Comments on: Inquisitor 1235: Cogito Ergo Sum by Radix

By: Bertandjoyce

Bertandjoyce — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 14:36:54 +0000

Thanks Al Dente (and Kemac). It’s so wonderful to come back to this weather and local flooding!

We managed to get the coding for crux but we think your interpretation Al Dente is the closest we can get to it. I suppose the restrictions with a four-letter word to help parse it, it was always going to be a bit obscure.

By: Al Dente

Al Dente — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 09:23:56 +0000

Hope you had an enjoyable holiday Bertandjoyce. Was’nt totally sure myself where crux came into 21d so
referenced Chambers which gave ‘something that creates difficulty or complexity’. I guess that as autism
is a problem which affects children then this may be where it comes in to the clue. Good to see you back.

By: kenmac

kenmac — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 08:43:59 +0000

B: 2 + 1 = 3 == C
I: 9 + 9 = 18 == R
R: 18 + 3 = 21 == U
O: 15 + 9 = 24 == X

By: Bertandjoyce

Bertandjoyce — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 08:31:18 +0000

Just back from 2 weeks in Greece and woke up early this morning. We have just completed the puzzle – we can’t go away without someone saving us the Saturday Indy. We don’t think we have missed a single one although there have been the odd ones we haven’t completed.

This was a veritable tour de force. Part way through we saw Alan and made a guess at Mathison. A google search revealed the rest and we remembered the reference to him before we left home.

Sorting out the thematic alterations/decoding took quite a while and we’re still not sure where crux comes into 21d. Can anyone help please?

Thanks kenmac – love the flashing! – and also Radix for the puzzle.

By: kenmac

kenmac — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 08:58:23 +0000

Thanks all for your explanations and comments.

And apologies for the few errors that crept into my post, whicha are, hopefully, all sorted now. I found out the other week that my laptop computer is not partial to hot coffee and so I’ve been “stealing” time on other peoples’ computers.

By: Al Dente

Al Dente — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 07:57:18 +0000

Thanks HolyGhost for the nod to the Turing Test. Alan wondered if a digital computer could do well in a
certain kind of game he described as “THE IMITATION GAME”. I think therefore I am? A nods as good as a
wink HolyGhost. Thanks again.

By: HolyGhost

HolyGhost — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 22:02:11 +0000

It took me about three times as long to get the encryption as it did to solve the rest of the puzzle. Admittedly I was slow: with hindsight, a way in was with 19d (“brog” -> CARP) confirming the 1939 modification, guessed from the first date and G?ID -> HA?M. Ah, well.

With Landsdowne, I eventually settled on OMPHALE = (o)OMPH (it, sex appeal) and (m)ALE (Hercules maybe).

For 13a, Ch. gives must^4 as “(in a state of) frenzy”. And “push-start” at 26a is indeed hyphenated (as in the blog).

Finally, I agree that, for example, “a” -> “are” is rare but I feel not unprecedented, tho’ can’t give a specific reference.

PS Thanks for the work-out, Radix – maybe more of your puzzles will be Inquisitor-bound. And to Ken for the blog – or should that be Laura for the solution & Ken for the grid?

Re COGITO ERGO SUM – maybe a nod to the Turing Test … just a thought.

By: Lansdowne

Lansdowne — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 18:01:04 +0000

Thank you to Kenmac for explaining the coding system which is not far short of Turing complexity. Perhaps the preamble could have given a hint that the digits to be entered were needed to solve the codes.

My understanding of OMPHALE was (o)OMPH (‘it’ i.e. sex appeal) and (m)ALE (‘Hercules maybe’).

In 13a, not sure how “must” signifies an anagram. And 26a needs to be (two words) or (hyphenated).

In 28a I assume “a” produces “are” as it is the abbreviation for that metric unit. This is the opposite way round from the usual (full form in clue -> abbreviation in the answer). Can anyone recall other examples of this?

By: Al Dente

Al Dente — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 09:51:23 +0000

Thanks to kenmac for the great blog. On 17a I wondered if has it was sex appeal which gave oomph and
Hercules as in the tale, both topless giving Omphale the Lydian Queen. On 33a I wondered Eros is an
asteroid [I'm asteroidal] combine Eros,dial and at giving an anagram of asteroidal. Many thanks once again.

By: Richard Heald

Richard Heald — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 00:09:08 +0000

Oh and as for the meaning of the title, I think the “SUM” part just refers to the additive way in which the 4-letter words must be decoded.