An Inquisitor puzzle from Quixote for the first time in 6 years.
Preamble: Across clues and answers are normal. Type 1 Down clues have an extra letter added to the wordplay; their answers are to be entered normally. Type 2 Down clues are normal, but their answers are to be entered in a consistent, modified way; wordplay in these clues refers to the modified entries. A phrase (to be written under the grid) may be constructed from the extra letters, read left to right, in Type 1 clues, followed by a name cryptically generated from certain letters, read left to right, in Type 2 answers.
I didn’t get off to a particularly fast start with this one, especially with weekend guests staying till after lunch on Monday, but I did quickly realise that the modification required for Type 2 Down answers was to move the first letter to the end. 
I had the feeling that the clues were a little different from usual, maybe it was the notable absence of anagrams, and also there seemed to be more proper nouns than is often the case. (Note: this is not a criticism, just a comment.)
Nevertheless, after a lengthy session on Tuesday I had a filled grid, apart from a glaringly sparse top left quadrant with six or seven unsolved clues. I fairly soon polished those off the following morning, and then returned to the preamble. The extra letters from Type 1 Down clues, read left to right, spelt FALL OF, consistent with both the title of the puzzle and the manner of entry of the other down answers; as to those Type 2 answers, I was slightly put off by the apparent vagueness of “cryptically generated from certain letters” but the ‘moved’ letters were the obvious candidates, and they read OPCONSTANTLE, indicating CONSTANT in OPLE or CONSTANTINOPLE.
All in all, not too taxing a puzzle. I dug around for a bit to see if this was an anniversary or some such, but could find nothing at first – April/May 1453 didn’t seem relevant to this late August bank holiday in 2016. And then it struck me – the year of the Fall and the number of the puzzle …. Thanks, Quixote.
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue | Answer | Extra letter |
Wordplay |
| 1 | Place with bay horse – look out! (6) | GALWAY | GALLOWAY (horse) − LO (LOOK) | |
| 5 | British soldiers west of new German city (6) | BREMEN | B(ritish) REME (soldiers) N(ew) | |
| 9 | Fellow bringing gypsy aboard old ship (6) | DROMON | DON (fellow) around ROM (gypsy) | |
| 10 | Effusiveness no end in old lecturers’ association – no students now? (6) | AUGUST | GUS(h) (effusiveness) in AUT (Association of University Teachers) | |
| 12 | Day something wild fruitlessly chased animal (8) | MONGOOSE | MON (day) GOOSE (ref.: wild-goose chase) | |
| 13 | Attackers are poorly protected by silly workers (10) | ASSAILANTS | AIL (are poorly) in ASS (silly) ANTS (workers) | |
| 15 | Supports members of a house audibly (5) | PIERS | homophone: PEERS (members of a house) | |
| 17 | Native words introducing appeal to guru? (5) | OSAGE | O SAGE (… appeal to guru) | |
| 18 | Weight knocking many over (4) | TOLA | A LOT (many) both< | |
| 22 | Educational establishments? Complete agreement not feasible (4) | UNIS | UNISON (complete agreement) − ON (feasible) | |
| 23 | Foreign river current ultimately moving composer (5) | IBERT | TIBER (foreign river) with (curren)T moving | |
| 26 | Minister’s office to scold disappearing page (5) | RECTO | RECTORATE (minister’s office) − RATE (scold) | |
| 29 | The valley hidden behind old country evergreen (10) | GAULTHERIA | THE RIA (valley) after GAUL (old country) | |
| 30 | Perhaps primitive tool made in German region in which quality is evident (8, 2 words) | STONE AXE | SAXE (German region) around TONE (quality) | |
| 31 | Ape identity established by smell (6) | PONGID | ID(entity) after PONG (smell) | |
| 32 | Wander left beyond short paved road (6) | STREEL | L(eft) after STREE(t) (paved road) | |
| 33 | Demonstrations not right by son – they are bogus (6) | SPOOFS | PROOFS (demonstrations) − R(ight) after S(on) | |
| 34 | Feature of this art repels philosopher (6) | SARTRE | (thi)S ART RE(pels) | |
| Down | ||||
| Note that in Type 2 clues the Wordplay refers to the Entry, i.e. the Answer with the first letter moved to the end | ||||
| No. | Clue | Answer | Extra letter |
Wordplay |
| 1 | Eight fuss after good celebration (6) | OGDOAD | ADO (fuss) after G(ood) DO (celebration) | |
| 2 | A revolutionary maritime gentleman emerges (6) | ARISES | A | A SEA SIR (maritime gentleman) both< |
| 3 | Incompetent investigator from city’s foundation going after unpleasant person (8) | CLOUSEAU | AUC (from city’s foundation) after LOUSE (unpleasant person) | |
| 4 | Female dictator once concealing love (5) | NAOMI | AMIN (dictator once, ref.: Idi A.) around O (love) | |
| 5 | Suggestion that we should have nobody common (5) | BANAL | L | BAN ALL (suggestion that we should have nobody ) |
| 6 | Restaurant provision around lunchtime accommodated by Ronay not fixed (10) | NEGOTIABLE | TABLE (restaurant provision) around I (lunchtime) in EGON (ref.: E. Ronay) | |
| 7 | Inferior existence with opposing sides at the bottom (6) | LESSER | ESSE (existence) R(ight) & L(eft) (opposing sides) | |
