Comments on: Inquisitor 1230 – UNION AMUSEMENT by Kruger

By: Bertandjoyce

Bertandjoyce — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 18:06:45 +0000

We eventually completed this but don’t worry Kruger, the missing s did not cause a problem!

We found this really diffcult, maybe because we are not into golf. We totally missed the relevance of the title unfortunately.

Many thanks for the blog Hihoba and also thanks to Kruger for a really challenging puzzle!

By: Hi of hihoba

Hi of hihoba — Thu, 31 May 2012 08:47:02 +0000

Thank you Kruger for your comments and for an excellent challenging crossword. The two errors certainly did not affect the solving experience, though the two word ROLL ON did delay that entry somewhat.

I am with HG in that the fact that only two people commented on the missing S does not mean that only two spotted it! The answer to the clue was pretty unambiguous, so it didn’t really affect the issue, I think.

By: Kruger

Kruger — Thu, 31 May 2012 07:14:01 +0000

Thanks Hihoba for a great blog.

I actually proof-read this 3 times and, as always, cold-solved into the grid but still failed to see the missing S in 23D. Mea culpa – sorry to you and other solvers. (It had to be a “context” clue too didn’t it !!).

I also had 29A as 2 words so don’t know where that went either. Like everyone, even compilers have blind spots but I hope the errors didn’t spoil the solving “experience”.

By: Hi of hihoba

Hi of hihoba — Wed, 30 May 2012 13:04:43 +0000

I’m sure you are right about the scoring HG, but as I couldn’t parse Union Amusement, I was just lucky that either scoring method gave the same result!

By: HolyGhost

HolyGhost — Wed, 30 May 2012 10:25:42 +0000

Hihoba got the right result, but I believe for the wrong reason. His analysis would be correct for stroke play, but as the title and rubric indicate ("compare answers sequentially") we should use match play scoring: one point for each hole won, half a point for a tie. The crucial "hole" is the seventeenth, where Across got an eagle against Down's birdie thereby winning that hole to go 'one up', and then halving the eighteenth to win the match. (If we move Across's eagle to a hole where Down scored par, the match would have been a tie overall; and if we move it to a hole where Down scored a bogey, Down would have won the match despite having taken more strokes.) Regarding 23d and John H's remark: I feel it would be more accurate to say that only two of the people that noticed corresponded, rather than the other way round. Anyway, thanks to Kruger for the fun, and to Hihoba for the blog. {PS I agree that 29a (ROLL ON) should be 2 words.}

By: regalize

regalize — Wed, 30 May 2012 10:10:22 +0000

Truly foxed by my Saturday fix. It was still in my in-box last night with quite a few missing, mainly because the theme eluded me. Now, thanks to Hihoba, I can see that I never would have finished it this side of Christmas.
However, it is this kind of challenge that keeps me on the IQ path to enlightenment.
Thanks Kruger, for the (enjoyable) headache.

By: John H

John H — Wed, 30 May 2012 09:19:25 +0000

Yes, ‘television’ should indeed have been ‘televisions’ in 23dn, so I hope this did not detract too much from the puzzle’s enjoyment. Apologies from Kruger and me for missing it.

However, only two correspondents noticed!

And in the title, UNION/AMUSEMENT leads to MATCH/PLAY.

Thanks for an excellent blog, Hihoba.

John