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HolyGhost's avatarHolyGhost

Started on cryptic crosswords as a late teenager and completed the Times daily until the Independent started. (Didn't do the crossword - just stopped reading the Times.) Often tackled the Independent weekend magazine crossword in the early and late 1990s (spent mid-90s in Bruxelles), and then most of them since moving out of London in summer 2000. I must say that my forays into the Listener used to prove more satisfying (except the number ones) - estimate 98% successful - but usually don't have enough discretionary time for both. Now that the Listener and the Inquisitor seem pretty level I rarely stray from tackling only the latter.

Inquisitor 1208: Special Delivery by Shark

Wed December 28, 2011 at 1:23 am by HolyGhost

Three unclued entries, some clashes, “thematically placed”. Clashes resolve to give an appropriate word reading down the grid. “Three similar words” (similar to what? each other?) “again thematically placed”, forming relevant shapes (16 … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 6 Comments

Inquisitor 1204: Non-standard by Chalicea

Wed November 30, 2011 at 1:23 am by HolyGhost

The rubric states that extra letters in the wordplay of down clues identify an achievement, one feature of which is symbolically represented in the grid, together with the full name of its creator. … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 5 Comments

Inquisitor 1200: Juke Box Jury by Nimrod

Sat January 14, 2012 at 6:50 pmWed November 2, 2011 at 1:23 am by HolyGhost

Phew – what a scorcher!   Twenty 3-letter answers to be fitted where they will (seven abbreviations, thirteen of another sort yielding a “juke box source”), an anagram of ten letters in shaded … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 7 Comments

Inquisitor 1195: Highly Strung by Samuel

Wed September 28, 2011 at 1:23 am by HolyGhost

Clues are presented in alphabetical order of answers (at least, that’s what the preamble said), and 19 have single-letter misprints in the definition. These spell out a link between the theme of the … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 2 Comments

Inquisitor 1192: Dancing Girl by Augeas

Sat September 17, 2011 at 1:57 pmWed September 7, 2011 at 1:23 am by HolyGhost

Back in spring, Augeas’s first puzzle for the Listener was published, and now, before summer (?) is over, Augeas appears for the first time with an Inquisitor puzzle.  Some highlighting is to be … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 1 Comment

Inquisitor 1188: Firsts by Schadenfreude

Wed August 10, 2011 at 1:23 am by HolyGhost

I have to say, this was a masterful offering from Schadenfreude, an old friend of the Inquisitor, and invariably ‘firm but fair’ – this was no exception.   The puzzle concerns two people … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 3 Comments

Inquisitor 1184: Switzerland’s Finest by Chalicea

Fri July 15, 2011 at 12:43 pmWed July 13, 2011 at 1:23 am by HolyGhost

Chalicea – a setter new to the Inquisitor {but see comment 7}, and, appropriately for me, I flew to Zürich the day after the puzzle’s publication and I’m blogging from the Bernese alps. … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 9 Comments

Inquisitor 1180: Football-Free Zone by Raich

Wed June 15, 2011 at 1:23 am by HolyGhost

Extra letters in the wordplay of across clues indicate how answers to down clues are to be entered. Seven letters have to be highlighted in the completed grid.   An 11×11 grid, and … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 2 Comments

Inquisitor 1176: Unheeded Warning by Samuel

Wed May 18, 2011 at 1:23 am by HolyGhost

I must admit to having a soft spot for Samuel’s puzzles, so I was quite looking forward to this.  Seventeen clues have a misprint in the definition, correct letters spelling an instruction about … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 1 Comment

Inquisitor 1172: Inventor/Invention by Loda

Wed April 20, 2011 at 1:23 am by HolyGhost

Back from a week’s walking north of Alnwick, and after the ‘moorland treks’ provided by the previous two puzzles, this one was more of ‘a stroll on the beach’.  Across clues have a … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 1 Comment

Inquisitor 1168: Initial letters by Schadenfreude

Wed March 23, 2011 at 1:23 am by HolyGhost

A bit more difficult than some recent puzzles … not made easier by my going away for a weekend’s walking with no Chambers and only a rather dated Collins that I found in … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 4 Comments

Inquisitor 1164: Descent by Raich

Wed February 23, 2011 at 1:23 am by HolyGhost

Raich is averaging about three Inquisitors a year since his first appearance in mid-2008, and all pretty decent ones in my opinion. (And he notched up his third Listener just the weekend before, … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 9 Comments

Inquisitor 1160: How Many? by Phi

Thu January 27, 2011 at 8:24 pmWed January 26, 2011 at 1:23 am by HolyGhost

With hindsight, quite a tame one from Phi.  A number of answers, with a common feature, are entered in an unusual manner, implying a numerical value for a letter of the alphabet. With … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 5 Comments

Inquisitor index: 2011

Tue April 8, 2025 at 12:19 pmSat January 1, 2011 at 1:23 am by HolyGhost

Puzzles 1158 – 1210

Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor Index

Inquisitor 1152: Tirade by Loda

Wed November 24, 2010 at 1:23 am by HolyGhost

Midnight Saturday, guests have all gone home or gone to bed … time to pour a whisky and have a look at the crossword.  Ten unclued thematic entries (5 pairs); first letters of … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 6 Comments
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