We have an Inquisitor from Radler this week. We see a Radler puzzle about once a year. the previous one appearing in November 2021.
We had a fairly short preamble telling us that "Clockwise around the perimeter are four outspoken characters from a collection. Each across clue has a single letter misprint in its definition. The correct letters, in clue order, spell most of the title. Unchecked letters in the perimeter could be rearranged to form: I FELL, A CUE TO ELITE.
Solvers should identify another of the characters (15, four words) which may be traced in the completed grid and highlight eight cells. The spelling at 26 is confirmed in SOED."
The first paragraph was fairly standard. Single letter misprints in definitions are a common device in Inquisitor puzzles, although one always has to take care to see whether it is the correct letters or the misprints that are important. This it was the correct letters.
The second paragraph was a bit more difficult to understand with 15 letters forming four words but only 8 cells to highlight. No doubt it would make sense later on.
In puzzles like this I usually start on the normal clues and had some success with BOLDER, ATE (without understanding all the parsing), ENTROPY, WEBCAM and TARIM (although I had to check it was a Chinese river).
With some crossing letters, it was time to try the across clues leading to LOFT, YELL, MOSUL and ASTERISK.
Gradually the grid built up, but the message seemed a bit odd for a message in English. I was confident of the misprints I was detecting so I persevered and eventually got something like M_TSHEUT (I was changing Deduce to DeducT at that point)_SGOUSSE_ A bit of research threw up MOTS D’HEURES GOUSSES which made me change Deduce to Reduce in the clue at 18 across.
The theme is based on some strange verses where an English nursery rhymes can be detected if the verse is read with an outrageous French accent. The message therefore translates to MOTHER GOOSE. You can read more about the theme on Wikipedia by clicking HERE
The full title is MOTS D’HEURES GOUSSES RAMES where RAMES is pronounced as Rhymes RAMES is the title of the puzzle.
The next task was to fill the perimeter with the names of other Nursery Rhymes similarly translated. I got BEAU PIPE (Bo Peep) fairly quickly but I needed more research to get all three of CHACUN GILLE (Jack and Jill), LITELLE MEESE MOFFETTE (Little Miss Muffet) and the LILLE in front of BEAU PIPE. This of course leads to four characters as CHACUN GILLE counts as two. ‘Outspoken’ in the preamble is a cryptic reference to the way the characters are pronounced.
Finally we had to find the fifteen characters in the grid. All the research had many references to UN PETIT D’UN PETIT as the translation of Humpty Dumpty. So we had the 15 characters OK. A study of the grid showed 8 characters UN PETIT D forming a closed ring centrally. The full 15 characters can be created by going round the ring again. Therefore the preamble made sense, four words, 15 characters to form the name but only 8 need be highlighted.
The animation of the grid below shows that the 15 unchecked letters in the perimeter do indeed represent I FELL, A CUE TO ELITE.
This was a clever grid and clue construction to get the corrected misprints to form the message, but the theme was not something that really grabbed me as I still struggle with the pronunciation of LITELLE MESSE MOFFETTE and part of LILLE BEAU PIPE. I was OK with CHACUN GILLE.
The clues were quite challenging, but fair. As mentioned above, it took me a while to see that ATE was a double wordplay as well as a definition. I liked the clues for ERIC, LAPLACE, PALAU and WEBCAM.
I can’t quite see how the wordplay for ANZAC outs the AN before ZAC, but that’s probably my misunderstanding of the clue. I’m also not sure how LED in ROILED involves ‘to the country’. I shall be interested to learn how that works.
The grid is shown below.
The title has been mentioned earlier in the blog as the final word of the title partly spelled out by the corrected misprints.
