Inquisitor 1665: Seize Them All by eXternal

19 comments on “Inquisitor 1665: Seize Them All by eXternal”

1. 

   NormanJL

   #1 - Tue 29th Sep 20, 09:17

   
   

   Rather good at this setting lark, isn’t he? And seize in French is 16.

2. 

   bridgesong

   #2 - Tue 29th Sep 20, 09:29

   
   

   A very tough puzzle, which took me several days to complete.  The significance of the reds and the flowers only became apparent when the name Marguerite emerged.  I thought some of the clues verged on the unfair, e.g. 18 down, where the reversal indicator (“raised”) is placed between the two elements (informant = rat and one = ace) to which it applies.  I also thought “member” for “wing” in 34 down was a bit of a stretch.  But a remarkable achievement, and a very satisfying PDM.  Fortunately the endgame was relatively straightforward.

   Many thanks, Duncan, for a remarkably comprehensive blog, which must have taken you a very long time to put together.

3. 

   Guy Barry

   #3 - Tue 29th Sep 20, 09:57

   
   

    

   A couple of typos in Duncan’s blog: it’s CITIZEN CHAUVELIN (not CHAUVENIL), so the extra letters in 36d and 39d are L and N respectively.

   #2: “I thought some of the clues verged on the unfair, e.g. 18 down, where the reversal indicator (“raised”) is placed between the two elements (informant = rat and one = ace) to which it applies.”

   Only ACE is reversed, not RAT, so I think that one’s OK.

    

   Wow!  I’ve never taken such a long time to complete a crossword.  Completing the grid was only half the battle.

   After I’d worked out that the two categories were “shades of red” and “flowers”, I assumed that the target must be “pink” (a member of both categories), encouraged by the references to “hunters” in the preamble (hunting pink).  Completely wrong of course.  I’m not sure when the Scarlet Pimpernel first jumped out at me, but as soon as I got it I immediately understood the curious reference to “Frenchies” in 13ac…

   REELER for “songbird” in 14ac seemed unfairly obscure, but otherwise I thought it was a fair puzzle.  I wasn’t sure about some of the modified words in the final grid though, in particular ALAYING at 33ac; is this an alternative spelling of “allaying”, or a reference to “six geese a-laying”?

   My solution in full

    

    

    

    

    

4. 

   duncanshiell

   #4 - Tue 29th Sep 20, 10:10

   
   

   Guy Barry@3

   Thanks – blog corrected.  I got it right in the detailed part of the blog, but onbiously got the wrong sperlling in my head when writing the text.

   ALAY is given as an obsolete spelling of ALLAY in both Chambers and Collins, but, as you say, A-LAYING as in six geese A-LAYING is valid as well, although some entries on the internet omit the hyphen.

5. 

   Jon_S

   #5 - Tue 29th Sep 20, 10:18

   
   

   That’s got to be a nominee for puzzle of the year, hasn’t it? Top notch stuff throughout, and ultimately not as scary as it looked from the preamble.

6. 

   Dave W

   #6 - Tue 29th Sep 20, 10:32

   
   

   Another amazing construction from eXternal. The daunting preamble turned out to be not so bad once I got started and I soon realised that the 16 down ejections were all flowers. Finding russet and cherry from the across clues led me to think of fruits as the subject and I pondered as to why ugli was to be spelt incorrectly at 12A until a few more answers revealed that reds were the culprit. (To me, russet apples are distinctly brown and I never think of them as red – it’s a male thing, I believe). Having found the two hunters and looked them up, the hunted’s pseudonym hit me at once and was confirmed by the letters from the 16 answers. I remembered the little ditty from childhood so soon spotted the 3 locations but, unlike bridgesong @2, the final step defeated me. I spent far too long looking for contiguous spellings of Sir Percy with acceptable new words and then gave up. I had spotted that both names had 16 letters but the final penny did not drop – perhaps an extra nudge in the preamble would have helped. Overall, a very enjoyable and not too difficult puzzle which I should have finished.

    

   Thanks to eXternal and Duncan

7. 

   Alan B

   #7 - Tue 29th Sep 20, 12:05

   
   

   I found this to be a demanding and enthralling puzzle, with plenty to occupy my brain both while solving the clues and while resolving the theme.

   It took quite a long time to find all the reds and all the flowers, particularly the latter, and thereby complete the two sets of letters. As I haven’t read the book I had to look up the two hunters’ names.

   The target (‘Scarlet Pimpernel’) was readily found from the relevant Across entries, and the four ‘possible locations’ were also quite easily spotted, one of them being neatly covered by another.

