ‘in an excited state’) works as an anagram indicator though Chris Lancaster doesn’t allow it (except when it’s used by Elgar).

      1. I’d second that, it is often seen in Indy puzzles.

         1. Speaking of which, there is a really excellent puzzle in the Indy today!

   2. Thanks Senf – hope the head-scratching wasn’t too painful… I’m glad you found enough in the puzzle to warrant persevering. I’m guessing ‘up’ as an anagram indicator may have been discussed here previously – I’m going with the “(nearly) everyone else is doing it so why not me!?” excuse. Thanks again!

4. I thought that this was great – many thanks to Fez.
   I have loads of ticks on my printout, including 10a, 20a and 23d but my favourite, for the excellent surface, was 2d.

   1. Many thanks Gazza, especially for “loads of ticks”!

5. A fun puzzle with some excellent misdirection and many strong surfaces (I’ve just re-read the Oprah one!). And I loved 22d.
   Well done Fez!

   1. Thanks Encota, really glad you enjoyed it. I hoped 22d might be popular with ‘setters’.

6. Welcome back, Fez.

   Whilst your previous puzzle had many good points, this one was considerably better in my opinion and I thoroughly enjoyed solving it. The surfaces read well, although I would still suggest aiming for slightly less wordy clues in future, not only is it good discipline for a setter but it also should make the clues even smoother.

   Top clues for me were 2d (two ticks, I loved the “hard going” construction) plus 29a, 5d and 7d. “Some” was repeated as a lurker indicator, possibly a device that was overused, and I will be interested as to Prolixic’s take on the fairness of 6d, as the solver is effectively being asked to rearrange two letters from a word not previously mentioned in the clue.

   A very strong second puzzle, Fez, you deserve to be congratulated and you should be proud of what you have created. Many thanks.

   1. Many thanks Silvanus. I’ll try for less wordy clues in future.
      I should’ve spotted “some” being used twice (not sure how I missed “to some extent” and “some” being essentially the same … “to an extent” would have been a simple fix too – d’oh!)
      I agree there’s probably at least one lurker too many – actually, yet another was edited out relatively late as a result – but as there are quite a lot of clues (36) I thought I might just about get away with it, especially as there’s a mix of regular and reversed lurkers.
      Thanks again!

7. Very impressive Fez. Lots of creativity and wicked misdirections. Big ticks for 29a & 32a.
   Excellent wordplay for 2d but the definition means nothing to me – is there something I should have watched?
   A couple of very minors:
   I think 25a would have been punctuated better as “Benidorm area’s in recession. To some extent it pushes down charges”
   22a Does “for” give an instruction to “turnaround”? Perhaps, but I’m not sure.
   And in some cases I thought the definitions, albeit very clever, were so borderline “fuzzy” that fairness was called into question. But that is probably just me as it set the level beyond my ability. Better solvers than I seem happy enough!! And like I say, I am very impressed overall and there is plenty for me to learn from here. Really well done!

   1. DD, in 22a, isn’t “for” simply the operator telling you what word needs to be turned around?

      1. You’re quite probably right RD, but it suggests to me more the result of turning around whatever needs turning. Using “of” would be an instruction but the surface wouldn’t work. In fairness it is not like the setter can’t parse it, so perhaps it doesn’t matter – it was more a question than a criticism.

   2. Thanks Dr Diva, much appreciated.
      The 2d definition refers to a very well-known show (which is often highly recommended, but I’ll confess I’ve never actually watched!), I thought well enough known to be fair game. I’m not always sure with punctuation – 17d another example where I probably could have improved this.
      Thanks again!

8. That was absolutely excellent, Fez, and I can do no better than echo Silvanus’ comments @6 above. He has written my thoughts exactly but more eloquently than I could manage.

   Very well done and thank you for a fun challenge. More like this please!

   1. Thanks Rabbit Dave, glad you enjoyed it – I’ve addressed some of silvanus’ points above. Hopefully the next Fez will continue the upward trend … we’ll see!

9. Hi all, many thanks for the kind (and constructive) comments – all very much appreciated; hopefully I’ll get a chance to respond to individual comments later.

   I’m delighted that quite a few clues have earned ticks. Oprah seems very popular: this clue was written around the time a certain possibly ‘wayward’ son had a high-profile meeting with Oprah – it’s been modified so as not to be out-of-date, but originally included “Harry” as an anagram indicator.

   Huge thanks to Big Dave for the opportunity (and for his patience as I submitted revisions!), to my anonymous test-solver for their invaluable comments and advice, and of course in advance to Prolixic. And also thanks to all the Rookie Corner setters and solvers, it’s a fabulous community and I’ve learned (and am continuing to learn) a massive amount. I’ll try to cut down the word-count next time!

