Possibly the best Inquisitor puzzle ever? Certainly one of my favourites! Thanks to Charybdis for hours of fun. Difficulty level was just right for me, and the denouement, just stunning! It made me wait right to the end before getting the final point.
The instructions were simple enough. The rubric said:
Each clue contains an extra word. First and last letters of these words in either order yield: (i) a fictional character; (ii) a pared-down observation of his; and (iii) further information required to complete the puzzle.
I got AIRS and PLICAE in the top left corner quite quickly and soon had the top left and bottom right corners reasonably full. I wrote down a list of first and last letters of the extra words as I found them, leaving blanks. So I had something like
L-VA-L-RE–I— . . . -I-USIHOLA . . .
I-SN-T-ET–H— . . . -D-SWTPEPE . . .
Initially I thought that the first letters would spell one phrase and the last letters another. Wrong! I re-read the instructions and the phrase “in either order” suddenly had meaning. The letters to the right in the list above clearly said WITH PEOPLE and before it might be DISCUSS? I decided to look for a quote including “discuss with people” and came across “Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people.” a quote from Socrates. There are many variations of this , but none seemed apposite, especially as the rubric said that the quote was by a “fictional character”.
By this time I seemed to have LINUS as the first five letters. Now the only Linus I knew was a character in the great
“Pe
anuts” comic strip by Charles M. Schultz, that ran for 50 years from 1950 to 2000. There are nearly 18,000 strips – a life’s work. Linus was the little boy with the blanket. I had to look up his surname – he was Linus van Pelt. His friend Charlie Brown and Snoopy the dog feature in most of the comic strips together with Linus, his sister Lucy van Pelt and a host of other endearing characters.
One of his obsessions was the Great Pumpkin which was akin to Santa Claus and arrived on Halloween (an appropriate time for this puzzle). Every year, Linus sits in a pumpkin patch on Halloween night waiting for the Great Pumpkin to appear. Invariably, the Great Pumpkin fails to turn up, and a humiliated but undefeated Linus vows to wait for him again the following Halloween.
I decided to Google “Linus discuss with people” (the whole puzzle was looking pretty difficult at this point and I needed all the help I could get) and found this quote from the 1966 animated television special It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, “There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics and the Great Pumpkin.” Linus seems to be the only person who believes in The Great Pumpkin, so discussing it leads to ridicule. The three things are the unmentionables of the title.
This enabled some gap filling and I eventually was able to come up with:
LUVAPLTREIGIAVLANNVROICUSIHOLA
INSMETHETHNSHEEREDEEIDSSWTPEPE
which, decoded, reads LINUS VAN PELT THREE THINGS I HAVE LEARNED NEVER TO DISCUSS WITH PEOPLE (A . . .
The quote seems to end there, so the remainder must be the “further information to complete the puzzle”.
From this point it became MUCH more difficult to find the extra words and decode the instruction, but after some time I had:
ALLTRIFITTORTRSDEOAE
ELETESNRSWAEOEHADRNG
which decodes as . . . E) ALL LETTERS IN FIRST TWO ARE TO BE SHADED ORANGE.
First two what? Well the three things Linus never discusses are RELIGION, POLITICS and THE GREAT PUMPKIN, so the first two are RELIGION and POLITICS. I listed all the letters in these two words and they are CEGILNOPRST so it looked as though much of the diagram was to be orange! and here was the brilliant PDM – PUMPKINS ARE ORANGE!! The grid would turn into the third thing “I never discuss” – The Great Pumpkin! WOW!! Here it is in all its glory.
Isn’t that just brilliant?
In the table below I have put, in the last column, the first and last letters of the extra words in the correct order to spell out the information required by the rubric.
