Retro by Encota
Stage 1 is somewhat like the old ‘Minesweeper’ game where the solver must locate the ‘mines’. The integer in each cell equates to the number of ‘mines’ that are in reach of each cell (either under the numbered cell, or in one of up to 8 adjacent cells – horizontally, vertically or diagonally). Each mine must be depicted with a * in the top left hand corner of the cell and transferred to the Stage
2 grid.
Stage 2 is Sudoku using letters instead of numbers. Normal Sudoku rules apply. Answers to clues must be entered where they fit starting in a cell marked *, in straight lines and in one of three directions: E, S or SE. No entries overlap and all cells are used. Clues are definition only, but also contain a jumbled string of the entry. Finally, the unclued entry in the grid should be highlighted. The answer to the italicised clue
is in OED.
An Inquistor with a twist is what we had been teased with for a couple of weeks. The day has dawned and it falls to me to blog it.
My first thoughts are that this puzzle is likely to cause a rift among Inquisitor lovers. I imagine that some will enjoy the diversion while some will run a mile. And, of course, there will be people seeing The Inquisitor for the first time. I wonder what they made of it!
I used to play Minesweeper when Microsoft Windows appeared on the scene but I haven’t played it for donkeys’ years. The one thing I do remember is that in the game the numbers in squares were based on the number of cells a mine was touching in all compass directions. Thus the maximum number possible was 8 (though you rarely, if ever, saw an 8). According to Encota’s instructions, the numbered square, itself, could contain a mine; thus the maximum possible number would be 9.
Since entries could only be written E, SE or S, the only way for the top left square to be filled would be if it was a mine. I guess that would be the starting point to start minesweeping.
I was getting nowhere with the minesweeping so I decided on another approach. I started looking at the clues and I pretty much solved the first one I saw. The one beginning “Galileo” had to be IO. It was only then that I realised that they were mostly short words.
My daughter, elmac, found herself with a lot more spare time than she imagined, having tested positive for COVID. So I set up a shared Google spreadsheet that we worked on together while communicating by phone. As regular readers will know, I tend to shy away from blank canvasses while Laura excels at them (no pun intended). Also, when sudoku started to become a thing – way back in 2005, I tried doing them but never got anywhere near completion. They just never floated my boat! For anyone who wants to take a look, here’s a link to the spreadsheet.
Now came another realisation – there were only nine letters of the alphabet used in the puzzle. Well duh! as some might say.
It soon became obvious that the clues were presented in alphabetical order of their answers, which helped. Using formulae as much as possible I maintained a count of the individual letters, A, D, E, I, N, O, R, S, T. Knowing that the grid was 9×9 = 81 and the total of the clued lengths was 72 meant that the unclued entry was 9 letters long. The count of letters indicated that the letters were: ADEIORSST and anagram solver gave me ASTEROIDS. Apart from ASTEROIDS, NINER was the last one I solved. I don’t have a copy of OED. I do have ODE on my phone and it’s not in there. I did find it on dictionary.com, though I don’t really see what Reno has to do with it. Unless it indicates that it is an Americanism.
Given that ASTEROIDS contains the letter S twice means that it must go in the main diagonal and then the two 8-letter answers, DERATION and ORDINATE, had to go in the rightmost column or bottom row. This gave me the positions of two more mines. The next problem was to insert the only 6-letter answer, TAINOS and the only place (following sudoku rules) that it could go was the second column from the right. From then on, it was a case of just filling in remaining letters in individual 3×3 squares until the grid was filled. And then reverse engineering the positions of the mines in the first grid.
As always, I’ve detailed the clues and answers in the grid below but there’s no place for the usual wordplay column. I’ve indicated the “wordplay” (letterplay?) in red within each clue.
