Hello Inquisitor lovers. I’m glad to be back after some rather unpleasant hospital treatment. This is the first time I have been able to even attempt an Inquisitor – mostly due to the mind-numbing effect of opiates. Thanks to Nutmeg for starting me off with a theme that was familiar and clues which were very approachable.
The rubric read:
A 20th century lawgiver formulated several laws in his specialised field. Clockwise round the perimeter from 1 runs an observation he made in another field, and what he called it (26, 8 words; 22, 5 words). His name (forename and surname) appear in economical form in the grid pointing two ways, and must be highlighted (8 cells in total). Each down clue has a misprint in the definition part. The correct letters spell out the publication in which his final law appeared, though numerically it may have been formulated first.
In my first session I solved about half the clues, restricted to the top right and bottom left corners. The second session yielded more answers, though it left me with quite a few question marks by the clues where I didn’t understand the wordplay.
The misprinted letters in the down clues were ????DATION AND EA??H. I recognised this as a possible reference to Foundation and Earth the fifth and final novel in the “Foundation” series by Isaac Asimov. I reread the Foundation trilogy a few years ago. It is surprising how a novel that you thought was one of the greatest of all SciFi books, is diminished by age and the fact that you know the denouement.
Now Asimov is famous for propounding the Three Laws of Robotics:
- A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.[1]
In Foundation and Earth a new law is propounded, the zeroth law:
0. A robot may not injure humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.
This all complies with the preamble, and Asimov is clearly the Lawgiver of the title. Finding IMOV in the partially completed grid enabled me to add two more letters, and then I realised that the “economical form” of his full name “pointing two ways” was CAASIMOV which I duly filled in and highlighted.
But the quotation didn’t refer to this law. At the bottom of the grid I found THE F?I?ST L?? O? DIE??T?C?. A bit of Googling and this resolved itself into THE FIRST LAW OF DIETETICS which states IF IT TASTES GOOD IT’S BAD FOR YOU, which completed the perimeter.
I thoroughly enjoyed this Nutmeg, so thanks for resurrecting my Inquisitor skills. I look forward to more of your contributions to the series, which I always find entertaining.
One problem remains: in 8D (GREASE) I don’t understand the wordplay. Suggestions welcomed. Thanks to Tony – comment 1 – explanation included
Across |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue (definition) | Answer | Wordplay |
| 9 | Damage a rib (5) | COSTA | COST (damage) + A |
| 10 | Tester’s dope always right (7) | ASSAYER | ASS (dope) + AYE (always) + R(ight) |
| 11 | Break during teaching period – just what’s needed (8) | INTERMIT | IN TERM (during teaching period) + IT (just what’s needed) |
| 12 | Diamonds thrice cut quite small (5) | DICED | D(iamonds) + ICE (diamonds) + D(iamonds) |
| 13 | Securer bank (4) | TIER | Double definition |
| 14 | Inspector avoiding arguments revolutionised businesses (6) | SETUPS | [DI]SPUTES (arguments) minus DI (inspector) reversed |
| 17 | Lodge that athlete usually appears in? (4) | VEST | Double definition. In the Chambers entry for lodge is the term vest. |
| 18 | Potter’s implement limiting temperature close to surface (6) | TOOTLE | TOOL (implement) round T(emperature) + (surfac)E |
| 20 | What could make us steal kisses, maybe (7) | SALUTES | [US STEAL]* |
| 21 | Bird warrant picked up (4) | ERNE | Sounds like (picked up) EARN (warrant) |
| 22 | Form of cinema Conservative avoided? (5) | ANIME | &lit-ish: [(c)INEMA]* |
| 23 | Insult local bachelor (4) | BARB | BAR (local) + B(achelor) |
| 24 | Home safe primarily required for policymaker? (7) | INSURER | IN (home) + SURE (safe) + R(equired) |
| 27 | African “discovered” two European countries (6) | IBERIA | (L)IBERIA(N) (African) “discovered” – i.e. first and last letters removed |
| 29 | All undealt cards fell (4) | DECK | Double definition |
| 32 | A post-match romance for team player (6) | GOALIE | A after (post) GO (match) + LIE (romance) |
| 33 | Superior German plot got wind of (4) | GRAF | Sounds like (got wind of) GRAPH (plot) |
| 34 | Odd members of our side all find illumination here (5) | ORIEL | Odds of OuR sIdE aLl. Perhaps alternate rather than odd would have been better – we take the even letters of the last two words |
| 35 | Culinary herb from India left in fancy carton (8) | CILANTRO | I(ndia) + L(eft) in [CARTON]* |
| 36 | Outmoded clothing has queen retiring in outrage (7) | APPAREL | ER reversed in APPAL (outrage) |
| 37 | Set course to bring in contrary servicemen (5) | TENOR | NET (bring in) reversed (contrary) + OR (servicemen) |
Down |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue [misprint] Correction (rest of definition) | Answer | Wordplay | X |
| 1 | Wry king won’t make appearance in one [b]Foot (5) | IONIC | IRONIC (wry) minus R (king) | F |
| 2 | Step out of bounds blocking cross for Red[s]O (7) | ITERATE | (s)TE(p) (out of bounds) in IRATE (cross) | O |
| 3 | Ratings almost all referring to MacDonald’s c[r]Uit (6) | TARSAL | CUIT is a scottish word for the ankle: TARS (ratings) +AL(l) | U |
| 4 | Uppity graduate in class breaks i[t]N (5) | TAMES | MA (graduate) in SET (class) all reversed | N |
| 5 | Dissecting beast, I note how things stan[k]D (6, 3 words) | AS IT IS | ASS (beast) round I + TI (note) | D |
