17 comments on “Inquisitor 1743: Combined Help by eXternal”

1. An excellent puzzle, with a theme that was right up my street.

   It was good that there were two clear groups of clues, each with its own rule for unravelling them. The kind of clue manipulation in the Down clues was new to me, and it certainly took some getting used to.

   Working across the top half of the grid, I saw that I had collected the letters GIOACH from the first six Down clues. I have only ever seen that swquence in one context, and that is Rossini’s name, which then enabled me to see THE BARBER emerging from the Across clues. Unravelling all the remaining clues became rather easier after that, and that helped when I got to the stickier clues on the right side of the grid.

   I saw where FIGARO and, later, MOZART could go, making a pleasing symmetry. THE MARRIAGE OF had exactly 13 letters, and my last task was to make those further changes to the grid. A highly satisfying result, leaving me to admire the whole thematic design.

   Thanks to eXternal and kenmac.

2. kenmac
   (Ionic, in Chambers, can be a noun meaning an Ionic philosopher. See 14d.
   Also, in the paragraph introducing your list of changes in the columns you say change a letter in column 1 to M, etc, but you missed the word THE, so it should be a T in column 1, etc. The list itself is of course all present and correct.)

3. Alan B @ 2

   Oops!

   Fixed now – thanks

4. Fantastic puzzle – not one of the most difficult, but the way all the thematic elements fell together was very nicely realised. The use of FALCO (of Rock Me Amadeus fame) in the SE corner, where MOZART would eventually appear, was (I hope deliberate) particularly inspired.

5. Reading the instructions, I decided that it would be safer/easier to get a few across answers in before tackling any down clues. On a first quick scan, however, I only managed 34A DIRER, but this was enough to make 22D SOLID(I) fall easily into place and I was away. The clues were all very sound and not too difficult, which made the extra letters much less of a problem than I had feared. As the “messages” started to emerge, anticipating missing letters helped me to complete the grid. I had forgotten/never knew M. Beaumarchais but Collins confirmed his authorship. I was familiar with everything else which made completing the puzzle without any technology a real pleasure. I thought the gimmick of changing the extra letters so neatly was a master-stroke.
   I had spotted FIGARO on the second row well before completing the grid. So when I subsequently entered GOKART in the symmetrical position I should have spotted MOZART immediately. To my shame, I did not and this was my final step before completing a thoroughly enjoyable puzzle.
   Thanks to eXternal for another good one and to Kenmac for the workout.

6. Beautiful puzzle that just kept on giving. Always a joy to see my favourite opera (the Mozart) get a mention, and the neat way the threads all tied together makes this a contender for POTY in my book. I’d never heard of FALCO so I didn’t see the Amadeus connection, but you can’t have everything!

7. Agree it was a lovely and fun puzzle, and the second (semi-)Austrian themed one in 3 weeks. As a native of Vienna, I too noticed the FALCO / MOZART connection and wondered if it was deliberate – useless fun fact is that Falco remains the only Austrian ever to top the US Billboard chart (on 29 March 1986), indeed with the classic Rock Me Amadeus.

   I made decent progress throughout but came unstuck at the final hurdle, as I had misinterpreted the instruction Finally, two symmetrically placed entries should be changed to complete the title, showing a character in both works, and the surname of a person connected to the work as needing to show three separate entries (completed title / character / connected person), which of course was impossible. Having entered FIGARO I then focused on a (separate) character for the bottom entry, which could only be ROSINA/E but this created non-words and seemed a long way from GOKART.

   Having almost given up, I was rescued by my crossword buddy to record a pleasing assisted finish. Thank you to eXternal for a great multi layered puzzle and to kenmac for the blog and the additional parsing that I hadn’t managed.

8. Great puzzle, thanks eXternal.

   I found the switch from GO-KART to MOZART amusing, having been dimly aware of the indie group Denim and their subsequent iteration: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart_Estate_(band)

   …and it’s only through reading that page that I’ve learned that Go-kart Mozart features in a Bruce Springsteen track.

9. Nice to see Mozart and Rossini connected, Small world-or it was then in music terms
   Thanks all

10. Another grid with two barely connected halves – for me, the western side was all but complete before the eastern had even got started! Answers flew in once again, but with enough difficulty on the final half a dozen to keep me entertained. Endgame was very clearly explained, easy to follow and nicely done. A fast finish recorded here – fun from start to finish.

    Many thanks to eXternal for a fun and engaging puzzle, to kenmac for the blog and to fellow commenters for sharing their thoughts.

11. I agree with the praisers (i.e. everyone): not too hard, its secrets revealed steadily and gratifyingly. Nice graphic in the blog, too! Thanks to eXternal & kenmac.

12. Much enjoyed: lots of thanks to eXternal and kenmac. I was lucky enough to see THE BARBER early on and guess SEVILLE, but not so lucky with the down-clues name because I parsed 2D as an endless EFT followed by a spot of wet (alcoholic IT), with FIT = “in good health” as the definition — giving the right grid entry but the wrong surplus letter. No idea whether this was a deliberate trap …

13. Lots to admire here which has already been commented on. Loved it – thanks to eXternal and kenmac once again.

    Didn’t pick up on the Falco / Mozart connection. Genius !

    Likely to be in my shortlist come end of the year.

14. @Kippax – I urge you to listen to aforesaid Go-Kart Mozart’s ‘the new potatoes’ as a typically idiosyncratic introduction from Lawrence’s current group.

    I loved the puzzle, thanks Steve

15. @Bingybing – I know it well! Thought that was a Denim track though? I remember hearing that for the first time back on Mark Radcliffe’s old 10pm Radio 1 show and it stuck in my head ever since. I introduced it to the kids a while back and it continues to get played regularly at home, much to my wife’s annoyance.

16. I felt sure I’d responded to this earlier but maybe I omitted to post my comment.
    Anyway, I thought this was a great puzzle and, wow, what a grid – hugely impressed. Best puzzle of the year so far for me, and almost certainly will feature when it comes to allocating points at the end.
    Thanks (obviously), & to Ken too.

17. As requested, a test comment.

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