Inquisitor Review of the Year 2018-9

by

Here comes the Bride

So, we now have a possible Round 2 question for Only Connect: What comes fourth in this sequence of Clues:

Clue 1: 2nd (2014)
Clue 2: 2nd (2016)
Clue 3: 10th (2017)
??

The answer is 1st (2019): yes, eXternal has finally done it! His popular maze-based “Clue Two” series has, in its latest incarnation, reached the top of the pile, dislodging Harribobs, our winner of the last two years. Congratulations (from one of two perennial Page Boys) to the perennial “Bridesmaid” on finally making it up to the altar. The brilliant re-enactment of a game of Pac-man summed up for me the essence of the perfect Inquisitor: an at-first daunting grid with a preamble whose elements are gradually ticked off during the solve, with a most satisfying PDM. If you didn’t see the puzzle, take a look at H_G_’s excellent blog here – it’s certainly worth a few minutes of your time.

Commiserations to the other “Page Boy” Ifor, now our most published setter. His puzzles, with an impressive array of beautifully executed original themes, are always there or thereabouts in each year’s voting. Note that he was also responsible for three of the top 5 puzzles – he designed the SPINK grid for puzzle 1600.

It has been a wonderful year again for the Inquisitor crossword. I’ve already solved some great puzzles to share with you during 2020. But eXternal, Ifor and the rest of us will certainly have our work cut out in 2019 if we are to prevent a certain person regaining his crown. Tourist Information has already set the bar very high.

The details follow, but by way of summary here are a few statistics (you may wish to compare these with the 2017-8 figures):

  • 30 solvers voted, 20 (+me) on Fifteensquared, 8 via email, one via Twitter
  • 32 of this year’s 52 puzzles received at least one vote
  • the 5 three-star (harder) puzzles received a total of 25 votes
  • the 5 one-star (easier) puzzles received a total of no(!) votes
  • 3 of the 5 3-star puzzles were in the top 12 (4 in the top 15)
  • most voted-for puzzles (11 each): the top three
  • most talked-about puzzle (29 comments): To The Four Corners … by Wan
  • only 8 of the 30 voters awarded a 3 (three of them to the winner), there were 28 2s.
Position . No. . Title with starred difficulty
(***tougher-*easier)		 . Setter . Posts/
Votes		 . Points
1 1592 Clue Two IV*** eXternal 22/11 21
2 1575 The Gas Man Cometh** Ifor 21/11 16½
3 1618 The Missing Piece of the Jigsaw** Nimrod 17/11 15½
4 1594 Milpar** Ifor 22/9 12½
5 1600 4G Network** SPINK 10/10 11½
6 1615 Corpsing** Encota 20/7 10
=7 1576 YNTHFYHFTTF HTTL** Schadenfreude 19/8 9
1597 To The Four Corners …*** Wan 29/5
1607 If Only, If Only** Ifor 22/8
10 1584 I Give You … ** Jetdoc 27/6 8
11 1622 [Invisible Ink]** Phi 19/4 6
12 1610 Escape to the Country*** Harribobs 27/5 5½
=13 1593 Mirror Image II Serpent 15/4 5
1602 Mystery Man** Vismut 14/5
15 1582 Missing Flight Bag*** Ifor 26/3 4½
=16 1601 Terse** Chalicea 10/3 4
1613 Class Action** Stuball 9/3
=18 1580 Blank Face** Gila 15/1 2
1583 Partial Survival** Schadenfreude 17/1
1588 Odd One Out** eXtent 9/2
1604 Day Trip From Columbia** Kruger 9/2
1608 Advice to Solvers from** Serpent 14/2
1611 Keep Recycling** Hob 15/2
1619 Duckegg** Kruger 11/2
1623 Myth** Dysart 14/2
=26 1574 Doctor’s Orders** eXtent 14/1 1
1577 Hearst** Kruger 11/1
1581 Almost Surely** Hedge-sparrow 27/1
1595 Invalid Care** Phi 15/1
1596 Double Act** Lato 17/1
1609 Shifts in Character* MynoT 10/1
1621 Stone the Crows*** Ace of Hearts 12/1

In compiling both the Review and the Results, it was noticeable just how many excellent puzzles went unrewarded by voters. This is a measure of just what standards our compilers set and maintain. I would particularly emphasise this point to our less experienced setters. I predict quite a few new entries in next year’s results chart!

John

6 comments on “Inquisitor Review of the Year 2018-9”

  1. Many thanks John for the analysis.

    Thanks also to everyone who contributes to the IQ puzzles – our favourite crossword and the highlight of each weekend.

  2. Didn’t do very well this time – I had 3rd, 4th, 5th, 2 x =7th, and finally a =26th.
    Thanks to John and all the setters and bloggers.

  3. Thoroughly deserved well done Steve. And thanks again to all setters and bloggers for another superb year of puzzles

  4. A well deserved winner. It must also be said that there were loads of candidates for best of, and that there wasn’t a puzzle last year I didn’t enjoy, so congratulations are due all round, and to John for holding everything together.

  5. 2019 ws a fantastic year for these puzzles, and I too salute the winner.  The general standard of these puzzles is extremely high, and I enjoy nearly every one that I attempt and remember them for a long time afterwards.

    Another year like that is all I ask for 2020.

  6. Congratulations eXternal!

    And a question for John: I know that there is the Inquisitor index available on here, but is there an archive of blank puzzles anywhere? I was thinking that it would be nice to have a look at a few from the time before I started attempting them (2012). Thanks.

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