Inquisitor 1271: Voyager by Regson

10 comments on “Inquisitor 1271: Voyager by Regson”

1. 1d I had read that as Hu(n) – short barbarian, inside bat = informal speech of a foreign language (4th defn in BRB)

2. I agree with you about 20 Down, it’s a dire clue. I solved it but had no reasoning, so thanks for your explanation.

3. Re 20d – I don’t agree. “Could produce” seems ok (in fact rather familiar) for a comp. anag. indicator and once “earwig” has gone it’s an inventive clue, with a clear, literate cryptic reading and even additional help from 35a for anyone unsure about the “E” (the one obscurity – rather a mild one by the standards of this puzzle!). It also manages to move the definition away from the beginning or end, always a plus if it works. It’s an extraordinary suggestion that it’s the “worst clue I’ve had to blog”. It’s difficult, but then so are most of these clues. In style it’s very reminiscent of successful clues in Azed competitions. (In fact the approach of the comp. anag. with the definition in the middle is typical of Azed himself – but he’d probably make it shorter.)

   I think Kettledrum is right – “Doctor” is the spare word in 1d with the parsing as he says and “discussion” in 36a is part of the wordplay, as you say, so can’t be spare.

   I did find this harder than most of the Inquisitors I’ve done – some of the definitions were almost cruel – but I know they deliberately vary the level and it’s nice to have one focused on tough clues (as opposed to eccentric overall construction – which is also great fun) now and again.

4. I won’t join in the 20d controversy, but would like to add an additional twist in the diagram, which is that the word BOUNTY leads from SPITHEAD through TAHITI to PITCAIRN mirroring the voyage. Cool!

5. #1 & #3
   You’re right, it works much better that way. DOCTOR is indeed the extra word, I screwed up with 36a, DISCUSSION is not superfluous. 🙁

   #2
   I’ve never done an Azed puzzle so such subtleties are lost on me. I just didn’t enjoy solving it and I certainly didn’t enjoy blogging it. What do you think is the worst clue I’ve ever had to blog?

6. I have almost no Inquisitorial experience, but wish I’d been introduced to them earlier. I can’t see anything wrong with 20: it’s complicated, sure, but it does what it’s supposed to do – makes you think very hard.

7. Yes, 20D was a composite anagram. These are very common features of Azed puzzles (may even have been invented by him) so the fact you’ve never solved Azed, kenmac, might be a factor in your reaction to it.

   There usually is a ‘this’ in such a clue which can give a strong indication that this device is being used.

8. Enjoyed this, think it would make a good introduction to Inquisitors (well at least relative to a few recent ones!).

   Didn’t quite get it all though, gave up trying to deduce the extra words in a series of clues so only got “ALSO SHADE ??? POINTS OF THE VOYAGE”. Enough to find the other hidden words.

   Cheers.

9. I felt that a few clues were a bit clunky, including 20d – but that one was clearly signposted and not difficult. What I really don’t like is thematic barred puzzles with clues that refer to answers to other clues (here, 33a to PIGSNY at 8d, and 35a to TSETSE at 20d).

   I appreciated that BOUNTY went from SPITHEAD to PITCAIRN via TAHITI – very nice touch. But I thought that the clue for 7d was weak: “Sour, sour beer …” with one “sour” as the redundant word, and the other as part of the definition. This, coupled with the lack of precision in the ‘additional instruction’, led me to wonder whether I was looking for the END POINTS of the voyage, or the END POINT (singular); and, if plural, where Bligh and Christian respectively ended up. There seemed to be enough slack in the number of clues that didn’t include any redundancy to say … ACTUAL START AND END OF …

   But a good debut from Regson, with just a few rough edges.

10. We had the same thought about ‘sour’ as the redundant word for 7d as HolyGhost@9 and agree with most of you about 7d being rather convoluted. However, there was also much to enjoy.

    Having completed the puzzle we took ages to find SPITHEAD – no idea why as we had been checking diagonals. Once we had discovered that, the rest all fell into place …… with a little help from google to confirm everything.

    Thanks to setter and blogger!

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