Comments on: Inquisitor 77 ONE TOO MANY by Raich

By: Raich

Raich — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 10:02:36 +0000

Thanks to all.

Re the “urban myth” issue, I’d been aware of Kennedy’s error for some years. I also knew the distinction from learning German though I’m not a fluent speaker. When checking it all out before embarking on the puzzle, I, like Hihoba, came across an “urban myth” reference on the Internet.

I decided then to approach a professional German translator of my acquaintance who has spent much time in Germany and I specifically mentioned the “urban myth” reference. The translator confirmed that all the material used in the puzzle is quite correct so I went ahead with it. The translator also said a Berliner is a doughnut with no hole in the middle.

BTW, the speech itself can be seen in a 4-minute clip on YouTube and is worth a look.

By: Andy Stewart

Andy Stewart — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 18:07:22 +0000

I thought this a nice puzzle, with a slightly unusual theme. It was on the easy side, so I filled the grid in an hour, and it only took about 5 minutes to spot the quotation and speaker, since I was very familiar with Kennedy’s error, but there’s always a place for thematic puzzles at the easier end of the spectrum. I have to confess that the double meaning of the title escaped me until I read this blog and the comments.
I may be wrong, but I thought a Berliner was a cream bun, not exacly a doughnut.

By: Hypnos

Hypnos — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:22:17 +0000

An impressive debut in the IQ slot. Enjoyable to solve with some neat cluing and I thought the “one too many” theme was deftly handled. I didn’t know how the insertion of ein apparently changed the meaning so it was pleasing to learn something new.

By: Jim T

Jim T — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:08:29 +0000

I enjoyed this and thought the ‘one too many’ clues fitted nicely
with the theme.

My daughter works as a translator at the British Embassy in Berlin.
She says the phrase does literally mean ‘I am a doughnut.

By: Mick h

Mick h — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:56:01 +0000

Well, without getting into an editing war on Wikipedia, I’m not convinced by the line that this is an ‘urban myth’. From my understanding of German, the ‘ein’ does make a difference, and he should have said “Ich bin Berliner”. I certainly heard the doughnut story from Berliners (people, not doughnuts!) when I lived in Berlin in the early 1980s. Tom Robinson included it in the chorus of a song in German (Tango an der Wand, co-written with Horst Königstein) which I saw him perform at a gig in Berlin, and it certainly went down well there, though that doesn’t prove anything.
Anyway, I enjoyed this. I thought the clues were good, and while you could crack the theme backwards by finding ‘Berliner’, the phrase made it easier to know what you were looking for.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:54:45 +0000

> Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech was made nearly 25 years ago.

Make that 45 years (26 June, 1963).