Friday, January 23, 2009

Cogito Ergo Summary

listener4015

According to the Listener page, Adam has been setting puzzles for over 50 years! The only one I remember trying, 3930: Double Entry, I got absolutely nowhere on. Apparently there was a mess when this first appeared online without the preamble, but by the time I got to download and print it, the preamble was there. Cells with asterisks, all around the perimeter, and a letter exchange later on.

I took this with me on a lunch break and found that I was on Adam's wavelength this time, in a little over an hour, I had a pretty decent chunk of the grid filled in, and even better, most of the clues with the asterisks were pretty gentle.

1 across: GO reversed around UT,IN - so I have OUG
5 across: KISMET (MISTAKE-A)* - giving MT
1 down: O,A RING - really liked this clue, Adam - R
9 down: wanTONNESs - so OS
20 down: IMPART(ial) - another nice clue - I
24 down: MANGE,R - G
33 across: TEETER - (THE TREE - H) - E
34 across: C,ENTER - C

So the asterisked letters were ORIEMTOSGCUG. At the bagel place where I had lunch, I couldn't make anything of this - I plucked out CUSTOMER but didn't see anything else (that would leave OIGG).

Back at the computer, I took a stab at the Word Wizards anagram generator, and entering in O as the extra letter threw up COGITO ERGO SUM, which sounded promising, and had the same number of letters as RENE DESCARTES.

The only ambiguities left to take care of were the substitutions of the Gs and Os - I saw RETINA for 1 taking care of both, and the outside was no problem.

But I wasn't finished, and that was frustrating... I had a bunch of no-fits in the top right hand corner. I'd messed up the anagram at 5, inventing a painter KICHENER, which was keeping me from getting 12 and 17 across. Bradford's came through with KIRCHNER, and after an agonizing day or two wondering if I could really blow it, I have a grid and a solution.

Maybe it's a policy to have an easy one to start off with, or I'm getting better, but I found this one a breeze. The clues are nice, very much like I'm used to in the Mephisto, and it was a fun solve.

Victory to George! 2009 tally: George 1, Listener 0. Current streak : George 1

It's far too tempting to put the Monty Python Philosopher's Song up with a Rene Descartes themed puzzle. So here's another French Philosopher, Plastic Bertrand.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice job - I didn't attempt this one through lack of time.

Anonymous said...

Shouldn't this read George 1 Listener 0?

I completed the grid succesfully, first ever attempt, got the phrase and Descartes and correctly worked out all the new words........however with a ridiculous schoolboy error I submitted my grid with the cryptic answers prior to substitution, not after (i.e Outing not Retina).

So despite having completed the grid and solved correctly, in forgetting (or not understanding) to add the substituted words in, I have to start my first ever year with..

Apache4D 0 Listener 1

Absolutely gutted!!!

Well Done George, see you next week!

Anonymous said...

V good job though 13 across, Presentation style = Italic not Italia

Unknown said...

Oops, Anonymous is right! I've been solving the Listener for about 3 years now, and I make that kind of silly single-character mistake at least 4 or 5 times a year. So frustrating!

Anonymous said...

Most of us consider this to be the first Listener of 2009, so I suggest your score should be George 1 Listener 0!

Keep it up!

Mike Grocott

George the Bastard said...

Oops - the 1-1 is a mistype, as is italia - on my notes I had italic, what's funny is I was going to write a new grid and check every word, but I figured it would be OK to scan and enter the working grid.

Apache - I'd claim it (I don't mail in grids, usually I don't have enough time to solve and make the postal deadline - I'm still waiting on a package from the UK that was mailed almost two weeks ago).

Anonymous said...

George, Plastic Bertrand is Belgian (one of a mere handful of famous Belgians including Magritte, Poirot and Bosman, to name but all of them)