   The last thematic item I had to find, the target’s true identity, was the hardest. There was nowhere in the grid to accommodate the name SIR PERCY BLAKENEY either as a whole or in its parts, and it took me a while (too long, really) to see how it could replace SCARLET PIMPERNEL as shown in Duncan’s ‘live’ grid.

   There was a lot to admire in the thematic design of this puzzle, and it was accompanied by a good set of clues.

   Many thanks to eXternal, and to Duncan for his long and comprehensive blog.  I’m grateful to Norman @1 too for pointing out what I knew but failed to see: ‘seize’ = 16.

8. 

   bridgesong

   #8 - Tue 29th Sep 20, 12:27

   
   

   Guy Barry @3: you’re quite right, I had got myself confused and I withdraw the criticism of that clue.

9. 

   copmus

   #9 - Tue 29th Sep 20, 12:27

   
   

   Very neat having four characters with 16 letters. Serendipity I guess.

   Great puzzle only just within my range (I’m still a novice at these)

10. 

    Dave W

    #10 - Tue 29th Sep 20, 14:52

    
    

    Alan B @7. Yes, of course, it was 4, not 3, locations! I finished (almost) the puzzle some days ago and nowadays my memory is not what it used to be.

11. 

    Neil Hunter

    #11 - Tue 29th Sep 20, 15:22

    
    

    copmus@9: I think this will be only just within many people’s ranges, and without a fair few others. It’s the generating of anagrams with the extra letter that is so tricky, even when you know you’re looking for reds and flora. I didn’t quite get enough to clock the hunters and thus get to the book.

    Very clever (and fair) puzzle; heroic blog.

12. 

    Guy Barry

    #12 - Tue 29th Sep 20, 15:59

    
    

    At a subconscious level, I think my memory may have been jogged by the very fact of looking hard for something and not being able to find it!

13. 

    Bingybing

    #13 - Tue 29th Sep 20, 16:24

    
    

    An absolute tour de force from eXternal, for which many thanks. Several PDMs, superb clueing and a wonderful gridfill with a beautiful last step. Definitely on the podium for 2020. More like this, please.

14. 

    Howard L

    #14 - Tue 29th Sep 20, 17:37

    
    

    I too think this must be a contender for puzzle of the year. Although challenging I was never frustrated by it, and the revelation of the true identity was a most satisfying way to end the puzzle. For some reason I almost completed the bottom half before solving any clues in the top half, but the emergence of CHAUVELIN from the extra letters led me to the theme and helped considerably with solving the remaing clues. Unusually I managed to parse all the clues to my satisfaction and this too makes this puzzle one of my favourites this year.

15. 

    NNI

    #15 - Tue 29th Sep 20, 18:12

    
    

    Superb puzzle and superb end game, and I did spot seize being 16 in French. I didn’t manage to find all the flowers, but I did complete the puzzle. A definite candidate for puzzle of the year.

16. 

    David Langford

    #16 - Wed 30th Sep 20, 07:27

    
    

    What everybody said: very much enjoyed, and thanks all round. The flowers seemed to be the toughest part and the reds only a little less so. It made me think of James Thurber, a great fan of wordplay, writing about hidden words: “There are lips in pistol / And mist in times, / Cats in crystal / And mice in chimes.” The primrose in misreport would have delighted him.

    But putting reds and flowers together eventually suggested the Scarlet Pimpernel: I could remember bits of his real name (Sir Percy Bsomethingy … but had to look up the other characters) and of the verse, and the locations of HEAVEN and HELL were a hugely satisfying confirmation. Enjoyable all the way through.

17. 

    eXternal

    #17 - Wed 30th Sep 20, 12:48

    
    

    Thanks for the comments and I’d really like to say a big thanks to Duncan for such an epic, comprehensive blog. It was, indeed, a happy coincidence with the sixteens that allowed the wife to be generated in heaven and the villain in hell, while exploiting that to reveal Sir Percy.

18. 

    Phil R

    #18 - Wed 30th Sep 20, 18:01

    
    

    Brilliant!

    Apologies for the brevity but in middle of moving house. Definitely a POTY contender as others have said.

    Great blog thanks Duncan and chapeau to eXternal. Absolutely loved it. (Didn’t get the seize link until reading this blog and my degree is in French…!)

19. 

    Amateur

    #19 - Sat 3rd Oct 20, 13:35

    
    

    Very satisfying and an enjoyable solve. The combination of reds, and spotting heaven and hell in the puzzle reminded me too of the verse I must have learnt as a child (from where I’m not sure). The puzzle kept me intrigued and challenged for several days, much appreciated! Some clues were tricky but they all seemed fair. Thank you to eXternal and to Duncanshiell for the very comprehensive blog.

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