The RAG TAG and BOBTAIL v TAG RAG and BOBTAIL point is covered at comments 2 and 3 above where it is shown by John Henderson that TAG RAG and BOBTAIL is a valid phrase. I must admit however that I was surprised to see TAG RAG and BOBTAIL actually existing in Chambers.

Of the other entries round the outside, HOOK LINE & SINKER and BELL BOOK & CANDLE fell quite easily. I had to do research to find ENGLAND HOME and BEAUTY. I’m glad that I didn’t find ENGLAND HOME and HEARTH.

My entry into this was mainly from the top right corner with a bit of assistance from the bottom right. I don’t mind cold solving – it sharpens the brain.

I think a good cryptic puzzle should be hard, but when you’ve solved it you should always think you should have got the answers more quickly. “Of course! It had to be that!” is something I find myself thinking very often after struggling over clever clues. In this one the perimeter entries just left me thinking “It has to be that because nothing else will fit”, and that’s nowhere near as satisfying.

It is encouraging for a blogger to see lots of comments and discussions about the puzzles. As a retired solver, I have enough time, between family life, golf, other sporting endeavours and holidays, to indulge in quite a lot of crossword solving. My diet of puzzles comprises dailies (Guardian [regularly], Independent [regularly], FT [occasionally], Times Concise [regularly] and Times Cryptic [occasionally]) plus weekend puzzles (Listener [regularly], Inquisitor [regularly]) and monthlies (Magpie [regularly] and the Genius [regularly]). The puzzle that frustrates me most is the Times Concise which I generally find more difficult than any cryptic as there is no wordplay to help when I am stuck on the definition. As I get older, I seem to get stuck on definitions alone more and more.

There are always going to be a mix of standards of puzzles in all papers and magazines. Some people’s favourites will be other people’s stinkers. A puzzle based on obscure quotations from a poet I have never heard of is not going to excite me as much as a puzzle based on my own leisure interests, but I’ll learn something as I struggle to solve the puzzle or understand the endgame. Indeed, whatever the standard of the puzzle, I reckon I’ll always learn something that may come in useful in another crossword or general knowledge quiz elsewhere. I also learn a huge amount from blogs and comments on this and other sites.

I support those who feel that setters and editors should not have to apologise for a mix of standards, or the odd typo. It is the mix of setters and puzzle difficulty that gives us opportunities for comment and discussion. How many of us are 100% perfect in everything that we do? I know I’m not remotely near that. I find it a struggle simply to identify every typo in the first draft of a blog. There are many times I have published a blog that I throught was error free only to find another typo in line one, let alone in other lines.

Well, one thing this puzzle has done is elicited a response, and I’m very grateful for it. I really do appreciate the feedback, and I’m fairly sure I speak on behalf of the members of the solving team too. I’ve been largely working on the assumption that no news is good news – I get maybe half a dozen weekly comments to the advertised address, one from the same person each week (whom I think I know quite well but have never met!) – and then suddenly this overwhelming polar response.

When I solved this puzzle, I had no idea of what solvers might think (but that’s no different from any other week), but I enjoyed it very much – and the team (who solve independently of each other) concurred.

My individual experience was noticing the ratio of solved answers to available grid spaces fairly early on, and then entering non-clashing letters.

Apologies to all who found this tricky, and I hope the solver whom Ifor and I have frightened off (private correspondence) will return soon.

Once again, thanks for the comments on this thread – they are so helpful.

John H

Thanks for the ratings John H, but PLEASE don’t publish them in advance of the puzzles, otherwise it might dissuade people (including me) from trying at all! Your indication of difficulty after submission date would be very welcome, however.

I agree that the cluemanship was pretty good and I felt that this was one of the best IQs!

This, together with the fact that the theme was entirely unclued (as were the perimeter entries), and in any case didn’t give a fair indication of the “thematic modification”, turned this into a tedious exercise in guesswork. I managed to solve it, with the help of a few hints from friends, but didn’t enjoy it at all so didn’t send my answer in.

I only started doing Inquisitor a few months ago and I’d say that the cluemanship is generally pretty good but his one was definitely the worst I’ve come across. Dreadful.

This puzzle is clearly the nost talked about since I “inherited” the job twelve months ago.

Only two things to add (particularly with Hi of Hihoba in mind), really:

(i) I would never publish a puzzle that I myself could not finish. As always, I turn to the comments of my solving team for their input. There are five of them, from varying walks of life, and varying ways of tackling puzzles. All finished this puzzle, all found it quite hard and only one failed on the final step;
(ii) in any consecutive group of five IQs, I like to have one at the tougher end, one at the easier end and three in between. This was the last in a series of three ‘in-betweeners’, I felt: 1215 Countdown was a ’3′; 1216 Cold Cuts was a ’1′ 1217 Request Stop, 1218 Rehoused, 1219 Location were 2s. These ratings are based entirely on my solving and the feedback from the team.

If you’d like to know the estimated ratings of the next five, please post and say so. I shan’t give thme here now – it might spoil your enjoyment of the puzzles.

Many thanks to all who take the trouble to comment and to send me mail. When I took this job on, I was very afraid – now I love it!