Across |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue (definition)[extra word] | Answer | Wordplay | |
| 1 | [Literati] expecting a flight around island (8) | AWAITING | A WING (a flight) round AIT (island) | LI |
| 7 | Leader of Seamen’s [Union] caught fish (4) | SHAD | S(eamen) + HAD (caught) | NU |
| 11 | [Various] shifts and slacks for the sailor (5) | VEERS | Double definition – wind shift and to pay out a cable on a ship | S V |
| 13 | Nuts are [abomination] to me — say, am I bothered? (7) | EROTEMA | An erotema is a rhetorical question, as is “Am I bothered?”: [ARE TO ME]* | AN |
| 14 | Broadcasts [programme] about Irish society (4) | AIRS | A(bout) IR(ish) S(ociety) | PE |
| 15 | Flares [light] divers (5) | LOONS | Double definition – loons are flared trousers and diving birds | LT |
| 17 | One place laid out, folds [tablecloth] (6) | PLICAE | [I PLACE]* | TH |
| 18 | Manufactured pins [require] points at both ends, only bends in the middle (6) | PYLONS | Pylons are artificial legs (pins): P(oint)S round [ONLY]* | RE |
| 20 | [Expect] creature in case little energy left in men carrying clubs (6) | CADDIS | E (little energy) removed from CADDI(E)S (men carrying clubs) | E T |
| 23 | A key, wad of [Irish] notes and some parchment seen in a field (7) | ESCROLL | “In a field” is a reference to heraldry: ESC (a computer key) + ROLL (wad of notes) | HI |
| 24 | Maybe Blair only half lied about leaders of every [goddamn] land (6) | LIONEL | LI (half lied) + ON (about) + E(very) + L(and) | NG |
| 25 | A coarse file for Barlinnie [inmates] hidden in Krispies (4) | RISP | Hidden in kRISPies | S I |
| 27 | People in Marseilles [ambush] families from Rome (4) | GENS | Double definition – French for people and Latin for a clan of families | HA |
| 29 | Son fell into sin ([vice] pressed close) (6) | SERRED | S(on) + ERRED (fell into sin) | VE |
| 31 | I threw right in melée, a sharp blow (once [legitimate]) (7) | WHIRRET | [I THREW R]* | LE |
| 32 | [Actor] gets up around midday, has a quick wash (6) | RINSES | RISES (gets up) around N (noon – midday) | AR |
| 35 | Mad emperor’s [nightmare], about to flee part of insect’s mouth (6) | LIGULA | CA (about) removed from (CA)LIGULA (mad emperor) | NE |
| 39 | Lovely [newly-wed] to eat around six (6) | DIVINE | DINE (to eat) round VI (six) | D N |
| 40 | Discover [vase] with chip on the inside and Japanese dish (5) | SUSHI | SUS (discover) + cHIp | EV |
| 41 | Lamb [roulade] of TV cook not a starter (4) | ELIA | Pen name of Charles Lamb: (D)ELIA (Smith – TV chef) | ER |
| 42 | A small guitar [octet] heading off to annihilate the French again (7) | UKELELE | (N)UKE (anihilate) + LE + LE | TO |
| 43 | Woman, [invalid], roughly 41 (5) | CELIA | C (roughly) + ELIA (solution to 41A) | DI |
| 44 | Islamic law-enforcer into blockading [cities] (4) | KADI | Hidden in blocKADIng | SC |
| 45 | Prepare Earth, [unless] footprint’s on yard (8, 2 words) | GET READY | GE (Earth) + TREAD (footprint) + Y(ard) | US |
Down |
||||
| No. | Clue (definition)[extra word] | Answer | Wordplay | |
| 1 | He might put books on the box — [somehow] a desk’s top’s more inclined (7) | ADAPTER | A + D(esk) + APTER (more inclined) | S W |
| 2 | An abode on high for poetic spiritual [idealist] (5) | AERIE | Double definition – alternative spelling for both eyrie (dwelling on high) and aery (poetic spiritual) | IT |
| 3 | Ersatz [hemp] oil manufactured into fungicidal compounds (9) | TRIAZOLES | [ERSATZ OIL]* | H P |
| 4 | [One] made a maroon mud-boat to follow current (5) | ISLED | I (current) + SLED (mud-boat) | EO |
| 5 | Element from old [lamp] not working (4) | NEON | NE (old not) + ON (working | PL |
| 6 | £25, small beer? No. Pity it’s taken [age] to put right (4) | PONY | Triple clue, double definition – £25 and small beer + [NO P(it)Y]* | E A |
| 8 | Smack brave woman with no foot. [LOL]! (6) | HEROIN | HEROIN(E) (brave woman with no foot) | LL |
| 9 | American blokes [like] the last word (4) | AMEN | A(merican) MEN (blokes) | LE |
| 10 | Poet’s young girl obstructs railway [toilet] (6) | DAMSEL | DAMS (obstructs) EL (elevated railway) | TT |
| 12 | Almost get away across [ravine], river and steep hillside (6) | ESCARP | ESCAP(E) round R(iver) | ER |
| 16 | [Incongruous] bone china’s set in gemstones (5) | OPALS | OS (bone) round PAL (china) | S I |
