Comments on: Inquisitor 133 – ODDS AND ENDS by Tipster

By: erwinh

erwinh — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 10:57:34 +0000

I have quite a backlog of puzzles and have come to this a year late so probably will not get much of an audience but felt moved to comment. I used to consider the IQ the poor relation to The Listener and EV but I have come across some cracking puzzles recently.

Here, I especially liked the way that the theme remained so elusive and the penny did not drop until the very end. I admit that I entered a final 6 into the odds without a second thought my take being that the generally quoted (inaccurate) figure is 14 million to 1. While it was good to see the correction, to go on about it is just the ugly side of pedantry.

The two clues that qadzbork questioned were:

2dn Endless nonsense over – its not allowed in pubs (3) fug – GUF(F) (rev) not fag GAF(F) (rev)

27ac Always failing to finish riddle? Never! (4, two words) as if – A[Y] + SIF(T) not A(Y) + SIF[T]

All letters in 2dn were checked and the message: WHAT WOULD TO U DO does not mean anything to me so as Rosemary says (#15) to complain about them is absurd.

Finally, shortly after completing this puzzle I dreamt that I had won 11 million on the Lottery. I took this as an omen and bought a ticket only to be reminded of why I hate all gambling!

By: Mike Laws

Mike Laws — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 02:16:23 +0000

Sarcasm rules OK? Even about Gaufrid (with a capital)?

qadzbork, you sound like Al Streatfield – do really want to share his “reputation”?

Oh, and do learn to spell “idiosyncrasy”.

By: IanN14

IanN14 — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 19:19:33 +0000

Yeah, but qadzbork,
Don’t you think your submission will count?
I would hope it will.

By: qadzbork

qadzbork — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 18:26:56 +0000

Comment #10: Ian, having sweated sweat to solve the thing and submitted it to the paper, to find that all this had been pointless due to, let’s call it the idiosyncracy of the setter (so as not to upset gaufrid), took all the pleasure out of solving it.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 16:45:11 +0000

“Does Laws think that even money is one chance in one?” The difference between 13983816 to 1 and 13983815 to 1 is however somewhat smaller…

Great first blog from HolyGhost, thanks to him for that.

By: Rosemary

Rosemary — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 14:17:30 +0000

Speaking only as a solver, not a setter, I would also take exception to qadzbork’s third criticism:
“The wording of the clue at 27A could lead to either the “T” or “Y” being extraneous.”

This is why it’s called a puzzle: the clues and the string you get from the extraneous letters are just two of the aspects that add up to a complete solution. If you want straightforward puzzles you will have to look elsewhere.

By: qadzbork

qadzbork — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:18:49 +0000

…aye, and what will the prize solution be..?

By: kenmac

kenmac — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:42:04 +0000

OK. Having started this debate I feel obliged to butt in again. I didn’t just Google it, I went to the (occasionally questionable) fount of all knowledge, Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Lottery_%28United_Kingdom%29 where, if you do a find on “odds” you’ll find the “5″ version. Since the puzzle was entitled “Odds and Ends” this implies that we were looking for the odds. Hopefully the published solution will contain a disclaimer explaining the ambiguity or, in the light of new evidence, will the editor disallow “6″ versions?

By: Gaufrid

Gaufrid — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:17:24 +0000

qadzbork
Sorry, my error, this was your third comment not the first (you have changed your email address which led to an incomplete search result). However, my observations still stand.

By: Gaufrid

Gaufrid — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:07:29 +0000

qadzbork
Welcome to 15². I’m sorry to say that your first comment at this site seems rather negative though I am not doubting the validity of your feelings.

I cannot comment on your observations #1 & 3 because I have not seen the clues, and #2 has already been covered. However, I would say that your comment #4 is unacceptable. In my opinion it is in breach of the site’s discussion policy with respect to ‘insulting comments’.

As this is the first comment you have posted, I have not simply removed the offending text but I would ask that you show a little more respect for setters, and other participants at this site, in the future.