All that remains to be said is thanks to Encota for a different kind of challenge. I hope those that attempted it were satisfied
And to all Inquisitor fans old and new. On behalf of the four bloggers, HolyGhost, HiHoBa, DuncanShiell and myself, HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL. Let’s hope it’s a good one without any tears virus.
| Clue |
Entry |
| • Combine a fraction and a decimal? (3) | ADD |
| • Payment (advanced) (4) | ANTE |
| • (unclued) | (ASTEROIDS) |
| • Free from a reduced quota (in ordering supplies, say) (8) | DERATION |
| • System behind serving IP addresses for given website addresses (abbrev.) (3) | DNS |
| • To duplicate (2) | DO |
| • A Nintendo handheld games device (2) | DS |
| • The bitter vetch, from the same family as tares (3) | ERS |
| • Galileo identified this moon of Jupiter (2) | IO |
| • Occupies a position in space (2) | IS |
| • One less than ten in Reno? (5) | NINER |
| • Electronic gate (3) | NOR |
| • Charity that helps protect natural beauty (abbrev.) (2) | NT |
| • Overdose (2) | OD |
| • Part of a mathematical illustration depicting the distance to the x-axis (8) | ORDINATE |
| • The second note of the rising scale in sol-fa notation (2) | RE |
| • Utter tosh (3) | ROT |
| • Baas lives here (abbrev.) (2) | SA |
| • When in Asia, relax in such an inn (5) | SERAI |
| • Now lost, a niche WI tribe had these members (6) | TAINOS |
| • Beverage made from infused leaves with hot or boiling water (3) | TEA |
| • Pacific tree with edible roots (2) | TI |
Put me down in the ‘run a mile from’ camp. Never played Minesweeper, don’t like SuDoku. Fair play to those who did it but to me it wasn’t a crossword so I left well alone.
This was simply brilliant. I generally don’t enjoy crossword jigsaws or definition-and-letter-mixture (DLM) clues, but this puzzle, with two contrasting and quite challenging stages (three including the solving of the clues!), gave me immense enjoyment and satisfaction.
On first looking at three random clues in the middle I could see how much of an improvement these were over the more usual ‘definition as part of a meaningless string’ type of DLM clue. It was an inspired choice for clueing this particular collection of words, many of them having only 2 or 3 letters. ‘Utter tosh (3)’ was a gem – not difficult, but perfect for this puzzle.
The two solutions ORDINATE and SA gave me the nine letters that were going to be used to fill the Sudoku grid, and that fact was of material help in opening up the stickier clues such as those for TAINOS and some of the shortest words.
Unlike you, kenmac, I went for Stage 1 first! I found it hard to get used to the different minesweeper rule as defined here (as explained by kenmac), and I made errors on my first two attempts. However, I finally overcame that difficulty and completed that stage at the third attempt, with 22 stars inserted (one more than the number of clues).
Stage 2 gave me one of the best endgames in recent times. I had the idea of trying first to place NINER, ADD and the two 8-letter words in the grid, and with TAINOS also assisting, I was able to achieve this. I realised then that the unclued light (of 9 letters) had to run diagonally from the top left. My final phase of enjoyment was to fill the grid using Sudoku rules and the remaining solutions. Brilliant!
Thanks to Encota for the three puzzles in one and to kenmac for the interesting blog.
Put me in the happy camp! After some initial beuddlement I attacked the mine problem first, and in the opposite way to our blogger: marking all cells adjacent to zeros as clear allowed me to work my way in a wave up the grid. Thanks to E + K.
I can see why this might well split the crowd, but I thought it was a great puzzle (if not, strictly, a crossword!) – many thanks to Encota, and kenmac for review. I did complete the minesweeper stage first, although also breaking away every now and then to solve the clues. Then from the asterisks and clue enumerations, I first worked out the directions each answer would need to go in (and hence the locations of each word) before finding the specific entries – for which, the sudoko element made the grid fill (relatively) simple. Very cleverly put together, a lot of fun – and an intersting change from the norm!
Hope your daughter’s feeling better now!
I didn’t get anywhere with the Minesweeper stage either, so ended up attacking this via the clues and Sudoku stage. The clues were easy enough to solve (once I spotted the bit in the preamble about the jumbled letters), and on belatedly realising that we would be dealing with a set of 9 letters only, but I must admit to calling on the help of an online Wordoku solver to help with the grid fill. Working out where ASTEROIDS should surely go (it was the only viable possibility from this letters missing from the set), and the two 8 letter answers, was a relatively straightforward guess, but I’m not sure how long it would have taken me to place the shorter answers otherwise.
That said, on using the Minesweeper stage to confirm the placements, it became clear that I had the two 8 letters answers the wrong way around and had to start again, albeit with an idea of where many of the answers would go now.
