13 comments on “Inquisitor 1771: Lost Youth by eXternal”

1. I saw the title and initially wondered whether we were going down the ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ or ‘Çanakkale’ routes (though the timing for both felt to be a bit wrong), but then almost immediately I found myself strolling around indoors singing : ” … and here’s to you, Mrs Robinson” – somehow Ben Braddock in his little red Alfa Romeo had flashed into my cranium as if by magic! Imagine my surprise when I solved the puzzle, my second complete finish in a row. So lost in reverie was I that I immediately bought the film on DVD and watched it last evening. A truly classic film score. I liked the use of the ‘second or penultimate letters’ in the added words … wonder how long before we see that device again ??? (see you all next week, folks)… 😉 All in all, a really fun and engaging puzzle.

2. I agree it was very enjoyable and with some impressive grid construction (particularly the symmetry of the required changes and changing Eisteddfodau to The Graduate!)

   I was lucky to deduce the theme from the first 4 sets of surplus letters alone producing THES and SIMO which could only go one place.

   I got a bit stuck at the end because I thought THE GRADUATE was “the character delivering the quote” (as Ben Braddock is indeed the graduate) so I was looking for an additional work for some time, checking out the remainder of the soundtrack and other youth-related books. Luckily it was obvious where the final entry would go so I managed to figure it out by looking at possible replacement-letter combinations.

   Funny how some phrases have exactly the same number of letters to make them perfect for an Inquisitor, in this case Mrs Robinson, Ben Braddock and The Graduate are all 3+8 while Simon & Garfunkel and The Sound of Silence both have 17!

3. I don’t even know the film (nor any Simon and Garfunkel songs, though my learned wife can whistle all the tunes) but enjoyed the puzzle a lot anyway; hearty thanks to eXternal and kenmac. The key quote was familiar through some form of pop-cultural osmosis and everything followed neatly from that. What an impressive final grid transformation!

4. This really hit the spot for me; I have loved this film for forty years without ever noticing the title and two lead characters had identical word shapes (as Arnold pointed out), which is one reason I’ll never be an Inquisitor setter. Many thanks to eXternal and kenmac.

5. An enjoyable puzzle. Not knowing which letters to exclude from the down entries meant the grid fill was moderately difficult – and required the finished quote to complete. The endgame was very satisfying, with a pretty random looking grid falling together into something far more sensible.

6. This one was easier to finish than to start for me. After a couple of slow sessions with little to show, Simon and Garfunkel popped out from the few spare words I’d managed to identify, and from there, after weeding out the remaining extra words, the rest of the grid was filled fairly quickly, albeit with a couple of question marks about the parsing. Who knew that before = a in LIANAS? Certainly not me until reading the blog.
   And another tick from me for the clever end game with three complete rows being overwritten to give thematic answers and all real words. Very impressive.
   Thanks eXternal and kenmac.

7. I thought this was a masterpiece of construction and design – with top-notch clues as well. I remembered the songs and the music, and some of the film, and all I had to look up was the name of the graduate: Benjamin (or Ben) Braddock. I was pleased to find that the three components would go into the best places for them: the top, middle and bottom of the grid. Very neat. It was impressive to see them wiping out all the unreadable clusters of letters at a stroke.

   In most of the Down clues, this puzzle used the same device as that used in the puzzle two weeks previously, whereby a letter is removed from the answer wherever it occurs. It was good to see this puzzle, just like the earlier one, giving us the answer-lengths for those clues and not the entry-lengths.

   As noted already, the symmetry of the three thematic items was a highlight. How lucky! But I think setters ‘make their own luck’ by noticing such things, making a note of them and using them to good effect when the opportunity arises.

   Many thanks to eXternal and kenmac.

8. I was making slow progress but had identified the first 2 extra words. From these I guessed the performers began with SI, and in a rare moment of inspiration derived SIMON AND GARFUNKEL, THE SOUND OF SILENCE, THE GRADUATE and MRS ROBINSON in about 5 minutes. After that it was plain sailing.

   It helped that I am a bit of a music and film buff.

9. The UNKEL stood out at the end of the extra letters so that part was completed OK.(thought the clues were good)

   Then I saw YOURE TRYING TO S?? wasnt sure of my parsing but sorted that out
   The difficult bit(phone a friend) came trying to see what went where.
   First Dustin Hoffman film I saw-forgot his name in it-33 lots of (3,8) with a gap-all very neat and symmetrical

   Very ingenious using the fact that both the first song and the artist(s) had 17 letters
   Been a Hoffman fan ever since.(paul Simon no slouch either!)
   Great puzzle

10. I think everyone has already said it all. A masterpiece in terms of construction. Enjoyable to solve with a very satisfying endgame,
    Thanks eXternal and kenmac.

11. Masterful! Absolutely superb grid manipulation. Pick of the year for me.
    Thanks eXternal – you just knocked yourself off the top spot – and to kenmac.

12. Not much I can add to the above. Apart from enjoying the challenge of solving it, I am amazed at the incredible construction of the puzzle with all its interlocking features which have clicked together perfectly – no real words for the initial entries which transform into real words when the themed entries are made while the omitted letters provide the singers and the song. Wow, some feat of engineering!

    Many thanks to eXternal and Kenmac.

13. Highly enjoyable. This one will rank high in POTY, I think.

    Here’s to you eXternal and Kenmac.

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