Inquisitor Review 2014-15 by Nimrod

by

Seasons greetings to all from a very blustery and wet Yorkshire, and many thanks for all the messages of concern as to our well-being! On the south side of York Jane and I have been fortunate to escape the floods, although we are looking forward to seeing our garden again once the rainwater finally subsides…

With what’s going on outside it’s good to have crosswords to solve, and we’ve enjoyed making inroads into the stock of Inquisitor submissions, many of which will be see the light in 2016. In the pile are offerings from new setters (in name at least), some recent debutants and a handful of compilers whose earlier offerings predate my tenure as editor.

Talking of pseudonyms, six names appeared for the first time in 2015: Triton (certainly more to come), Hieroglyph (who will be known to solvers of the regular crossword), Serpent (who has now made his mark in the online Guardian Genius slot and elsewhere), Artix (who is one third of Rasputin as well as a setter for The Listener) and the two double-acts of Bics and Kandy (whose constituent parts will be familiar to Fifteensquared’s regular visitors).

Indeed, 50% of Kandy = 25% of our excellent blogging team, for whose painstaking contributions I offer my annual continued thanks. Similarly, I don’t know where I’d be without the testing team (Jane, Helen, Richard, David and “guest” editor Mark, who steps in when I’m involved in setting an IQ) the Independent’s production team (Stuart and Ian), or Mike (editor of all our “other” puzzles and who processes first drafts of the IQ). Nearly lastly, I think I speak for all of us in registering our gratitude to Gaufrid, who continues to oversee this wonderful facility with minimal fuss and maximal efficiency.

Lastly, thanks to you the solvers, particularly those of you who regularly comment here, or correspond with me about IQ issues especially those not involving undelivered prosecco. I couldn’t write the regular commentaries without your input!

Down to business. I invite you to vote for your favourite puzzles of the year. You have six points at your disposal. Normally 3= your favourite, 2= second and 1= third, but you are at liberty to distribute your points differently with halves (no other fractions, please!) if you like. No more than 3 points may be awarded to any one puzzle. Please register your vote on the thread below or by emailing me at nimrod1@jetdoc.co.uk. We’ll close the voting on January 13th, the solving deadline for Inquisitor 1419. You may not vote for It’s a Wrap! by Plench (“live puzzle”), but by all means include the end-of-2014 puzzle by Ferret, not included last year). Compilers may not vote for their own puzzles!

Asterisks indicate team difficulty ratings. “Bunches of five” all average out at medium difficulty. Please note that many of the ratings given below include those made by our great friend and checking colleague Trevor Crowther, who passed away in February and is greatly missed by us all.

27/12/14:1366   Spot the Difference   Ferret***
03/01/15:1367   Shortness of Clues   Schadenfreude**
10/01/15:1368   Off and On   Nutmeg*
17/01/15:1369   Options   Samuel**
24/01/15:1370   Side   Shark**
31/01/15:1371 Conclusion Kruger**
07/02/15:1372 After the Main Event Nudd**
14/02/15:1373 Rules of Engagement Ifor***
21/02/15:1374 Engagement Schadenfreude*
28/02/15:1375 Illusion Phi**
07/03/15:1376   Target   Dysart**
14/03/15:1377   Covenant   Poat**
21/03/15:1378   Tipster   Charybdis**
28/03/15:1379   Snobs   Lato**
04/04/15:1380   Serpent is as Serpent Does   Serpent**
11/04/15:1381 Scare Kruger**
18/04/15:1382 Paradox eXternal***
25/04/15:1383 Pub Crawl Wan**
02/05/15:1384 Blowing Chalicea*
09/05/15:1385 ICE Schadenfreude**
16/05/15:1386   This House Believes…   Phi**
23/05/15:1387   GoGo   Wickball**
30/05/15:1388   To all the Girls (from)   Triton**
06/06/15:1389   Who Ya Gonna Call?   Kandy**
13/06/15:1390   Verbatim   Bics**
20/06/15:1391 Relay Team Glow-worm*
27/06/15:1392 Mistakes Gila**
04/07/15:1393 Who are You? Lato**
11/07/15:1394 Matching Pairs Ifor***
18/07/15:1395 Dominance Kruger**
25/07/15:1396   Artwork   Hieroglyph**
01/08/15:1397   The Alternative Party   Schadenfreude***
08/08/15:1398   Good Fortune   Eclogue**
15/08/15:1399   Who Did What and To Whom?   Augeas*
22/08/15:1400   Beat the Clock   Nimrod**
29/08/15:1401 Central Item Phi***
05/09/15:1402 Child’s Play Ferret*
12/09/15:1403 Progress and Nostalgia Kruger**
19/09/15:1404 Rise and Fall Nutmeg*
26/09/15:1405 Unfulfilled Talent Schadenfreude***
03/10/15:1406   Mysterious Ending   Shark**
10/10/15:1407   Polished Off   Chalicea*
17/10/15:1408   Assumptions   Radler***
24/10/15:1409   Additions   Samuel**
31/10/15:1410   Not to Mention   Charybdis **
07/11/15:1411 Change of Attitude eXternal**
14/11/15:1412 The Great Divide Wan***
21/11/15:1413 Seedy (was Foxy) Artix*
28/11/15:1414 Breakthrough Schadenfreude**
05/12/15:1415 Shift Work Ifor**
12/12/15:1416   Can Henry   Kruger*
19/12/15:1417   Eve’s Arrival   Schadenfreude**