An interesting, fun challenge I thought overall, just right for the day it came out on.
What Bingy said
I’m with Bingy @1: a good week to catch up on old New Yorkers. Glad to note others take a different view.
An unusual offering … not a ‘real’ Inquisitor, but an imposter; the illegitimate scion of a Minesweeper and a Sudoku. Gave it a go, but sadly no real challenge to it – 22 mines located, I looked to empirically deduce where word lengths might fit before solving the clues. I initially noted two alternate ways for the ‘answer lengths’ to be aligned in the Stage 2 grid, but when I began solving clues the two N’s in NINER dictated that it be entered on a diagonal. Clues were very simple, made almost trivial by them being listed in alphabetical order of the answers and with us having only nine letters to play with.
Bah, humbug!
Thanks, as always, to both setter and blogger – but no more please, once is more than enough.
P.S. You set up a spreadsheet with your daughter? To quote a sketch from ‘Little Britain’ : “So, you passed another girl’s work off as your own!” … ooooh, Little Britain … that’ll get the woke Thought Police all huffing and puffing (see previous ‘End of year review’ blog slot, and associated comments). ?
It was generous of the IQ team to provide a “bonus” puzzle, but my heart sank when I saw this. I have never played Minesweeper, and I don’t like DLM clues. As the clues were mostly easy, I made a start on the initial stage but being unfamiliar with the techniques for solving Minesweeper, I didn’t get very far even after looking for tips online.
I quite like Sudoku, and if this had consisted of cryptic clues and a Sudoku grid with some letters given, I am sure I’d have enjoyed it. But the added complication of of the Minesweeper stage and the absence of cryptic clues was enough of a deterrent that I gave up early on, making this the first IQ I haven’t completed in over two years.
I’m glad others had a more positive experience, and that of course justifies the puzzle’s inclusion whatever I may think about it. Personally though I hope that Encota’s next offering will be more in line with the excellent puzzles he has provided us with in the past.
@me_sat_here
Do you think you could take your woke/anti-woke debate agenda elsewhere, and preferably somewhere it’s relevant?
Again, I’m with Bingy @10
Let’s keep the comments relevant to my post.
If you want a “Twitter Storm” do it on Twitter.
Thanks!
Bingy @ 10 : Not exactly an ‘agenda’ on my part. To be fair (to all), it was actually the blogger that first raised the issue to us all last time around (what must it feel like to have crafted an Inquisitor and then have it returned to you ???) and several other individuals also commented upon the matter, but if it causes such angst, then I apologise, and yes, I’m more than happy not to mention it again. Hope that’s OK.
Cruciverbophile @ 9 : Your first Inquisitor unfinished in two years, really ? …my word, that’s quite a record, I wish I could say the same.
It’s utterly amazing to me how differently individuals brains seem to be wired … as a scientist I found the logical method of progression needed for this one to be an utter doddle … all done and dusted within two to three hours … my fastest ever Inquisitor finish. This wasn’t really an Inquisitor though. Usually they take me much longer, the wordplay can be really tricky at times, but that adds to the fun – I suspect that my average completion time is usually around two days. I wish that I could set one myself and I’d love to know how long it takes the setters to prepare a grid, some of them are so involved.
When I first looked at it, I thought “oh no, what on earth is this” but I attempted it nonetheless and found it more enjoyable than expected – I seem to have taken a different approach with the Minesweeper to others by starting on the right / bottom and working up from the ones and zeroes. I did have to start over a couple of times though when I must have made a mistake somewhere – very frustrating but got there in the end.
Having the asterisks in place actually made it possible to define all the word shapes (with a couple of informed guesses), which in turn then made it easy enough – though nerve racking – to fit the words into the grid.
Overall a 7 out of 10 on the enjoyment scale but on balance, I agree that once is enough!
I enjoyed this – maybe more so than others as I do sometimes do the minesweeper puzzle. Too easy though – as with Me_sat_here, my fastest ever finish (an evening as opposed to the best part of a week as is usually the case). Was hoping for something to keep me busy while off over Christmas!
Well………. we took ages to sort out the Minesweeper. At least Bert did as Joyce is not that bothered about that type of puzzle. Similarly, Joyce doesn’t do Sudokos but Bert does.