| No |
Clue Amended Clue |
Letter | Entry |
| Across | |||
| 8 |
Consignment conceals female rook with pigeons (4) Consignment conceals female room with pigeons (4) LOFT (room or shed for pigeons) LOT (collection; set ; consignment) containing (conceals) F (female) LO (F) T |
M | |
| 10 |
In southern farce, man wanting for an antidepressant (5) In southern force, man wanting for an antidepressant (5) ANZAC (an Australian or New Zealand soldier, especially a member of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps during World War I; Southern force man) PROZAC (proprietary name for an ant-depressant drug) excluding (wanting) PRO (in favour of; for) + AN I don’t quite see how this clue puts AN at the beginning of the entry. To me, the clue seems to lead to ZACAN AN ZAC |
O | |
| 11 |
Cases back Judge caught in obstructions (8) Casts back Judge caught in obstructions (8) REFLECTS (sends back; cast back) REF (referee; judge) + C (caught) contained in (in) LETS (obstructions) REF LE (C) TS |
T | |
| 12 |
Subject of UN aid forced moderation by Nationalist (7) Subject of US aid forced moderation by Nationalist (7) IDAHOAN (someone from the US State of IDAHO; subject of the United States) Anagram of (forced) AID + HOA (moderation) + N (Nationalist) IDA* HOA N |
S | |
| 13 |
Discussed means to control crops from above (4) Discussed means to control drops from above (4) RAIN (water that falls from the sky in drops ) RAIN (sounds like [discussed] REIN [a means to control a horse, for example) RAIN |
D | |
| 14 |
Weight prize, losing last pound (5) Height prize, losing last pound (5) LEVEL (height) LEVER (prize [open]) excluding (losing) the final letter (last) R + L (symbol sometimes used for pound sterling or pound weight) LEVE L |
H | |
| 15 |
Daughter gatecrashing golf union to play reverso (7) Daughter gatecrashing golf union to play reverse (7) UNDOING (reversal of what has been done; reverse) D (daughter) contained in (gatecrashing) an anagram of (to play) G (Golf is the international radio communication codeword for the letter G) and UNION UN (D) OING* |
E | |
| 16 |
Sam the Killer gave family some rich clothes (4) Sum the Killer gave family some rich clothes (4) ERIC (blood-fine paid by a murderer to his victim’s family in old Irish law) ERIC (hidden word in [clothes] SOME RICH) ERIC |
U | |
| 18 |
Deduce retiring inspectorâs last to crack case (4) Reduce retiring inspectorâs last to crack case (4) DROP (decrease; reduce) (R [final letter of {last} INSPECTOR] contained in [to crack] POD [case]) all reversed (retiring) (D (R) OP)< |
R | |
| 22 |
Vain Earl not coming back (4) Vein Earl not coming back (4) TONE (manner; vein) (E [Earl] + NOT) all reversed (coming back) (TON E)< |
E | |
| 24 |
You will, as formerly, round off (4) You will, as formerly, sound off (4) YELL (cry loudly; sound off) YE’LL (you will using YE [an old {formerly} word for YOU]) YELL |
S | |
| 26 |
Treat number of units at tribe by arrangement (7) Great number of units at tribe by arrangement (7) TERABIT (1 TERABIT = 1012bits = 1000000000000 bits = 1000 gigabits; a great number of units) This spelling is in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. Anagram of (by arrangement) AT TRIBE TERABIT* |
G | |
| 29 |
City of masques and fulsome naked dancing (5) City of mosques and fulsome naked dancing (5) MOSUL (city in northern Iraq; a city of mosques) Anagram of (dancing) FULSOME excluding the outer letters (naked) F and E MOSUL* |
O | |
| 30 |
Take place to left, having rubbish reflexes (4) Take place to left, having rubbish refluxes (4) EBBS (refluxes) BE (take place) reversed (to the left) + BS (bullshit; rubbish) EB< BS |
U | |
| 31 |
Drink to doctor and a page of maths and physics (7) Drink to doctor and a sage of maths and physics (7) LAPLACE (reference Pierre-Simon LAPLACE [1749-1827], French scholar and polymath whose work was important to the development of engineering, mathematics, statistics and philosophy; sage of mathematics and physics) LAP (drink) + LACE (to doctor a drink by adding an unwanted substance) LAP LACE |
S | |
| 32 |
Timer character set off during amateur game (8) Times character set off during amateur game (8) ASTERISK (character sometimes used as an indicator of multiplication; times) Anagram of (off) SET contained in (during) (A + RISK [name of a board game]) A (STE*) RISK |
S | |
| 34 |
Plant one foot outside (5) Plane one foot outside (5) FACET (plane) FT (foot) containing (outside) ACE (one) F (ACE) T |
E | |
| 35 |
Register trick, not with clubs (4) Resister trick, not with clubs (4) ANTI (one who is opposed; resister) ANTIC (trick) excluding (not with) C (clubs) ANTI |
