Comments on: Inquisitor 1115 – Vanishing Scream by Dysart

By: HolyGhost

HolyGhost — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:03:00 +0000

Very well judged grid construction from Dysart. I liked the way the two completions were contiguous with BONNET- and BILLIARD-, and in particular that a single letter-change not only performed these completions but simultaneously zapped the very character that disappeared in the poem. That this also allowed BOOJUM to be discovered was the icing on the cake. (I felt that filling the empty square with J was an unnecessary flourish, but would obviously have been a help to less experienced solvers – given the problems many had with Dysart’s Inquisitor 148, maybe it was playing safe.)

I’ll keep my view of using “Mr.Bean” at 20d to myself.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:23:16 +0000

I enjoyed this puzzle and was particularly pleased to solve it as my prior knowledge of the work was precisely nil, though I had heard of the title. I also found that it was not particularly difficult. Carroll gave the theme to me and Wikipedia helped with the rest. For once, I found the last step very quickly.

Re ODQs, they publish new editions at fairly widely-spaced intervals so I think it’s always worth getting when a new one appears. From a setter’s point of view, it is I think better to avoid quotes that are not in the latest edition even if they were in earlier ones. As a frequenter of bookshops (new and secondhand) and book fairs, I’ve picked up every edition back to the 2nd over the years.

By: Mike Laws

Mike Laws — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 02:50:28 +0000

Jake

For 1p + p&p ODQ2 is the one to go for. It was the last with a proper index, and a perfect standby for traditional quotations. Recent editions contain wonderful new quotations, so are worth acquiring for them, but the indexes have become woefully inadequate, so beware!

By: Jake

Jake — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:22:29 +0000

Peter,

Thanks for the info on ODQ, I’ve seen earlier editions on amazon uk for a penny! excl p&p that is.

Its been a real help.

By: petebiddlecombe

petebiddlecombe — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:13:56 +0000

Jake: The ODQ is worth having, but the index doesn't cover all the possibilities (it couldn't unless the book was about a foot thick), so look-ups of Butcher, Baker and Beaver in my 2004 6th edition all failed to find the Snark. If you spotted the Boojum and looked him up you'd find some quotes from it, but only the Snark, Bellman and Boojum are mentioned (and by then you'd probably have finished the puzzle anyway!). On the other hand, if you Google for Butcher Baker Beaver, the poem is in the first page of hits, and then the Wiki article has a link to the whole thing on-line. Other times, the ODQ will doubtless be a bigger help. The latest (7th) edition is best, but if you need to save some pennies and can pick up an earlier edition cheaply, many of the quotes used in puzzles will have been in the last few editions - I have no plans to replace the 6th with the 7th.

By: petebiddlecombe

petebiddlecombe — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:57:34 +0000

Sorry Mike – forgot to look up PRAJNA, which is sloppy on my part, and “nicely-judged” was rather faint praise.

By: Hi of Hihoba

Hi of Hihoba — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:22:14 +0000

Minor point about 25A – ait is a Scots form of oat, hence Islay’s. I’m not over-keen on definitions that are this far removed from the original!

I didn’t spot the theme for a long time, and still had a lot of difficulty with this one. Ba on the other hand solved it in double quick time!

By: Jake

Jake — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:28:11 +0000

Thanks for the blog on this Pete, I’m glad to say I managed a good handful of across clues, and one down clue! Thanks to Mike’s tips (thanks once again)!
I found this a lot more my thing, on difficulty level – rather than Loda’s 1114 puzzle.

Starting off with the 3 anagrams, the hidden one and the Italian river gave me some confidence for this puzzle.

With 1dn – BUBA I guessed (still not fully understanding the entire cluing) however, I seem to remember BUBA being used in an Azed as an American boy clue not too long back, so I fell lucky on that clue.

I’m (even though struggling still – being new), rather enjoyed what I managed.

As far as working out the Lewis Carroll theme with characters of the poem I think I would’ve missed that one, from not knowing the poem.

Is this a case of me purchasing ‘the Oxford dictionary of Quotations’?
If so, I take it that the latest version is best?, or do they all differ. Meaning that with each up date that some quotes are dropped and replaced, or are they all there and just new ones added!

By: Mike Laws

Mike Laws — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:13:19 +0000

PRAJNA isn’t a nonsense word – see Chambers:

(in Buddhism) understanding of the truth achieved directly rather than through reasoning. [Sans]

Nicely-judged? Superbly-judged, I’d say. And I was able to solve it all in the pub using the Chambers (1998) that lives there, apart from final confirmations via a fellow-regular’s mobile gadget. He also found pictures of all the B-characters.