Inquisitor 137 No Yens by Schadenfreude

[Speravi]

Congratulations to anyone who has finished this. It's tough, much more difficult than anything the Listener series has had to offer this year. I have six entries to make, with 22ac being the most puzzling - any help would be appreciated.

For anyone struggling with this, my strategy was, firstly, to identify the 20 clues with the extra word - their grid lengths match the bracketed numbers. That could lead to enough of the quotation to be helpful. Secondly, I tried the non-asterisked remaining clues. This confirmed the theme. I left the asterisked clues until last. Bradford was of limited help. Some of the thematic material in its untreated form was pretty recondite to me. Good luck with it, and I doff my hat to Schadenfreude - the construction is superbly elegant.

[Speravi]

It never fails, post a question and a little later you realise that the sticking point was the easiest clue of them all. It's all done now - well worth persevering with this excellent challenge.

[turnerjmw]

I agree entirely, Speravi, this was tougher than any recent Listener. Like you, I was held up in exactly the same spot, until 22ac dawned on me and the intersecting clues quickly followed.

It was very cleverly done, but much of the thematic material was almost beyond obscure to me. Maybe that simply shows how poorly read I am!

I have a minor quibble with 16ac, for obvious reasons if I've got it right. But well done for cracking it

[Speravi]

Thanks for your reply, turnerjmw. I've posted my entry, so I can't be sure, but I think that 16ac was one that I had to deduce from various bits of evidence, rather than nailing it absolutely. Looking at the clue suggests that an anagram was involved, was your quibble that the anagram doesn't work? If so, that's reassuring.

I'm waiting to see what comes up in relation to EV 875. I have a completed grid - and little idea what's going on!

[turnerjmw]

Re: 16ac, my cavil was that the grid entry also appeared in the clue, as the last word. I thought the wordplay led to Delvig, as an anagram of g(o)d and evil. But it was my last one.

I'm in the same boat on EV 875, too! Happy with a full grid, but slight uncertainty about a couple of the subsidiary down indications (19d could be nothing or at least two letters, as far as I can tell).

I only have the online version, which has 7d as "Last opera vcompany snubbed artist". I have assumed the v is a misprint. Do you know if it appears in the paper?

[turnerjmw]

Sorry, I wasn't thinking that you no longer had the clues to hand. 16ac was *God abandoning love flirted with evil (6)

[Speravi]

I have the clues to Inq. 137, rather crumpled now having been fished out of the recycling bag! I do remember thinking that there was an infelicity of the sort you describe, somewhere.

On EV 875, the intrusive "v" appears in print. At first I took the stick to be "gad", but I think it should be "goad".

[turnerjmw]

Yes, "goad" is right. I've finally worked out what's going on. If it's of help, the subsidiary indications give two words, rather than three. And the puzzle appears in the appropriate week.

[Speravi]

Thank you, turnerjmw, for these hints. I'll pick it up later and have another try.

[dannigel]

Am I the only one who has two 31ac, three 2d and 2 12d clues and can't understand why. One of my 2d should be asterisked. It's as though the compiler was trying different clues and forgot to remove them before sending them to the printers. And I still can't find the theme name for 23d.

[fancydan]

Hardgoing yes, but well worth the effort.
Congratulations to a Mr. J.E. Green who was a winner on Inquisitor 134

[turnerjmw]

I assumed the point of the multiple clues was to make the grid entry easier for those particular ones, as they all resolve to the same thing. It's true that one of 2dn could have had an asterisk (if the definition was removed) but then so could one of 25ac, and so could 21dn, I guess. I can only imagine Schadenfreude didn't want to mix asterisked and unasterisked clues together.

I thought 23dn had to be Holberg

http://www.questia.com/library/encyclopedia/ho lberg_ludvig_baron.jsp

[RossR]

22A was one of the very first that I solved, but the further I get the more convinced I am that it is wrong. Would somebody please give me a small hint - for instance, which is the dropped word?

[Rapparee]

It's the last word.

[RossR]

Thanks, Rapparee. I had DECCA, which for my generation was the epitome of "pop".

[Rapparee]

I trust you have now worked out the correct answer, friend.

[RossR]

I'm sorry to say I haven't - that clue kept me awake half the night and I can still make no sense of it."

[slaney]

RossR - 22a - if you reverse a two letter word for the second meaning of AC/DC in Chambers and a three letter word meaning "knows" you will get the definition which is the penultimate word.

[RossR]

Clunk! (sound of belated penny dropping)
Thanks for that, slaney, I had entirely failed to consider about-ing the pieces.

[nigel2]

Solved everything apart from the answer to 20 ac which could be one of two possibilities. Unable to determine the thematic item from which it's derived so any hints would be welcome!