S | |
| Down | |||
| 1 |
Be outspoken having matured, not so shy (6) BOLDER (more forward; not so shy) B (sounds like [outspoken] BE) + OLDER (having matured) B OLDER |
||
| 2 |
After hearing, key figure also put away (3) ATE (put away [food]) ATE (sounds like [after hearing] EIGHT [a figure]) ATE (sounds like [after hearing] AIT [a small island or key]) ATE |
||
| 3 |
Itâs fun dismantling former display (6) UNFOLD (reveal; display) Anagram of (dismantling) FUN + OLD (former) UNF* OLD |
||
| 4 |
Republic of China accepted superior (5) PALAU (the Republic of PALAU is an island state in the Western Pacific) PAL (friend; china) + A (accepted) + U (upper class; superior) PAL A U |
||
| 5 |
Set tempo on piano and performed well (5) PACED (set the tempo) P (piano) + ACED (performed well) P ACED |
||
| 6 |
Disorder requires medical specialism; slightly unwell (7) ENTROPY (a measure of the disorder of a system) ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat, a medical specialism) + ROPY (slightly unwell) ENT ROPY |
||
| 7 |
Dragging old woman round, ought to tip (6) HALING (dragging) HAG (ugly old woman) containing (round) (NIL [nothing; naught; ought] reversed [to tip]) HA (LIN<) G |
||
| 9 |
On loan before final, not initially playing ex-Liverpool player (6) LENNON (reference John LENNON [1969-1980]. member of The Beatles who were a band based in Liverpool; ex-Liverpool player) Anagram of (playing) ON and LEND excluding the last letter (before final) D and N (first letter of [initially] NOT) LENNON* |
||
| 11 |
John and Edâs prey not entirely mad (5) RAVIN (John Milton and Edmund Spenser’s word for prey) RAVING (mad) excluding the final letter (not entirely) G RAVIN |
||
| 17 |
Charlie misses instruction (7) CLASSES (lessons; instruction) C (Cocaine [Charlie]) + LASSES (girls; misses) C LASSES |
||
| 19 |
Patrickâs nation took to the country in a state of agitation (6) ROILED (in a state of turbulence or agitation) ROI (Republic of Ireland; St Patrick is the Patron saint of Ireland) + LED (guided; took to the country as a guided walk?) I don’t really understand the ‘to the country’ part of the clue ROI LED |
||
| 20 |
Religious festival wanting to restrict Sabbath (5) WESAK (alternative name for VESAK, festival held in May to commemorate the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha) WEAK (lacking; wanting) containing (to restrict) S (Sabbath) WE (S) AK |
||
| 21 |
It takes user online, all of us grew pointlessly (6) WEBCAM (web camera; device that takes pictures of someone whilst he/she is online) WE (all of us) + BECAME (grew [into]) excluding both occurrences of E (East; compass point) [pointlessly]) WE BCAM |
||
| 23 |
Rulerâs office docks time from agency worker and tax (6) EMPIRE ( the government or office of an emperor; ruler’s office) TEMP (TEMPorary member of staff [Agency worker] excluding (docks) T [time]) + IRE (annoy; tax) EMP IRE |
||
| 25 |
Plastic fish worn by child in playground game (6) LUCITE (trade name for a kind of solid, transparent plastic, often used instead of glass) LUCE (a freshwater fish, the pike) containing (worn by) IT (designated child in a playground game) LUC (IT) E |
||
| 27 |
Smoking remains moot, ultimately, objections about it (5) BUTTS (remains of cigarettes; smoking remains) BUTS (objections) containing (about) T (last letter of [ultimately] MOOT) BUT (T) S – either T could be the one contained |
||
| 28 |
Chinese banker crucial to revolution in Emirates (5) TARIM (river [banker] in China) TARIM (reversed [in revolution] hidden word in [crucial to] EMIRATES) TARIM< |
||
| 33 |
Girl, one not fully grown up (3) SAL (girl’s name) LASS (a young woman; one not fully grown) reversed (up; down entry) SAL< |
i
Regarding ROILED, I read “to the country” as being part of the definition. Chambers has roiled as being “dialect and US”.
Thought this was a fun puzzle with a nicely realised theme. I must admit that I needed help from the internet to complete the endgame, but that didn’t detract from an enjoyable offering.
All thanks to Radler and duncanshiell. A good chuckle here when I recognized the book title — where I had an unfair advantage thanks to having a copy. Which I needed to consult because I couldn’t remember any of the “outspoken characters” (neatly put) except for Un petit du’n petit, whose dying words may have been the perimeter message.
I think the construction of 10a is AN PROZAC (antidepressant) minus PRO (“wanting FOR”).
@2 “dying words … perimeter message” — oops, I meant the unchecked-letters anagram, of course.