| 19 | Wicker [futon] from Cockney maker of drawers etc (5) | OSIER | (H)OSIER (maker of drawers etc.) minus H (Cockney) | N F |
| 20 | Part of sentence in hearing producing [inner] tears (5) | CLAWS | Sounds like CLAUSE | IR |
| 21 | [Traders] appreciate one fizzy drink video may appear on computer because of this (9) | DIGITIZER | DIG (appreciate) + I (one) + TIZER (fizzy drink) | ST |
| 22 | Samoa’s ready, escorts to flank navy [tomorrow] (5) | SENES | Sene is a Samoan currency unit: SEES (escorts) round N(avy) | TW |
| 26 | [Olivia] fancies afternoon in mid-July in Rome? (5) | IDEAS | A(fternoon) in IDES (15th of July (and other months!) in Rome) | O A |
| 27 | Copse with lake and [rare] fawn (6) | GROVEL | GROVE (copse) + L(ake) | RE |
| 28 | Outdated [tattoo] prank written in pen is uneven in quality (7) | STREAKY | REAK (obsolete word for prank) in STY (pen) | TO |
| 29 | Beg family member to flog mostly [bygone] rubbish that’s not new (6) | SELJUK | SEL(l) (flog almost) + JU(n)K (rubbish minus N(ew)) | BE |
| 30 | Shift ends for [Scottish] mineworker in fraudulent setup (6) | RIGGED | Exchange R and D to give DIGGER (mineworker) | SH |
| 33 | [Data] order cited is corrupt (5) | EDICT | [CITED]* | AD |
| 34 | Limes eaten by [engorged] reptilians (5) | TILIA | Hidden in repTILIAns | ED |
| 36 | One elevated railroad to serve every [operator] in the Highlands (4) | ILKA | I (one) + L (elevated railroad – again!) + KA (serve) | OR |
| 37 | Once a plague of [abolition] flouters oddly no longer around (4) | LUES | fLoUtErS (remove odd letters) | AN |
| 38 | For the church you write article on [experiencing] ecstasy (4) | THEE | THE (article) + E(cstacy) | GE |
Yup – superb. It certainly found my level. Shakespeare? Wagner? Pah! Throw me Peanuts and I’m happy.
I got the first two across clues almost immediately and the LINU, together with the date, was enough to guess the theme. But that didn’t spoil the enjoyment one jot. I still had the Great Pumpkin to find and when I did – wow!
The perfect puzzle, with the interplay of the clues and the theme sustained throughout. I finished this in one session, which I haven’t done for a good while. I couldn’t quite remember the quote, but ‘politics and religion’ seemed likely and so I was expecting to find something like a pumpkin shaped ring made from this phrase in the grid. Likely combinations of letters were appearing all over the place but it took a few minutes to even consider the possibility that it could be almost the whole grid! Stunning.
Thanks to Hihoba (Ho?) for the deservingly enthusiastic blog – I wasn’t sure others would have enjoyed it as much as I did, but good to see that at least one other person did. And of course every compliment that can be heaped on Charybdis for what is now my favouritest ever Inquisitor.
There’s now four of us who thought the puzzle was glorious!
Bert came across Linus in the General Knowledge crossword over the same weekend so knew VAN PELT which helped. However we had FRAYS (sounds like PHRASE) for quite a while which held us up.
When it came to the end we thought we may find the pumpkin but couldn’t really believe that we needed to shade in every letter. We kept re-reading the instructions. It was only when Joyce noticed the symmetry in the top row when you did, that made us decide to photocopy the grid and try it out. WOW!
Thanks to Hihoba for the blog which gives us the opportunity to pass on our congratulations to Charybdis.
Meant to say that FRAYS relates to 20d.
Rats! (as Charlie Brown might say)
I didn’t get round to finishing this 🙁 I found LINUS VAN PELT fairly quickly and pretty much guessed GREAT PUMPKIN. I also had FRAYS for ages which clearly held me up but my south-east corner is still very bare.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
I’m really looking forward to The Peanuts Movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2452042/?ref_=nv_sr_1
Which is due for release (UK and Ireland) on December 21st: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2452042/releaseinfo?ref_=tt_dt_dt
Yes, great puzzle indeed … I didn’t have an orange highlighter, but I remembered that I had a large tin containing 40 Schwan Stabilo colour pens that I “liberated” from the company that made me redundant in 1986, and, amazingly, there was JUST enough ink left in the orange one. I find that own-brand marker pens go dry in a couple of months, these days.