| 6 | Melted lead pot to form potential pip[e]A? (7) | TADPOLE | [LEAD POT]* | A |
| 7 | Exalted Whitehall [h]Type classified by cautious premier suppressed (9) | SECRETARY | SECRET (classified) + (w)ARY (cautious, first letter suppressed ) | T |
| 8 | O[w]Il ultimately plunging over edge (6) | GREASE | (plungin)G + (ove)R + EASE (edge as in edge forwards) – see comment 1 | I |
| 15 | Posh religious leader raised quality of fo[l]Od (5) | UMAMI | U (posh) + IMAM (religious leader) reversed | O |
| 16 | Involuntarily he sig[h]Ned on grasping leg with cold hand (9) | CONSCRIPT | C(old) SCRIPT (hand) round ON (leg) | N |
| 19 | Pieces pulled up through running water for an[i]Al application (5) | ENEMA | MEN (pieces) reversed (pulled up) in EA (running water) | A |
| 22 | Zone round heart of holy river bordering [r]Nipples (7) | AREOLAR | AREA (zone) round (h)OL(y) + R(iver) | N |
| 23 | Fried [f]Dish, creature with twisted tail evenly bent (7) | BEIGNET | BEING (creature) with NG reversed (twisted tail) + bEnT (evenly) | D |
| 25 | Note the way Parisian served up variety of n[u]Et (6) | NEURAL | N(ote) + LA RUE (French for the way) reversed | E |
| 26 | [H]Aid one nicker in bank (6) | RELIEF | L (nicker = pound) + I (one) in REEF (bank) | A |
| 28 | Spa nurses about to get some ai[d]R (6) | BREATH | BATH (spa) round (nurses) RE (about) | R |
| 30 | Fair start, bad end to summertime for Bre[d]Ton’s lass (5) | FILLE | F(air) + ILL (bad) + (summertim)E | T |
| 31 | A bounder put on kilo in [w]Height in S Africa (5) | KAROO | K(ilo) + A ROO (a bounder) | H |
For 8d, I think edge = EASE, to move gently along. G and R are ultimately plunginG and oveR. Thanks, Hihoba.
Good to see you back! This was a good puzzle, wasn’t it? I’ve read a lot of Asimov, but not the book referenced, and was unaware of the “law” in the perimeter too. A fun crossword that played with our expectations, and was well scheduled what with Dry January, Veganuary, etc.
Single-letter manipulations of clues are a favourite device among setters of these puzzles, and with good clues, as here, I always enjoy grappling with them. Some of the down clues in this puzzle were quite challenging, especially with words like cuit and pipa in the mix!
I appreciated being given clear quantitative data in the preamble in line with what I have noticed is now common practice but was not always so.
I tackled the top left corner first, and with ‘TIC’ in the left column I wondered if STICK was going to be the last word in the perimeter. By the time I made inroads into the top right, the top line looked like ‘IF IT TASTES…’, which made me think of “If it tastes bad it must be good for you”, but that cast doubt on credible solutions to 8d and 12a. (I had no idea then that I was so close to the real thing.)
After getting a few more letters in the perimeter, but with the bottom row still blank, I removed STICK from consideration and made a guess at DIETETICS, prompted no doubt by the phrase I thought of earlier. When I looked it up I struck gold and came up with Isaac Asimov, whose name just happens to be ideal for writing economically using 8 letters.
Very enjoyable throughout – the theme, the thematic design and the clues – following a good puzzle last week. I’m hoping for another great year!
Thanks to Nutmeg. And thanks and welcome back to Hi – glad to see you back in the groove.
FIRST LEMON DIET STICK also fits but its a lifetime ago I read Asimov-I liked his positioning in the grid
Fave clue was Bredon lass as it incorporates essence of Housman’s excellent poem
Thanks all.
Particular thanks to Hihoba.
Thanks Tony #1. I’ll incorporate your explanation in the blog.
On the easier side, so I tried to do without google – but then needed it to get to Asimov from Foundation & Earth (sci-fi not my thing). I thought it was going to be the first law of digestion, but turned out not to be. The law was news to me, but not the news.
Thanks to Nutmeg for a fun puzzle (and not following through with the threat of a legal puzzle), and Hihoba.
An excellent puzzle. Thanks to Nutmeg and Hihoba…and welcome back!
I’m with copmus @4
May have read something when I was in my teens, but don’t remember it. However, I managed to complete the puzzle with a tiny bit of help from Google.
Good to see you back blogging Hihoba.
Despite having read many Asimov books whilst we were at University, we still needed a search to help us sort out the endgame.
Good fun, so thanks to Nutmeg as well.
I read many Asimov books too and now cannot remember a single one of them. I managed to guess all the answers anyway without help from Google: a sign of a well designed puzzle.
Very enjoyable, thank you Nutmeg and Hihoba, and I’m that you are back on your feet again.
It was a lovely puzzle for those of us that aren’t fans of Asimov too. Thanks to Nutmeg for a fun solve and to you, Hihoba for the blog. Welcome back.
Never read a jot of Asimov but I enjoyed learning a few new things and the puzzle was, as one would expect of Nutmeg, very enjoyable
Much enjoyed — my thanks to Nutmeg and Hihoba. The title and wording of the preamble suggested “lawgiving” in some cunningly non-legal sense, leading to thoughts about Parkinson’s Law (but he only had the one), Arthur C. Clarke’s Law’s of futurology (but how to pack his name into eight letters?), Asimov on robotics — aha!
Full disclosure: long ago I wrote the SF Encyclopedia entry on the Laws of Robotics, but even so couldn’t remember which deadly dull later novel introduced Law Zero, so had to work at the misprints anyway.