Comments on: Inquisitor 1201: A Prime Example by Nutmeg

By: Wil Ransome

Wil Ransome — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:32:50 +0000

I was once talking to a solicitor and observing how often there were no commas in legal documents, and the reply was “yes, they’re very dangerous; they can be misinterpreted”. I still can’t understand this.

By: regalize

regalize — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 22:21:59 +0000

Will. Ah, yes, punctuation can matter. A telegraph sent from a CO to base asked for advice when a soldier was bitten by a rabid dog. The answer came back : ‘Shoot soldier under no circumstances shoot dog’.

By: Wil Ransome

Wil Ransome — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 22:16:25 +0000

Sorry, I misread the blog, which says “1201 is, not surprisingly, a prime number.” I read this as “1201 is not, surprisingly, a prime number.”

By: HolyGhost

HolyGhost — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 13:40:29 +0000

I think I’m with Wil Ransome on the W/windows topic. If a clue contains a proper noun which the writer wants to disguise as a common noun, then I feel it should start the clue and thus be capitalised, e.g. “Pop, for example, supporting New Labour, initially enrolled – a tad worrying” was how Dysart clued NIGGLY, the reference being to Iggy Pop, US rock singer/songwriter.

By: Hi of hihoba

Hi of hihoba — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 10:56:47 +0000

I agree that the W/windows clue was clever and gave me a nice chuckle. Ignoring punctuation and case (upper/lower) is surely part of the fun?

By: duncanshiell

duncanshiell — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 07:56:29 +0000

1201 is a prime number. Factorisation checker A hip-bath is portable, according to some dictionaries; a bath that can 'move'? I thought the 'windows' clue was clever, but you may be right that omitting the capital from 'Windows' is technically unfair.

By: Wil Ransome

Wil Ransome — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 23:29:54 +0000

Good puzzle. Pity 1201 isn’t prime. I couldn’t see why Nutmeg included the word ‘moving’ in 17ac: the clue would read just as well without it so far as I can see. And surely it’s Windows not windows in 25dn. This clue struck me as naughty and unfair.

By: Nutmeg

Nutmeg — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 07:14:46 +0000

Thank you for your kind comments. It’s some time since I set this puzzle, but as I recall the idea sprang from a reference to Eratosthenes’ sieve in a quiz. As to construction, I highlighted the 39 cells in a blank grid & experimented with various forms of the message, then added suitable bars to exclude impossible letter sequences (hence the undesirable number of fully-checked words). I always fill the grid by hand, aided by electronic Chambers to suggest words – it’s part of the fun of setting! Then it just remained to concoct a suitable ‘extra letters’ message and set the clues.

By: HolyGhost

HolyGhost — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 10:52:55 +0000

Good stuff from Nutmeg – reliably inventive as ever. Finished the penultimate stage late one evening, and it was a pleasure to highlight the cells and read the second message over coffee the next morning.

PS Duncan – under AD FINEM (in Chambers) it reads abbrev ad fin., so I think that the second abbreviation is more likely to be at 33d.

By: Hi of hihoba

Hi of hihoba — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 06:47:17 +0000

I thought this was a brilliant puzzle, and also, like Duncan, wondered how on earth the grid was constructed by Nutmeg. It was so clever that I was able to forgive OUT LOUD and HIP BATH, both of which are two words in Chambers. Thanks Nutmeg!