Comments on: Inquisitor 116 — Well Chuffed by Salamander

By: rayfolwell

rayfolwell — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:22:40 +0000

Very enjoyable puzzle. Having read the rubric, my first thought for 43/1A was FLYING SCOTSMAN.
Must get to travel the line again, although it does seem safe from closure now.

By: Peter Biddlecombe

Peter Biddlecombe — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:23:32 +0000

Enjoyed this though never quite got round to finishing the last two or three in the NW corner. As a southerner who’s not been north of Manchester for ages, working out Dent and Blea Moor Tunnel were a good challenge. I’d encountered the rest before, except Lenwade.
Preamble was fairly obvious, though I pondered BLUEBELL as a possibility for 1A for a while.

By: HolyGhost

HolyGhost — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 10:31:23 +0000

Unfortunately (for me), I glanced at the title, read the rubric, and about 5 minutes into a walk pencilled in the first two entries – SETTLE and CARLISLE.

By: Colin Blackburn

Colin Blackburn — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 10:22:43 +0000

Thanks for commenting, Salamander. One thought I had was whether you considered having a fully unchecked letter or two at some point in the TUNNEL. This would have demonstrated that the solver had found the path. (Similar to, your almost namesake, Salamanca’s current puzzle in the EV series.)

By: Salamander

Salamander — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 10:06:25 +0000

Thanks to Colin and Duncan – glad you enjoyed it.

I’m certainly not that sort of runner, but did find P-Y-G (via the nose) and I’borough (from Gaping Ghyll) “steep” enough last time I did them! (And Wainwright regarded them as honorary mountains, I believe.) Colin’s right, though: the grid had one too many clued entries to allow the messages, so STEEP was a bit of a cop-out; please forgive….

Hoping to take the Settle-Carlisle line again this summer – it’s a marvellous experience.

Regards to all bloggers.

By: Duncan Shiell

Duncan Shiell — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 08:34:20 +0000

As you say, an enjoyable romp from Settle to Carlisle. The cluing was of a high standard and the depiction of the line including the tunnel was clever.

I share your concerns about STEEP as a descriptor for Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent. I considered STEEM, an archaic spelling of steam, as another possibility given that the line presumably started life as a steam railway. In the end I plumped for STEEP.

It is very many years since I walked over three peaks in the area. It would be good to walk it again some time.