Inquisitor 1632: Missing by Vismut

14 comments on “Inquisitor 1632: Missing by Vismut”

1. A lovely puzzle I thought, and I enjoyed the colouring at the end too. 🙂 I’ve read most of the books many times, so didn’t need Mr Google for once to complete.

2. Yes, a slow start for me too. I eventually twigged that I had to try to fit SNOWSHOE HARE into too little space but, having S?O? HARE meant that I wasn’t sure whether to lose the SNOW or the SHOE! It all eventually came clear, though I do admit to having to check the publication order in Google. One difficulty was that I had no idea that Roger Hargreaves had a first name, so the Mr. Men books didn’t immediately spring to mind from Charles Roger ???. Thanks for the colourful blog HG and thanks to Vismut for a challenge.

3. As I recall, I found this frustratingly hard work until the theme dawned – then all was forgiven! Perhaps appropriately I got in a mess working out who went in the central square. Nice to see a tribute to the books at a time when one of them has been accused of “mansplaining” or something!

4. Having tackled and enjoyed two previous puzzles by this setter I too found this one to be at a more challenging level. What I enjoyed most about it was the discovery of the missing items one by one after getting my first: HAPPY (in HAPPY MEDIUM).

   After HAPPY, SNEEZE was next. At that stage, from the letters extracted from the Across clues, I could guess the name CHARLES but nothing more. It was when SNOW and GREEDY appeared that I realised it must be the Mr Men, remembering a few of those characters from many years ago. The name ROGER HARGREAVES (which I knew) formed itself perfectly around the letters I had collected following CHARLES.

   The construction of this puzzle was excellent, with plenty of thematic entries (a quarter of all the entries) and an impressive gridfill.

   Thanks to Vismut and HolyGhost.

5. How is a hare a form filler? I’ve checked two dictionaries to no avail.

6. Tony @6
   A form is the home of a hare. I found this in both Chambers and Collins.

7. Even once I’d figured out these were words, not letters, in the missing cells, I found it a slow and tough solve, but not a slog. I could see no link between ‘snow’, ‘happy’ and ‘greedy’ (although we did seem to be in dwarf territory), and it was only with the appearance of Hargreaves that google eased the way to the solution.

   It may be a peculiar thing to say, but the clues seem easier in retrospect than they did in the solving; perhaps a definition of good clueing.

   Thanks to Vismut and HG.

8. It as a slow start for us too.

   We had enough letters to make a guess at HARGREAVES and then saw the possibility of NOSEY PARKERS. We had been fixated on there being a letter missing rather than a word despite rereading the preamble a few times. We did however need a search for the rest of the books.

   Thanks Vismut – we passed this IQ on to our son who grew up with Mr Men books and now reads them to his own children. Once we had the theme we enjoyed the solve. Well done on the construction.

   Thanks HG for the blog

9. Too tough for me…I got a handful of answers, but there was too much going against it in the preamble – so it for me to easily walk away from it after a few sessions.

   The definitions for the ones I did get were refreshing, I will give Vismut that.

   Thanks for the blog and the setter.

10. I thought this was great, thanks very much Vismut. A lovely PDM and some definitions that were new to me and raised a smile (form-fillers, late transporters). I finally got there via spotting COLOUR…CHARACTERS and trying to guess what might have 8+ in a series of colours (Captain Scarlet? Thomas the Tank Engine?). Mr Men came to mind and HARGREAVES then leapt out.

    My one gripe would be about the preamble. Like Bertandjoyce @8 I spent ages thinking that blank cells were required, and that entries had to be too short for their allotted space. I wasn’t sure why this wording was necessary really, perhaps to accommodate the grid design and the empty central cell?

11. Quite a fun solve. I was held up when I’d found several answers plus a couple of themers who were pointing me towards Snow White’s seven dwarves (before I solved Snowshoe Hare), and with Charles starting to take shape from the extra letters, plus the A four letters from the end I was googling Charles Perrault to see if he had a middle name – mais non – and a conveniently forgotten eighth dwarf lying around – non plus.

12. I have to confess that I have never read a Mr Men book, but I suspect Holyghost that at the age of 21 you were at least ten-fifteen years older than the target market :). I was kinda pleased to see some Men creeping in to the four weeks reserved for the lady crossword compilers too.

    Many thanks for the blog and the feedback. It is very useful. xx

     

13. Being Mr Ignorant, Mr Hargreaves meant nothing to me and it was not until enough of the message from the down clues appeared that the penny dropped. I just needed the internet to find the colours. Some excellent and challenging clues with some wily definitions, as already observed. A fairly difficult puzzle with a nice finish. Most enjoyable.

    Thanks to Vismut and HG.

14. I enjoyed this, a long and slow solve but an enjoyable one.  A DNF for me though I didn’t know what to do at the end, I was expecting something more than just colour in the squares with a pen.  Thanks to all.

     

     

     

Comments are closed.