On the Art of the Crossword
Or should that be On the Crossword of the Art? Harribobs does it again, with another work of
genius: a reproduction, in a crossword puzzle, of Mondrian’s Composition A. After Captain’s
Log (2017), Go West Young Man (2018) and Tourist Information (2020), it’s the fourth time
he’s claimed the Shield. In itself, that is remarkable – but it also represents a 44% strike rate –
only nine Harribobs puzzles have appeared in the Inquisitor series.
As you’ll see from the results below, Pictures at an Exhibition was a clear winner. But hearty
congratulations are due also to the two setters leading a closely grouped chasing pack. Hotpot
and Christmas-time at Hook-a-Gate were puzzles by two debut setters, Tack and Pomfret
Cake. For me, these puzzles were particularly memorable for their misleading preambles: in
the first, the wording referring to a series of plays performed in a theatre (no, not those); in
the second, a preamble that seemed to be full of excess verbiage (but wasn’t). Do visit the
respective blogs on Fifteen Squared to remind yourselves – and enjoy another chuckle or two.
Here are the top 24.
Qualification: 2 points
| Position No. | Title | Setter | Pts |
| 1 | 1888 Pictures at an Exhibition | Harribobs | 24 |
| =2 | 1904 Hotpot | Tack | 11.5 |
| 1938 Christmas-time at Hook-a-Gate | Pomfret Cake | ||
| 4 | 1922 Stage Presence | Arcadia | 10 |
| 5 | 1913 What Goes Around | Charybdis | 8.5 |
| =6 | 1903 Lines | Pandiculator | 7 |
| 1918 Taken for a Ride | Vismut | ||
| 1928 Dyno-Rod | Triton | ||
| 9 | 1887 Song 2 | eXtent | 6.5 |
| =10 | 1906 Missing in Action | Serpent | 6 |
| 1933 Runtime | Serpent | ||
| 12 | 1899 Pride … | Nimrod | 5 |
| =13 | 1902 Solar | Karla | 3 |
| 1915 Circle Line/Central Line | Cranberry | ||
| 1924 Sausage Competition II | eXternal | ||
| 1931 Take Your Partners | Nimrod | ||
| =17 | 1898 Border | eXternal | 2.5 |
| 1912 Absences | Skylark | ||
| =19 | 1900 Nine in One Hundred | PINK | 2 |
| 1910 Dead-letter Drop | Kruger | ||
| 1916 Workout | Poat | ||
| 1927 Line Management | Phi | ||
| 1929 The Party’s Over | Ifor | ||
| 1936 Advent Calendar | Phi |
And here’s to (the rest of) 2026.
John
A very worthy winner!
I gave it one point, but on looking at it again, it deserved more.
Congratulations to Harribobs and we need more from him/her asap.
Really pleased to see that Harribobs is the winner. This puzzle was my first choice. This letter’s puzzles are few and far between but are always more than worth the wait. Hope it’s not too long before the next one.
Congratulations to Harribobs, 4 wins from 9 is very impressive! I didn’t manage to complete this latest puzzle and really must return to it.
Congratulations to Harribobs and all the other IQ setters. Plus thanks to John of course!