A warm welcome to Tack. (That may of course get warmer or cooler as the puzzle progresses.)
Preamble: Solutions are to be entered jigsaw fashion, wherever they will go. A word of at least three letters must be removed from clues before solving. Omitted words hint at a series of successful plays first performed in the theatre in 1983, forming a pattern which the clue order must follow. Otherwise, clues are ordered alphabetically by their solutions.
Inquisitor
Inquisitor 1903: Lines by Pandiculator
Lines by Pandiculator
In the completed grid, solvers must replace two cells’ contents with digits and draw two thematic lines, each joining two grid edges. Each answer whose entry crosses the shorter line must be thematically treated to form its entry, while each clue whose entry crosses the longer line contains a misprint representative of the change resulting from the crossing.
All other clues contain an extra word which must be removed before solving. The first letters of these spell: (i) an abbreviated form of a third line that had a property notably associated with the first two; and (ii) three things that must be highlighted (30 cells) to form a diagram of a notable claimed occurrence. Ignoring digits, real words are maintained throughout.
Enumerations refer to entry length.
Inquisitor 1902: Solar by Karla
Karla brings us this week’s IQ challenge.
Meet the setter – Henri
The latest Inquisitor blog is for no. 1901 by Henri. This YouTube video is an interview with Henri. I am particularly chuffed with a minute or so from about 12:30.
Inquisitor 1901: What’s My Line? by Henri
We have a puzzle from a new Inquisitor setter this week. The only previous puzzle by Henri that I can find on fifteensquared is one submitted to the York Sloggers & Betters meeting last October.
Important maintenance notice
Important maintenance notice
Inquisitor 1900: Nine in One Hundred by PINK
PINK – what other combo would we expect for a centenary puzzle?
Preamble: Clues are in normal order. Solvers must temporarily insert the same letter into each of the barred-off cells such that it could be plugged correctly into the circumscribing 8-letter words; a phrase describing the outcome (6, 9) must be written under the grid.
Inquisitor 1899: Pride… by Nimrod
Pride… by Nimrod The wordplay in each clue bar one leads to the solution plus an extra letter (in the exception, two letters) not entered in the grid. In clue order. these letters … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1898: Border by eXternal
eXternal sets the second IQ challenge of March.
New security measure
IMPORTANT (updated) I’ve now changed the security level from “critical” to “high”. Thanks all for your indulgence. Many of you will have experienced slow response times and/or error messages on Monday. This morning, … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1897: An Inspector Calls by Eclogue
Eclogue is a prolific setter of Inquisitor puzzles. I first blogged one of his Inquisitors in January 2014.
Inquisitor 1896: Alphabets by Phi
Phi now tops the count of Inquisitor puzzles, and seems destined to extend his lead in the coming months and years. (And yes, I know there were puzzles of his & others before the name change around the beginning of 2007.)
Preamble: The puzzle celebrates a creator of multiple alphabet books, covering three such titles.
Inquisitor 1895: Neck Rub by Ifor
Neck Rub by Ifor
All perimeter entries are words derived by modifying their clue answers in a consistent way. A two-word phrase, from which the puzzle title has been derived in the same way, must be written under the grid. All other clues contain an extra letter. Those extra letters in the clues to 4- and 5-letter answers, read in clue order, describe which non-perimeter letters must be identified; likewise those from clues to 6-, 7- and 8-letter answers explain what must then be done.
Inquisitor 1894: In the Groove by Kruger
It’s Joyce here with her first Inquisitor blog.
Inquisitor Review of the Year 2023-4: The Results
Inquisitor Review of the Year 2023-4: The Results
Menu Choice
And there we have it. In the end you opted for the sausage dish in preference to the cheese and the whale-meat courses.