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kenmac's avatarkenmac

In early 2022 I took over administration for this site. Born 1954. I've been fascinated by cryptic crosswords since childhood. My mother used to attempt the Daily Mail cryptic every day but I don't remember her ever finishing one. Then, when I started working, a colleague would bring in The Telegraph every day. It wasn't till my daughter started to get interested, when I bought her a "how to" book that I realized that the definition is "always" the first word (or words) or the last word (or words) of the clue. In 2000 I discovered the, then, Independent Weekend Crossword (now Inquisitor) and later Enigmatic Variations and The Listener. I solve The Inquisitor most weeks and won the Champagne once. In 2005 I achieved an ambition by having a barred crossword published in The Independent using the pseudonym Cayenne. Then I had another one in 2015 in collaboration with Anax. This was Inquisitor 1839.

Inquisitor 1163: Common Knowledge by Samuel

Thu February 17, 2011 at 1:13 pmWed February 16, 2011 at 1:23 am by kenmac

A nice easy preamble for a change. We’re told that six entries are clued without definition and all the other clues generate an extra letter. The extra letters generate a “line”, which identifies … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 5 Comments

Inquisitor 1159: House Call by Schadenfreude

Wed January 19, 2011 at 1:23 am by kenmac

Ah, Schadenfreude, probably my favourite Inquisitor compiler!  I tend to find the clues seem very hard on first or second reading but on third or fourth (or fifth, etc.) reading, they start to reveal all. We’re told … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 7 Comments

Inquisitor 1156 – Touché by Charybdis

Wed December 22, 2010 at 1:23 am by kenmac

What a great puzzle. If it wasn’t so cold, I’d take my hat off to Charybdis! The preamble is very confusing. Firstly we’re told that a 5-letter thematic character has to be found in … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 9 Comments

Inquisitor 1151 – On the Rebound by Kruger

Wed November 17, 2010 at 11:29 pmWed November 17, 2010 at 1:23 am by kenmac

This puzzle contained a device I’d never seen before, which, at first glance looked like it was going to prove troublesome. In the end, however, it was fairly easy-going. Each entry had to rebound off … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 12 Comments

Inquisitor 1146: Grub Up by Lato

Wed October 13, 2010 at 1:23 am by kenmac

Inquisitor 1146 Another fairly complex preamble. In essence it says that twelve entries are not clued in the conventional way. Four of them are clued by single extra words in four clues. Further, … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 8 Comments

Inquisitor 1141: Tough Times by Samuel

Wed September 8, 2010 at 10:59 pmWed September 8, 2010 at 12:00 pm by kenmac

The preamble tells us that redundancies have been made in 12 entries and their clues. My first thought was that we were probably looking for various standard crossword “workers” (bee, hand, ant, man, … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 4 Comments

Inquisitor 1140 – Hard Going from Phi

Wed September 1, 2010 at 12:00 pm by kenmac

This puzzle has an interesting preamble – “a significant minority of clues contain a misprint …” First thought is “What on Earth does that mean?” It could be anywhere between 1 and 16 … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 13 Comments

Inquisitor 1131 – Number by Loda

Wed June 30, 2010 at 11:59 am by kenmac

Probably my quickest Inquisitor ever, I had it done-and-dusted in less than an hour. Every clue contained an extra word, I must admit that I usually find those types of clues a tad … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 4 Comments

Inquisitor 1126: Area Code by Ikela

Thu May 27, 2010 at 1:23 am by kenmac

Pretty easy going at first. I had the grid (with the exception of the four thematics) filled in about an hour. The thematics, however, proved a little troublesome until the penny dropped. The … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 3 Comments

Inquisitor 1121 – Associates by Lato

Fri April 23, 2010 at 10:03 pmThu April 22, 2010 at 1:23 am by kenmac

Well, this one put up a fight but I won through in the end. I guess it must have taken me about 5 hours over about 4 days. The title and preamble didn’t … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 9 Comments

Inquisitor 1116: ? by Hypnos

Fri March 19, 2010 at 10:14 amFri March 19, 2010 at 1:23 am by kenmac

Once a year, on average, two like-minded friends (I and A) and myself (K) meet for an IKA weekend of crosswords and beer. This year we chose to meet in my home town, … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 14 Comments

Inquisitor 1111: First XV by Eddie

Fri February 12, 2010 at 9:19 amFri February 12, 2010 at 1:23 am by kenmac

When I learned that The Inquisitor numbers were changing to what they would have been if they had gone sequentially from 1, I wondered if the editor had something up his sleeve for … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 14 Comments

Inquisitor 157: Subtitle by Ikela

Fri January 8, 2010 at 1:23 am by kenmac

Is there a conspiracy?  My turn to blog and there’s no magazine, again!  Still, thanks to a fellow blogger, I appropriated a copy. 🙂 Though I don’t feel I can submit my entry since … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 7 Comments

Inquisitor 152: On Tour by Glow-worm

Fri December 4, 2009 at 5:38 pmFri December 4, 2009 at 1:23 am by kenmac

What a struggle. Firstly there was no magazine in The Independent in my local shop and none to be had in the nearest big city. A quick SOS email to my bellow floggers … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 9 Comments

Inquisitor 147 – Bear Puzzle – by Raich

Fri October 30, 2009 at 6:03 pmFri October 30, 2009 at 1:23 am by kenmac

What a bad start, I thought. I looked at 1 across and got the answer straight away.  Usually when that happens, I’m doomed to failure. But, as it happens, it wasn’t an omen, I … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 10 Comments
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