Comments on: Inquisitor 115 – In Memoriam by Schadenfreude

By: Peter Biddlecombe

Peter Biddlecombe — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:56:51 +0000

Franck: you’ll wish you never asked (“we didn’t”, they cry). Born in Liège in 1822. Liège was originally French but given to the Dutch (Kingdom of the Netherlands) in 1815. Then Belgium was created in 1831. Other facts as above.

By: HolyGhost

HolyGhost — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:40:27 +0000

I, too, have a problem with FRANCK at 22d. I assumed that although FRA is “brother or friar” this is what the setter had in mind for “Father”. Also, Franck was born in Liege (of seemingly Germanic parents), so some sources have him as Belgian, not French (although he did spend most of his working life in Paris, according to Grove).

By: George Hill

George Hill — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 08:48:31 +0000

Unlike you, Pete, PAVONE gave me the number 1 almost at the start, so the number clues were quite straightforward. The rest of the “weasel” quote and “The Dwarfs” (which I hadn’t heard of) were unashamedly Wiki’d, and the BORN and DIED didn’t dawn until almost the end!
In 22D I thought that It must be FR + (k)N(ew + CK, and the A was from “A French . . .). Certainly Fra does not stand for Father in my dictionary – brother or friar only. I couldn’t see why the A had migrated towards the front though!
I found the aris clue highly entertaining (if a little rude!) and struggled for a long time with LOVERS until I spotted the removal of the E from ONE to give ON.
Entertaining fun.

By: Peter Biddlecombe

Peter Biddlecombe — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 08:12:38 +0000

Thanks Ken. CAN sounds like a new meaning to me, but I should have spotted Al.

By: Duncan Shiell

Duncan Shiell — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 08:10:59 +0000

In 20d the O is an abbreviation of ‘of’. ‘Once’ refers to the obsolete meaning of ‘net’ as pure’

For 22d, I also had a query against the clue, but felt that ‘fra’ = brother or friar was probably referring to ‘father’. The K has to come from ‘knew’ to give the NCK at the end. It wouldn’t be the Inquisitor these days if we didn’t have something to query.

Interesting to see ELO appearing again, as it was a thematic feature of an Inquisitor not so long ago – Inquisitor 103, where both the Elo ratings and Electric Light Orchestra were highlighted.

Overall, I enjoyed the puzzle. Like you, I didn’t know all the plays or the ‘weasel’ quotation but it was an interesting bit of research to track it all down.

By: Ken MacKenzie

Ken MacKenzie — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 22:34:02 +0000

21a CAN=buttocks=aris=aristotle=bottle=bottle-and-glass=arse
36a c(oloured) AL(=boy’s name)