Having bought a large number of mini Milky Ways and Mars Bars for the actual night, we only had one knock on the door !
Add me to the list of mightily impressed solvers! This was brilliant, thanks very much Charybdis and Hihoba for the blog.
I made steady progress during the early part of last week and refrained from looking up the phrase for as long as possible. The first chunks to fall for me were “learned never to discuss” and “two are to be shaded orange” but it took me a bit longer to get the rest of the hidden message. Like others above, the only fictional Linus I could think of was the kid with the blanket from Peanuts, but I had no idea what his surname might be, nor if he even had one. I looked him up and that helped the next few required letters fall into place.
I then spent some time searching the grid for the individual words ‘Religion’ and ‘Politics’ and wondering where the Pumpkin might be, before the penny dropped and the extent of the colouring required dawned on me. Fabulous! A proud moment for me personally too: I often discuss the Inq with my parents who are usually way ahead of me and need to give me pointers to finish, but this was the first time I had one completed before them 🙂
I thought that the church nursery rhyme one from a few weeks ago would be a cert as my favourite of the year, but this is right up there.
A quite brilliant puzzle, possibly my favourite Inquisitor ever. I started to think there may be a pumpkin to be revealed but even then I thought ‘surely not it would be impossible ‘.
A remarkable feat of setting.
Props to Charybdis, as the young folk say.
I’ve missed a couple of puzzles due to travel but this one and last week’s made a lovely way to ease back into the fray. Didn’t find this too difficult and the payoff at the end put a smile on my face for quite a while.
Many thanks to Charybdis and Hihoba.
I thought this was brilliant from start to finish. Have completed two IQs in a row, which is a personal record!
Wow! That’s almost unbelievable. And I thought Azed was hard enough. I’ve never tried the Inquisitor, and not sure that I will!!
I hadn’t replied before as my head is now as swollen as The Great Pumpkin and I couldn’t get through the door! 😀
Huge thanks to Hihoba for such a glowing blog and for all the other wonderful posts. Genuinely not expected.
It was fun giving Linus his own puzzle though. Always my favourite Peanuts character (plus Snoopy of course and, well, all of them really 🙂 ).
I am also a regular solver of these but never comment. However I simply have to add that I also thought this was utterly utterly brilliant, and having found an orange highlighter at work can comment the completed grid looks great (even if I did make a slight mess of it by having an s on digitiser!)
Many thanks
Good fun, but somewhat on the easy side for me (as for BF @8). Best ever? I’m afraid not – not as good as the setter’s own highly impressive Security Question from a while back (#1279).
This one reminded me of the “sunflower” puzzle (#44) where you had to shade all those letters yellow – but you had to infer the theme word unaided – impossible (for most of us).
Anyway, thank you Hihoba & Charybdis – keep ’em coming.
I thought it was a superb puzzle, but then I’ve never come across a Charybdis puzzle that wasn’t. I found it fairly easy to fill most of the grid, but spent some time sorting out the quote and message. I read Peanuts in my daily newspaper every day, but I’ve never known Linus’ surname. Shading the pumpkin, wondering how the eyes, nose and mouth would look, was a delight.
Loved the Great Orange Revelation. I remember saying “It’s going to be Peanuts and the Great Pumpkin” at quite an early stage when VAN PELT suggested itself and I made the connection with the date … but I’d forgotten that Linus was the dread Lucy Van Pelt’s brother. Thanks to all concerned!
Terrific puzzle from a terrific setter. I was sure that I had come across Linus in a puzzle before because I thought that was the only reason that I knew his surname, but I found nothing in Dave’s database. One cartoon from years ago where he was waiting for a star to fall out of the sky was a particular favourite.
John, indeed no Linus puzzle in the Database, but it gives Snoopy in Magpie about 5 years ago. And that was courtesy of… oh yes, Charybdis. Fantastic puzzles from a fantastic setter.
Aww! Shucks!
Well, better get down to a Charlie Brown one next. Good Grief! 😐
So I thought that I would try searching with ‘security blanket’ and the database returns one entry – yep another cracking Charybdis. Is there something we should know, Dave?
As Flaubert almost said, “Linus van Pelt, C’est moi.” 🙂
I tried colouring various combinations of FIRST, TWO and ARE but didn’t get anywhere. Also my orange highlighter pen coloured the grid bright pink, which was both unexpected and unexplained. I wasn’t using aids for this one so gave up, but in retrospect I could have guessed at religion and politics.
Super puzzle, thanks to both hihoba and charybdis.