Comments on: Inquisitor 151 – Drop by Schadenfreude

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:28:16 +0000

Yes, of course, that’s right, HolyGhost, thanks, looking further back at my notes, I see AGITATE (AGITATI), misprint I, correct letter E.

By: HolyGhost

HolyGhost — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 13:44:33 +0000

On Duncan's comment (5): his explanation of ROSEWOOD is exactly what I meant in my comment (3); and his remark on 21d is fine - the answer is AGITATE (=excite) but the entry is indeed AGITATI, with the E misprinted, so no requirement to be a word in Chambers or otherwise.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:34:35 +0000

Yes, Duncan, that explains it re ROSEWOOD, thanks , I just knew Schadenfreude would be right! Looking back at the puzzle, I do indeed have AGITATI!

By: Duncan Shiell

Duncan Shiell — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:27:15 +0000

I thought this was a wonderful puzzle. For me the penny dropped when I had enough of the misprinted letters for me to deduce the message.

I would go for ROSEWOOD as the answer to 32a as it is ROSEWOOD that is the ‘timber’ of the definition.

On 21d, I have yet another version which is AGITATI A/GIT (fool)/AT/I (Italy). I can’t see how it can be AGITATE or ANIMATE as the final E doesn’t fit with the I of VIETNAMESE at 37 across. Admittiedly, I can’t find AGITATI in Chambers, SOED or Collins, but Wiktionary has it as a plural of AGITATO. I wouldn’t normally use Wiktionary as a reference, but it’ll do for me this time.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:33:24 +0000

I looked ROSEWOOD up in the dict at the time and could not find the reference so maybe I’m missing the point entirely here. All Schadenfreude’s clues are always so excellent and precise and fully verifiable in Chambers.

By: HolyGhost

HolyGhost — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:22:54 +0000

Regarding comment 2, the answer at 32a is surely ROSEWOOD, not WOODROSE.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:06:41 +0000

This was, I thought, a brilliant crossword, incredible feat of construction. Like you, Peter, I found it very hard. The penny “dropped” with the AIR of IMPAIRMENT. To find 10 options either side of ‘drop’ and find words for them and fit all that in the grid, just amazing. I too had AGITATE, having first thought of ANIMATE. The only clue I was not sure about though it had one of the easiest answers “timber increased in price” was WOODROSE where the wood = furious, you’ve explained, thanks, I did not see that in Chambers, I was looking for woodrose = furious.

Thanks, Schadenfreude, for a wonderful puzzle.

By: HolyGhost

HolyGhost — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:48:49 +0000

Disagreement at 21d: I have this as AGITATE, with GIT = fool. (Neither the G nor the T is cross-checked.)

And I thought that PB might have recalled “tâtonnement process” from his endergraduate economics …