My own vote…  1st (3 pts) Spot the Difference by Ferret; 2nd (2 pts) Who you Gonna Call? by Kandy; 3rd (1 pt) Not to Mention by Charybdis.

Nimrod

 

24 comments on “Inquisitor Review 2014-15 by Nimrod”

  1. 1st and 3pts to Child’s play by Ferret (I would have given this all 6pts if allowed). This is the only puzzle where the excitement of finishing caused me to wake my wife in the early hours of the morning just so I could show someone.

  2. I’m going for 3 pts for Rules of Engagement (no 1373), 2 for Child’s Play (no 1402) and 1 for Can Henry ? (no 1416). I missed around a dozen or so puzzles through being out the country at various times during the year so my vote is based purely on around the 40 or so of this year’s puzzles I attempted.

    Just to say thanks to all the setters and bloggers for providing me with such entertainment and mental stimulation during the past 12 months ! Happy New Year to all.

  3. I’m voting for three that it was my pleasure to blog. Just lucky I guess. 3 points to 1410 Not to Mention… (the pumpkin one) by Charybdis, 2 points to 1402 Child’s Play (the churchy one) by Ferret and 1 point to 1366 Spot the Difference (the heraldry one) by Ferret.

    I thought, as I have said in the blog to 1418, that this has been an outstanding year, and many others were worthy of note.

    Thanks to Nimrod and his team and a Happy New Year to all.

  4. So many good puzzles to to choose from. A superb year.

    3 points No 1377 Covenant by Poat
    2 points No 1366 Spot the difference by Ferret
    1 point No 1410 Not to mention by Charybdis

  5. Best of the year was also the first, so 3 pts for Spot the Difference by Ferret (#1366).
    Next was also quite early on: 2 pts for Rules of Engagement by Ifor (#1373).
    And 1 pt for Mysterious Ending by Shark (#1406).

    As for the most charming puzzle? It has to be Ferret‘s Child’s Play … but I have no points left.

  6. Another great year of puzzles and blogs. Congrats and thanks to all fellow setters, the Ed and team and all contributors here.

    I found it tricky to pick an outright winner, so I’m copping out and giving 2 points each to the following puzzles, each of which made me smile. A lot.

    …

    Child’s Play by Ferret
    Paradox by External
    Not To Mention by Charybdis

    Here’s to 2016

    Ali/Gila

  7. I have to spread my votes among the 14 that I completed (a new PB – hurrah) and many of those were very enjoyable. Thanks to all bloggers and particularly setters for such consistently inventive and fun puzzles.

    3: 1402 Child’s Play. Like PeeDee @1 I too had to nudge my wife to show her the completed puzzle as I wanted to share my enthusiasm. Wonderful.
    2: 1410 Not to mention. Similar to the above, a brilliant PDM when the extent of the required shading dawned.
    1/2 each to 1390 Verbatim (brilliant construction) and 1391 Relay Team

    And I’d also like to mention how much I enjoyed the music-themed clues of 1388 To all the girls.

  8. 3 points – Charybdis – Not to mention

    2 points – Nimrod – Beat the Clock

    1 – Gila – Mistakes

  9. I very much enjoyed these puzzles –

    2 pts 1410 Giant Pumpkin by Charybdis
    2 pts 1402 Childs Play (Church doors) by Ferret
    1 pt 1391 “The Gasman Cometh” by Glow-Worm
    1/2 pt 1385 “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” by Schadenfreude
    1/2 pt 1403 Football Stadia Nostalgia by Kruger

    I enjoyed the others as well so thanks to all setters

  10. Joyce would like to award the following points:

    3 points 1410 Not to mention by Charybdis

    2 points 1402 Child’s Play by Ferret

    1 point 1382 Paradox by eXternal

  11. 3 points for 1410 – Not to Mention – Chraybdis – for the sheer joy of it

    2 points for 1373 – Rules of Engagement – Ifor – for the challenge (I still have the final cylindrical grid gathering dust somewhere)

    1 point for 1396 – Artwork – Hieroglyph – a personal pleasure in that I took it on holiday and solved it without any dictionary or internet access. And a fine puzzle too.

