Comments on: Guardian 24,350 - Brendan

By: Colin Blackburn

Colin Blackburn — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 08:18:14 +0000

17d I think it’s YRU written upwards rather than simply jumbled.

Radchenko, the central answer is often the key for this type of Brendan/Virgilius thematic. It’s always worth checking if that answer has a cryptic meaning.

By: radchenko

radchenko — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:33:50 +0000

I know that it is a Brendan, so you’d reasonably expect a theme; there is a broad hint so there really must be a theme…

But I complete the crossword and still can’t get it, until it is pointed out on here. It is so clever, and so elaborate, yet I am still disappointed that I didn’t see it.

Ah well…

By: beermagnet

beermagnet — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:29:39 +0000

6A GEN is information

I’m beginning to think I can never see these hidden things, damn it. I spent ages looking at the completed (bar 2) grid trying to see “relations” such as Sis Bruv etc. somewhere hoping it would help with the missing pair - which it would have for one if I’d seen it.

By: manehi

manehi — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:49:06 +0000

Mick, I noticed the theme as soon as I filled out the paper version - I guess I was editing while you commented. But how did you get the GEN part of 6a’s wordplay?
Will edit 2d as well.

By: Mick H

Mick H — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:34:35 +0000

There’s actually a delightful hidden theme here - INSIDE STORY is seen in the other rows if you read across between each of the pairs of across clues - LEGEND in the first, and so on.
I had marked out GENDER as a possible thematic clue, seeing only the wordplay - GEN, DER - and not the definition. In fact it’s a cryptic def+lit.

By: nabokov1

nabokov1 — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:23:25 +0000

Gloria is a sung part of the Catholic Mass.