Inquisitor Review of the Year 2024-5: The Results

Inquisitor Review of the Year 2024-5: The Results

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