That said, we actually enjoyed the challenge. We guessed the diagonal entry based on the combination of letters and the rules of the ‘game’. We are glad that we don’t have to solve puzzles like this every week but as a one-off over the Christmas period, it made a change.
Amazed that others found it so easy. We have only failed to solve an IQ on a couple of occasions and that has usually been because of a ‘devious endgame’.
Oh, and kenmac, I know the word “Niner” from aviation-speak where it is used instead of “nine” to avoid confusion with other numbers – for example “flight level one-niner-zero”.
So perhaps “one less than ten in RAF” might have been more appropriate (although I don’t know if it’s also used in the military)
Arnold @15
My approach to and experience of the ‘minesweeper’ phase was very similar to yours. I started with the zeros and ones and progressed steadily (not quickly) towards the top and left. My first two attempts failed purely because I lapsed into using the standard minesweeper rule whereby a numbered cell does not have a mine beneath it.
You and others have said ‘once is enough’ (or words to that effect), but I would welcome a well-designed ‘mixed’ puzzle like this, say, once a year. I like themed crosswords best, but I like many other types of puzzle, many of which I find in the ‘i’ daily and weekend editions. Sudoku is one I do not like, but I found it both interesting and enjoyable to apply Sudoku rules to Stage 2 of this puzzle. (And again, I had to restart having made a false assumption somewhere along the way.)
I enjoyed it and completed it ..sad to say on Christmas Day in the evening .. but then I am in the camp that would enjoy the old listener number crosswords. I complete about 1 in 4 IQs completely and am awe struck by the existence of clever solvers completing them all ( Malone apart who seems to be of a different t order ). The guardian is usually straightforward ditto the eye and Everyman .. azed gets there slowly .. but all the inquisitors ?! Respect
@20
“Old” Listener numericals? They still have one every 4 weeks.
Sorry, it’s every 3 months or 4 a year.
This took teamwork – my middle son completed the Minesweeper part, I did the clues. I couldn’t work out how to start entering them (at the stage when I had all but a handful solved). He said “Mum, just write some in and see how you get on”. Ah, the sublime confidence of youth! He was right, of course.
He helped out at the end as well – I had a completed blindspot with “ti” and couldn’t see the jumble of letters in the clue (the word “with” didn’t register in my brain for some reason). He said “Look, Mum, there it is”, and the grid was complete!
My husband was an Asteroids afficionado back in the day, so it brought back good memories of the 1980s ?
This appeared daunting, but as I worked on the Minesweeper grid, up & away from the bottom right corner, the rightmost five columns were forced without any looking further afield. The rest hinged on a binary choice, easily corrected if the first guess was wrong.
In between times, the clues (apart from NINER) came out rather quickly.
I ‘guessed’ that ASTEROIDS would be on the diagonal, not realising that the repeated S meant it had to be. There was only one place the four-letter word could go, and that resolved the issue of which 8-letter word was horizontal and which vertical.
I think I’d have made the Sudoku stage simpler had I replaced letters with digits before filing the grid, and then reversed the process later.
Once a year would be easily enough for me. But thanks to Encota & kenmac.
Thanks so much for this puzzle. I have been subscribing to the i since September but had somehow missed Inquisitor hiding in the weekend puzzles. I have enjoyed the Minesweeper offered in the i everyday, so I started with that, working from the 0s out. Then I started solving the clues, then worked on the grid. Didn’t finish it but as a first puzzle really enjoyed the challenge – kept me really entertained over the festive week solving it with festive brew and cheese and biscuits! And I found this blog in exasperation at being stuck, so thank you!
Sudoku isn’t my thing, with either numbers or letters. I solved the clues and then passed the rest on to my teenage daughter to finish off. There are plenty of puzzles out there to go at, so I’m not complaining. No harm in a bit of variation now and again I think.
I finally dug this out yesterday and had to finish it this morning. Too late to enter the discussion but thanks for the excellent blog. I needed it to check I really had solved this bizarre puzzle! I agreed with the “Great, thanks but not too often please!” contingent. I don’t do sudoku and I agree this wasn’t exactly a crossword, but the one-off trip outside my comfort zone was worth it.
I never really understood why it’s called “Retro”.