Phi has always stumped me, actually I think this is about the furthest I've gotten on a Phi puzzle, but I read the preamble, looked at the title and the date, and I thought this was going to be an absolute cakewalk.
Halloween is the main reason for anyone to live in the US, and I was hoping for a Halloween themed crossword either October 25 or November 1. And this looked like it - interruptions to the programme, the timing, this has got to be Orson Welles radio verson of H.G. Wells' "The War of The Worlds", and the modification is probably adding an E or subtracting an E. And there's the right number of characters in 11, 17, and 29 for "The War Of The Worlds" (maybe broken up or jumbled, since it says "broadcast" in the preamble). And a clue even jumped out at me - 38 is DOSE, and leave the E off and it will cross with 24 down, ASSO(R)TS, 33 down VET,O and that D is in the title of "The War of the Worlds".
So what went wrong...
I just have to get better at Phi/Sabre/Dipper/Mr Lemon wordplay... I can't wrap my head around a certain style of clue and this appears to be it. I can't for the life of me solve any of the "snippets" even once I've gotten a few checking letters (it just occurred to me that maybe the snippets are jumbles and meant to be entered so?).
Even with the few I've put in the grid here I'm not overly happy with AFFLICTS or FOLIO.
So Fie on you Phi! I'm hoping that I'm barking up completely the wrong tree, but I just have this sinking feeling I've worked out the theme and the clues have just left me in the dust. Victory to the Listener Crossword and the battle is tied!
Current tally: Listener 21, George 21. Current streak, Listener 2
Since I understand Phi is in New Zealand, let's see if we can spot him in a video clip from New Zealand's greatest band ever, Split Enz.
2 comments:
AAAARGH!!!! Just read the solution - doofus! I completely misinterpreted the snippets part, I was thinking the grid entry was just the word and the interrupting message had to be removed, so I was looking for an 11-letter sequence leading to a 8-letter word in 4. Kick self in head.
This sequence of New Zealand victorious over Australia had better stop tonight!
These things are hellish if you miss something aren't they. I managed to get the snippets fairly early on and twigged the them pretty quickly as a result. Of course Wikipedia always helps on anniversaries!
I didn't get the anagram of fort/watershed/howl though - and put post instead of fort. However (since my standards are lower than yours) I claim that one as a moral victory!
Post a Comment