Comments on: Inquisitor 11 – A novel approach by Lato

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nmsindy — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:19:20 +0000

Not got the puzzle with me, but, I think, as often, I’ve missed the last step – these can be tricky with LATO, while always justifiable. I’d found SATIRE in (from memory) I2 to J4, but your explanation sounds more convincing.

I was helped by the fact that I knew the book – took about 3 hours to solve but I used Bradford’s and, at the very end, all that’s on the Internet with TEA used for Llanwith.

As a regular Listener solver, I think this series remains easier than the Listener, though harder than when it started.

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petebiddlecombe — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:34:18 +0000

I don't think there's any intentional change in difficulty with the change of name, but there was debate about this elsewhere a few weeks ago. Some setters recalled that in the early days of the weekend puzzle, it was 'house policy' to be easier than the Listener. Mike Laws, the current editor of the series, doesn't think the Inquisitor puzzle has a duty to be easy, but Phi and Duck said they would normally send easier puzzles to Mike than to the Listener editors. For me, Phi's Inquisitor 12 was the easiest since the change of name. For what it's worth, I've finished all 12 Inquisitors so far, correctly as far as I know. I don't think I've ever finished 12 Listeners on the trot. The debate can be seen here.

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Sofa King Glasgow — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:04:41 +0000

For me the new Inquisitors are set at a level just a bit too hard. I regularly finished the old Weekend Crossword series with the odd exception and really enjoyed them for their brilliant thematic content and level of difficulty just above the standard cryptics.
The Inquisitors for me are too ‘Listenerish’ where I can barely comprehend the preambles never mind solve the damn things.
Anyone else feel the same way?