| 8 | Knight with few words comes on stage (6) | ENTERS | N (knight) TERSE (with few words) | |
| 11 | Primate organised dance having grabbed fiddle (10) | ORANGUTANG | RAN (organised) TANGO (dance) around GU (fiddle) | |
| 14 | I charge for setting up foreign monetary unit (4) | LOTI | L | I TOLL (charge) both< |
| 16 | Sign of sorrow with old prayer sent up – solemn church service (8) | TENEBRAE | TEAR (sign of sorrow) BENE (prayer, archaic) both< | |
| 19 | Huge person avoiding alcohol rarely threw up (4) | TOST | OS (outsize, huge) TT (person avoiding alcohol) | |
| 20 | Gets hold of ex-tennis champion’s note (6) | GRASPS | F | GRAF‘S (ex-tennis champion’s) PS (note) |
| 21 | Once again shut down quickly (6) | PRESTO | RESTOP (shut down again) | |
| 24 | One who steals gold needing someone to help (6) | RAIDER | O | OR (gold) AIDER (someone to help) |
| 25 | Local baited line for catching pink paper bird (6) | TEAGLE | F | FT (pink paper) EAGLE (bird) |
| 27 | A boy’s confused mixture (5) | SALAD | A LAD’S (boy’s) | |
| 28 | Traveller’s tongue not the first to lick dish (5) | ASHET | SHELTA (language used by travellers) − L(ick) | |
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Thanks for the blog. This is the first IQ I’ve tried in a while, tempted back after spotting the setter and the expectation this wouldn’t take as much of my time as some do. This proved to be true, for the most part, and I completed the grid, but stumbled badly on the end game.
Thanks HG for explaining the significance of the puzzle’s number. As with a recent clever title, “The Enemy’s Gift”, this had eluded me. A good solid puzzle from Quixote.
Thanks Quixote for an enjoyable solve. Challenging enough but not a slog, as some IQs have been recently, and a nice finish. Thanks, as always, to HG for the blog – I kicked myself for not spotting the wordplay for goose in 12A!
This was a slow burner for me – took me a long time to get going and I didn’t have more than a handful of across answers for a long while, but I eventually got into it. Also took me disturbingly long to understand the cryptic name, I think because I was convinced I was looking for a mathematical constant in amongst some other letters. When I did finally finish I felt that there was something missing, but on reflection, especially now that HG has pointed out the significance of the puzzle number, it’s grown on me and I’d now say it was a neat puzzle and a satisfying solve.
Since as Q I have now packed up the Indy (with the i shamelessly recycling old Indy puzzles with no extra fee) I thought I had better try to keep the identity alive from time to time.
I sympathise with those who fell at the last hurdle (as I often do myself) but I tried to get to a preamble that would minimise that risk without entirely giving the game away.
I don’t know quite how to take the relatively small number of comments here. Maybe the wolves thought this was too dull and easy to be worth commenting on. My style is certainly nearer that of the original Indy Mag puzzle, with a lot less complexity than is evident in today’s puzzles. But thank you for what feedback there is.
Don’t take it personally Q! It’s been relatively quiet on here over the summer and may just be down to holidays.
Another fine IQ in what has been a great run of challenges since the i transition. I found this one pretty tough, making slow progress initially and having no idea what was going on in the down clues until hours in. The grid was finally complete (3D last in accompanied by a swift kick to the shins), and a nice cryptic touch for the final message. I didn’t twig about the relevance of the puzzle number so that’s a nice little bonus to read about. Thanks for the blog HG and to Quixote for the puzzle. I do hope we don’t have to wait a further 6 years for the next.
Perhaps the relatively few comments is explained by late holidays?
I enjoyed the solve, and somehow came relatively quickly to see the trick. But as for working out what had fallen, I gave up once the series of letters appeared to be nonsense (I never quite got to spelling them all out, which would have been a good idea). I thought I might be searching for hours. Clearly I should have tried a little harder. Many thanks to Quixote and HG.
If Quixote is still watching this blog, I would be curious to know how long this puzzle has been waiting for Inquisitor number 1453 to come along. Does it account for some of the gap since the last Quixote Inquisitor?
I’m afraid I didn’t realise the significance of the number either, until it was pointed out by HG. Thanks to both Setter and Blogger.
In answer to 9. I decided that I wanted to keep Quixote alive and wanted to get in a puzzle this year, so I chose to look at dates based on the upcoming puzzle numbers and consulted a reference book. The very significant historical event of 1453 struck me as promising and I had an idea pretty quickly. It was a convenient few months away to get the slot reserved and time to set the puzzle and get it into production. A one-off and goodness knows when the next one will be — I have a pretty full portfolio in my various guises!