Comments on: Inquisitor 1203: Caveat by Hypnos

By: HolyGhost

HolyGhost — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 22:16:58 +0000

That should of course read "Chesley's comment 3" - chest cough cleary migrating to head.

By: HolyGhost

HolyGhost — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 22:14:13 +0000

As with nmsindy, VIRGIL was found quite early, and with the help of the long anagrams at 15a, 19a and 25a I found TROJAN HORSE with quite a lot of the grid still to fill. I guessed the gist of the quotation (the exact wording coming later) and spotted ARISTOTLE and THUCYDIDES as possibilities for two of the Greeks. Near the end, the top left perimeter was somewhat barren (I hadn't got 12a PRAM or 1d ALAR at this stage) and here the spare unchecked letters were very useful. All in all, Hypnos provided a pretty good workout, but, as kenmac says, not as tough as some of late. Thanks to both. With regard to Chesley's comment 2: Fifteen of the Inquisitor puzzles (since 2007) have a perimeter quotation/message; nine of these start in the top left corner, and only one of the six that don't gives a vague hint to the start being elsewhere. (Yes, I should get out more, but I'm stuck at home with a bad chesty cough.)

By: kenmac

kenmac — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:12:35 +0000

Re #2 and #4 – OOPS! Just a slight oversight, corrected now.

By: John Lowe

John Lowe — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:23:40 +0000

The Philosopher in 18D is John Stuart MILL:

John Stuart Mill
By a mighty effort of will
Overcame his natural bonhomie
And wrote Principles of Political Economy

- the only Clerihew I can quote without research…

By: Chesley

Chesley — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:38:14 +0000

I’m afraid the perimeter defeated me too, but I enjoyed the challenge!

It is “normal” to assume a perimeter message/quote etc starts in the NW corner so perhaps a bit unfair not to specify otherwise.

By: Hihoba

Hihoba — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:01:23 +0000

I’m afraid that the perimeter defeated us! The rest was pretty straightforward. Well done kenmac.
p.s. No mention of the philosopher in the wordplay for 18D.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 09:41:40 +0000

Yes, this was a good puzzle. Virgil came quite early on and the grid was reasonably easy to fill (by Inquisitor standards). It took me a while to work out what the idea in the perimeter was, with the possibility of Thucydides giving me the breakthrough. It was a very good idea to list the unchecked letters – I don’t think I’d have been able to finish without that. Thanks, Hypnos and Kenmac.