Comments on: Inquisitor 1263: Brain Transplant by Samuel

By: Samuel

Samuel — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 00:03:44 +0000

Thanks, Kenmac, for the blog, and I’m pleased that solvers enjoyed the puzzle.

HolyGhost’s parsing of 3dn is correct – W (with) + A (ace) + R(a)MS, a RAM being a ship’s beak, according to Chambers. And, Tramp, in answer to your question – with difficulty!!

By: starburst

starburst — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 10:08:48 +0000

A fine puzzle.

If you haven’t heard of Horrid Henry that can only mean you don’t have any sons. The audiobook versions by the wonderful Miranda Richardson, seem to have been the soundtrack to my driving for the past 4 years…

By: Tramp

Tramp — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 19:22:54 +0000

A lovely puzzle. This is the first barred-grid puzzle that I’ve done with clashes and I thought it was hard but unbelievably clever. I’d love to know how he filled the grid with the clashes so that they make real words in both directions when resolved.

Super stuff

By: Ross

Ross — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 17:20:25 +0000

Agreed – a lovely puzzle, if perhaps at the easier end of the scale. But a nice introduction to the New Year nonetheless.

I parsed 3d in the same way as HolyGhost, although it took me quite a while and I only really got it once I’d worked out the additional letter to complete the theme.

By: kenmac

kenmac — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 12:41:30 +0000

Re #2
Ah, thanks H___ G____. Looks like a small transposition error crept in there. I’ll fix the grid tonight.
As for 3d, I admit that this one eluded me for ages, I was convinced it was WORMS until a friend helped me out. His explanation satisfied me but I can see that yours is better. It would be intersting to see if Samuel is lurking, perhaps he’ll supply the “correct” answer.

By: HolyGhost

HolyGhost — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 12:20:32 +0000

This is Samuel's second Inquisitor puzzle with "Life of Brian" as the theme (the previous one was Legacy from May-10), and a good start to the year; hats off to him for ensuring that the correct resolutions to the clashes result in real words both across and down – my initial concern with the apparent failure at 31d was allayed when I discovered that ORAN is a major city in northwestern Algeria. Ken – thanks for the blog, but your grid needs C in cell 2g (not G). And I suggest that the wordpaly for 3d is W(ith) + A(ce) + RAMS (beaks) − A(re).

By: Bertandjoyce

Bertandjoyce — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 10:31:55 +0000

We would agree with you kenmac that this puzzle by Samuel is the best so far this year – although there’s still a lot of enjoyment to come!

The penny dropping moment was brilliant, especially as we are avid fans of Monty Python. Joyce is still reading their biography when she can’t sleep at night! The missing letters and words made it more difficult but definitely more intriguing.

Thanks Samuel for an excellent puzzle and kenmac for the flashy blog – we do love them!