Just wondering if this was compiled in The Frog and Rosbif!
(Good Moaning)
I found this very amusing with an (eventually) satisfyingly devious endgame. I cottoned on to the Franglais-ish nursery rhymes quite early on – they rang a distant bell – but like Jon_S I needed google for Humpty. It was the 8 shaded letters for a 15-letter character that was particularly maddening. I feel it was gettable without Google though, and did kick myself a bit.
Further to David Langford’s spot about Humpty’s dying words, I like the idea that he is “traced”, per the preamble, in the circular shape.
The previous one (Lost Youth) was so good I honestly didn’t want it to end, but this was a very fine construction too. Many thanks.
Came up short again this week – five clues had the better than me and I got nowhere with the end game – so sadly another DNF recorded for me this week …
.. but fancy making us poor English speaking Anglo Saxon peasants finish up this weeks Inquisitor (published on 15 Oct) by writing in the French language, on the very day after the anniversary of the Battle of Hastings. Felt like a bit of a cheap shot that did … talk about oppression! Then again, the clue’s in the title … it’s supposed to be an Inquisition I guess … đ
I was getting nowhere with this weird succession of corrected letters, but a desperate internet search suddenly turned things around. I found the endgame very entertaining, and grateful that the character we were searching for was the one most cited in the various websites on offer. I did think that the highlighting of eight cells was a different and separate task from the tracing of Humpty Dumpty – so I guess I finished it more than I thought it had.
Many thanks to Radler and duncanshiell.
Very hard work this, as neither extra letters nor perimeter made any sense until the very end. I had seen a âMissâ in the bottom row early on and went down the âMr. Menâ route for a while, then saw âMoffetâ emerge but with an extra letter after Miss, so discarded that too.
Once discovered, I found the poems droll enough, if a little too pleased with thenselves. Un Petit DâUn Petit is fun though and nicely done in the puzzle.
I was going to say it was the most random theme in a long time, but as other commentators were familiar, itâs clearly my shortcoming.
Thanks to Radler and ds.
The theme was both amazing and amusing, and I had no idea that such cleverly written n’heures souris rames existed. Having extracted 15 of the 18 letters from the Across clues, I could see that the phrase was probably in ‘French’, and I found it quite easily online. As soon as I realised what was going on, BEAU PIPE stood out in the top row before I found it in the article, and the other three names soon followed.
The source that gave me those four names also had Un petit d’un petit (15 letters), which I thought was the best and funniest of all those titles. After a brief scan of the grid I was minded to rule that one out, but fortunately I then twigged that the ‘eight cells’ mentioned in the preamble would accommodate that title exactly, allowing for the duplicated phrase. And there it was – bang in the centre. A very satisfying finish.
There were many cracking clues here, one of which, LENNON, I remember well because it was one of my last in, having fooled me for so long. I had difficulty parsing two other clues and was glad to see them analysed above.
Thanks to Radler and duncanshiell.
Thanks to setter & blogger. I think the parsing of 9d needs a slight revision – as it stands it would be an indirect anagram but it works more straightforwardly as LEN(T) (on loan before final (letter)) + N (not initially) +ON (playing) – it was one of my last entries, too.
I remember that I solved 9d LENNON the same way as shikasta (@10). (What held me up – as intended! – was the ‘ex-Liverpool player’.)
Ah, frustrating. Despite repeatedly googling BEAU PIPE + Little Miss Muffet, I couldn’t find anything to help me make the leap to what the heck was actually going on here. Thanks for finally putting me out of my misery.
shikasta @ 10 and Alan B @ 11
You both make a fair point about indirect anagrams and LEND v LENT. I have been taken to task once or twice before in blogs when suggesting indicrect anagrams in some wordplay while mssing something more obvious.
That’s the last Inquisitor for me.
Completed the grid and identified the theme but I draw the line at trying to identify some obscure French words in the grid plus highlighting some mysterious eight letters.
Only just finished this. I found the clues really difficult and progress was slow but very satisfying to finally get the theme earlier today. The corrected letters (minus a couple I didn’t have and the same T/R error initially made by Duncan) were providing nothing for me via google and it was only by looking in the usual places in the grid that I spotted DUN PETIT and tried searching for that, which then threw up the right answer.
Thanks Radler
Missed the homophone ATE ~ AIT (key) at 2d, so thanks for that Duncan.
And thanks to Radler for making me aware of the book of spoof rames.