   PS… there is a subtle, perhaps slightly self-indulgent, ‘mini-theme’ here (arguably not one I’ve fully realised) – mainly used just to get me started on a grid. Not something I’d expect many (if any) to spot – a prize to anyone who does!*

   (*Note: May not actually be a prize)

   1. No chance for me where the mini-theme is concerned but I’d dearly like to know more about your choice of avatar.

      1. Well, with your comments below (re being “kinder to solvers”, and also picking out the non-Spoonerism) I think you’ve got closer than anyone to the self-indulgent theme … and also its imperfect realisation.

         The avatar is the cover of my favourite album, with colouring adjusted appropriately for a Fez. The Fiery Furnaces are someting of an acquired taste – many, like me, absolutely love them; many more, unfortunately, and quite wrongly, regard their work as pretentious unlistenable nonsense.

         1. I have now tried it, Fez, courtesy of YouTube but regret to say that I fall into the latter group. Maybe it’s an ‘age thing’?!!

            1. Perhaps, I don’t expect to win over any converts, but they do have their more ‘accessible’ moments too (Benton Harbor Blues, Lost at Sea, Evergreen… and also much of Eleanor Friedberger’s solo stuff) … OK I think that’s enough wandering off-topic, sorry!

10. Wonderful puzzle with lots to like. I will leave the feedback to other, more experienced, members of the blog but I did want to say how much I enjoyed it.

    Many thanks, Fez.

    1. Thanks Steve, glad you enjoyed it

11. Welcome back, Fez, I was wondering what had become of you. No electronic assistance required this time which would suggest that you’ve been a little kinder to solvers as I doubt that my solving expertise has improved since March! I would dearly love you to cut down on the wordiness next time, perhaps that’s something that your anonymous test solver could help you to achieve?
    Not inclined to play favourites, so many good clues, but I have to give you a round of applause for producing a Spoonerism that wasn’t!
    Well done, Fez, you’re definitely heading in the right direction.

    1. Thanks Jane, I knew wordiness would be an issue … I will try to rein back on this in future (though won’t avoid completely!) so hopefully you’ll enjoy the next one more

12. Add me to the throng of appreciative comments. Enjoyed it a lot. Like others 2d was my pick of many fine clues for the terrific surface read. Plenty of big ticks – 10,12,20,29&32a plus 5,6,7,13,22&24d.
    Well done & roll on the next one.
    Thanks Fez

    1. Many thanks Huntsman, pleased you found so many to tick! Hopefully the next one won’t disappoint, I will try my best.

13. I’ve not read anyone else’s comments so I may well repeat what’s already been said. Anyway, I enjoyed solving this and thought there were some very neat touches. I particularly liked 9, 29 and 31 across, 23 down and the linked 17 & 19 down. On the other hand there were a few clues which didn’t quite gel for me although the answers were fairly plain – 11 across and 24 down for example. I’ll leave detailed comment to Prolixic, though.
    Thanks, Fez, and in advance to Prolixic.

    1. Thanks Exit, glad you found a few to like … I’ll look to improve next time round!

14. Great puzzle, many thanks, Fez, We still need Prolixic’s help to parse a couple but we really enjoyed the challenge. Favourites were 32a, 6d and 31a. We look forward to your next puzzle.

    1. Thanks Hilton, glad you enjoyed it – hopefully Prolixic’s wise words will raise a ‘d’oh’ rather than a ‘hmm’!

15. I’m guessing no-one has spotted the mini-theme; in case anyone is interested, a nudge: when BD mentioned 12th July as probable publication date, I had high hopes for the puzzle as it seemed a good omen – I’m not usually at all superstitious, but purely by chance, today would have been the thematic person’s 204th birthday.

    1. (Actually, having just typed that … perhaps BD deliberately scheduled it that way, I did think it was a couple of weeks early looking at the usual newbies/returners cycle – in which case, many thanks!)

16. Review will be posted later today. We had a belated church staff team Christmas party last night though I think we should have invited Noah along as well given the rain.

17. A challenging grid and satisfying to complete, with some excellent clues. I admire anyone who can compile a full grid with a healthy mixture of clue types and who then dares to put their head above the parapet!

    There were some very enjoyable clues, but some where I just had to accept the answer I’d bunged in and where the parsing only followed later (9a, 2d), partially (1d, 22d) or not at all (11a, 15a). Howver if I had to summarise the grid in one word I’m afraid it would be: verbose.

    Were the total number of words used reduced by at least 25% I felt the clues would have been more smoothly and precisely constructed, and less off-putting to read. While some clues had reasonable surfaces, too many were so contrived (eg to lose specific letters) and/or the punctuation so offputting, as to detract from what was nonetheless a good challenge.