  12. An almost impossible choice but I’m going for:

    3 points ‘Mistakes’ by Gila (I’ve been waiting for a Simpsons themed offering for years, and this was done to perfection)

    2 points ‘Beat The Clock’ by Nimrod (Nimrod’s clues are in a class of their own for fiendishness…In my book this was much trickier than ‘The Alternative Party’ which got the three asterisks for that set of five)

    1 point ‘Not To Mention’ by Charybdis (Great fun, and fantastic grid construction)

    A big thankyou to all the setters for providing me with so much fun. Keep ’em coming….

  13. Another great year of Inquisitors. I’ve had real difficulty whittling this down, though the opportunity to relive some of the year’s fun was welcome

    My votes

    Not to mention by Charybdis 3. Loved it!
    Child’s play by ferret 1
    Illusion by Phi 1/2
    Central Item by Phi 1/2
    Seedy by Artix 1/2
    Additions by Samuel 1/2

    With many more just missing the cut. This was a torturous choice.

    With many many thanks to all the setters and bloggers

  14. 3 pts Beat the Clock. Nimrod
    2 pts The Alternative Party. Schadenfreude
    1 pt. Not to Mention. Charybdis

    Spoilt for choice, but these three just edged it.
    Lucky enough to have sampled the Champagne, olive oil and the Prosecco over the years, but I think this has been the best year’s collection of puzzles to date. Thank you all.

  15. Schadenfreude has given me most pleasure this year. Joint winners.
    3 pts The Alternative Party Schadenfreude
    3 pts ICE Schadenfreude

  16. Bert votes as follows:
    2 points: Not to Mention/Charybdis – brilliant! Would like to give more, but that would squeeze out other worthies!!
    1.5 points: Relay Team / Glow-worm – as in the boiler!!
    1 point: Beat the Clock / Nimrod
    1 point: Child’s Play / Ferret
    0.5 point: Shortness of Clues / Schadenfreude

    Very difficult to choose the best – they’ve all been so good!
    Many thanks to John, all the other setters and the bloggers for a brilliant year of IQs – keep them coming!

  17. A cop-out by me, I’m afraid. A fantastic range of puzzles this year and I’m giving one point each to these six which I enjoyed enormously:

    Three by the setter whose name I’m always delighted to see on a Saturday, Schadenfreude:

    The Alternative Party, ICE and Shortness of Clues

    plus:

    Relay Team by Glow-Worm
    Polished Off by Chalicea
    The Great Divide by Wan

    Must give them marks out of ten each week this year to avoid having to rely on memory next January!

    Thanks to everyone concerned throughout the year.

  18. If only I had more than 6 points to allocate! Given this limit, in the end I’m giving (in no particular order) one point to each of the following:

    Not to Mention by Charybdis
    Child’s Play by Ferret
    Serpent is as Serpent does by Serpent
    Can Henry by Kruger
    Polished Off by Chalicea
    Mistakes by Gila

    Many thanks to all setters for an exceptional year.

  20. As I have two pints left I give them equally to Beat the Clock and Can Henry. I would like to vote for every puzzle here if I could.

    Thanks to John H and all the setters.

  22. Remembering at my age is a real problem, particularly when Listeners add to the confusion … I have voted for some which, for me, had nostalgic and humorous overtones which added to the feelgood factor.

    1391 Relay Team by Glow Worm 3 pts.

    1382 Paradox by eXternal 1 pt.
    1391 Mistakes by Gila 1 pt.

    1370 Side by Shark 1 pt.

    Thanks to all setters.

    My vote for best clue of the year, by Morph, (in what puzzle I forget, but not an IQ) …

    “Steer with these ? That’s not right, for a start” (6)

  23. Thanks to John and all the setters for a great collection of puzzles this year. Difficult to choose favourites, but since you’re asking…

    Not to Mention (Charybdis) 1.5pts
    Child’s Play (Ferret) 1.5pts
    Rules of Engagement (Ifor) 1pt
    Paradox (eXternal) 1pt
    Shortness of Clues (Schadenfreude) 1pt

  24. 3 resounding points for Child’s play! I’ll leave the silver and bronze to the rest of you, dear friends. Thank you, John, for sending us expats so much pleasure – you are a star!

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