Comments on: Inquisitor 1233: Comedy of Errors by Ifor

By: Ifor

Ifor — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 17:36:56 +0000

My slip is showing as clearly as my age!

I suppose it’s fortunate that S and Y did make the soie / soit switch – squeezing the motto into the number of lines available might then have proved a step too far. As to how the humour works, I think, like history for S and L, we should bring the disussion to a. Thanks again for the blog.

By: HolyGhost

HolyGhost — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 15:19:34 +0000

Ifor – Although the text is written (obviously!), the humour relies on “soie” and “soit” sounding the same, and also on “pense” sounding similar to the French verb pendre, to hang. For me, the pun would work fine without the altered spelling – but it’s no big deal.

And do you really mean “anyone over the age of …”?

By: Ifor

Ifor — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 15:20:46 +0000

My thanks for the blog and to Lansdowne for the additional clarifications. HG – I’m unclear about your meaning regarding soie / soit, I’m afraid. To emphasise Lansdowne’s point – the text in 1066AAT of course uses “soie” deliberately so that the cod “silk” rendition becomes more apposite / amusing. Since the text is (obviously!) written their homophonic nature is irrelevant, surely?

It’s a matter of fogeyish regret that so many of the clever puns, misprints and misapprehensions in 1066AAT are incomprehensible to anyone over the age of (insert number as required).

By: HolyGhost

HolyGhost — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 09:35:39 +0000

To be honest, I hadn’t noticed that we were told that the removals were from answers to across clues. (Must pay more attention in future.)

I’m not sure why “soit” is required to be written “soie” – they are homophones, which is what matters – any more than the verb “penser” needs to be changed to “pendre”. As for “Honi” …

By: Lansdowne

Lansdowne — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 08:10:20 +0000

Here is the preamble for 1233:
Six answers to normal across clues must have two or more letters removed, leaving a new word as the entry. In order these omissions give a first erroneous version of a statement; corrections to single-letter misprints in definitions in remaining clues spell out a second. The 3-word phrase at 21 might describe an interpretation of the group associated with the correct version, and is a cryptic rendering of that group’s common name.

To expand on the blog entry slightly:
The six altered entries were stated to be in across clues. So all the downs could be safely solved as normal clues, each subject to a misprint in the definition.
The blogger had it easy knowing that Sellar & Yeatman quote, but like him I started quickly having solved the simple 8-letter anagram in 1ac and grabbing the most obvious “honi” reference. In due course, with a fair amount of downs solved and misprints identified, I used the internet to find the “silk stocking” quote which of course requires “soit” to become “soie” (Fr, silk).
“For the great” describes the purpose of the Order of the Garter and is also the result if you order “of the garter”.

I will add a Lansdowne fairness analysis later, but briefly this Inquisitor passes easily.