    I still can’t make head nor tail of 15a, and really do dislike ‘up’ in 18a as an anagram indicator – I’m in the Chris Lancaster camp on that one! 8d only makes sense when a puzzle is published alongside your name – it couldn’t feature in a Times or DT backpager.

    My favourite clues were 14d (excellent deception), 26a and 31a (doubly so because it *wasn’t* a Spoonerism!)

    Very well done, and I look forward to your next grid.

    1. Thanks for your feedback Mustafa, glad you found some to like!

       I agree overall I need to be a little less wordy, but I do like a long clue every now and then – it gives an opportunity to tell a little story. I guess I need to cut down on these (but I’m sure I can’t be the only one who likes long clues!) Hopefully that would indeed improve the smoothness, and feel less contrived – I would argue, though, that they are all very “precisely constructed” (possible exception 7d, where the structure ‘[some words] clothing [definition]’ works but the actual form of the definition doesn’t fit neatly into a ‘literal’ reading of the clue … but I liked the surface so thought this was forgivable)

       Hopefully Prolixic’s review will clear up any parsing issues. 15a is perhaps a slightly unusual definition, but is taken verbatim from Chambers; I don’t think the wordplay is too tricky – an example, with a substitution of one letter for another, and an abbreviation – especially given there were no unches. I also quite enjoy an occasional ‘bung-in’ that then requires working out the parsing ‘backwards’ from solution to clue … but perhaps that is just me!

       Thanks again!

       1. I’m very much looking forward to Prolixic’s review in order to understand that parsing which so far eludes me – re 15a the answer was one of the first I pencilled in, being as you say the dictionary definition. However I do want to understand the roles played by the first 7 (or maybe even 8 if I’m wrong) words in the clue.

          We’ll have to agree to disagree about long clues – they’re one of my pet gripes about too many Times setters and occasionally of a particular DT Toughie setter. Silence may be golden, but for me the crossword equivalent is brevity!

          I do look forward to your next challenge, though, and my thanks once again.

          1. Thanks Mustafa – at least I’m in good company with Times and Toughie setters!

             I’ll cut down on the verbosity next time, though – your feedback is very much appreciated!

             Re 15a the detailed parsing is:
             SCO(T) (‘perhaps Nicola Sturgeon’ ie an example of a Scot)
             …with T (‘principally Thought’) replaced by (‘to be’) F (‘strong’, musically ‘with force’)
             Then add F (‘female’)
             Ellipsis intended to improve surface (or distract!)
             Linkword is ‘or’ ie [wordplay] ‘or’ [definition]
             Definition: object of derision (Chambers first sense, 3rd def)

             1. I found this an excellent puzzle and I parsed 15a exactly as you’ve explained – a cracking clue! The only thing I had to check was the answer as a noun, as I’ve only known it as a verb. But that’s my problem, not yours. Also, using up as an anagram indicator is fine in my book. Well done!

                1. Thanks Jose, glad you enjoyed it. I guess we’ll see Prolixic’s take soon enough!

             2. Thanks for that, Fez – I usually have no difficulty whatever with letter substitution clues but could not see this one for the life of me when trying to parse the first four letters of my answer, even knowing why I had the two Fs.

18. Many thanks for the review, Prolixic. I should think that Fez will be very happy with that analysis.

19. Many thanks for the review Prolixic, really pleased you liked it. Pressure is on now for next time!

    I thought the other dbl def (REASON) might have been the one picked up for being too similar – I guess I got away with one there. But
    for PENAL, the “of” is part of the definition, not a link word … so maybe that balances out :-)

    I thought “When considering order, chaos” would work as a def in a non-cryptic, but yes I was a bit unsure on this one. But anyway the repeated “some” was an unforgivable, err, rookie error so probably deserved a couple of commentometer points on its own.

    By now I may well be talking to myself, but anyway… the self-indulgent mini-theme was a response to my debut puzzle (Ladykillers) – I tried to take the advice of birthday boy H. D. THOREAU (start with THOR and keep reading down), b. 12th July 1807 – “Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify, simplify!” – see SW to NE diagonal. So… no obscurities, and a less pervasive theme – but with a good few long clues, this was imperfectly realised – as acknowledged by my “still getting mixed up”. Another clue alluded to a crossword having too many clues of the same type, and I’d previously commented that I didn’t do Spoonerisms (that may well change).

    Big thanks again to BD, Prolixic, a wonderful test solver, and all at Rookie Corner – hope to be back before too long!

20. Many thanks for the review Prolixic and well done Fez

21. Thanks for the review and to Fez – I’ve come late to this, but very enjoyable it was.

    1. Welcome to the blog

    2. Thanks Amoeba, glad you enjoyed it

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