195. Word Play 5: 100 Pages of Solvitude
The Allusionist
Helen Zaltzman
4.7 • 3.8K Ratings
🗓️ 28 May 2024
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Cain's Jawbone, a murder mystery cryptic puzzle novella in the form of 100 pages presented in the wrong order, has many millions of possible solutions but only one that is correct. 86 years after it was published, writer, comedian and crossword constructor John Finnemore solved it. And then, craving another 100-page cryptic puzzle murder story, he wrote his own.
Get the transcript of this episode, and find links to more information about the people, puzzles and topics therein, at theallusionist.org/solvitude. The original Cain's Jawbone by Edward Powys Mathers, and John Finnemore's new The Researcher's First Murder, are both available to buy from unbound.com.
This is the fifth instalment in the Word Play series about word games and puzzles; previous episodes include the history of anagrams, recent developments in crosswords, and turning words into games. The next episode will be about the Scripps Spelling Bee, which I am attending this week. I’ll be posting about my Bee time on facebook.com/allusionistshow, instagram.com/allusionistshow and twitter.com/allusionistshow, but members of the Allusioverse will be getting Discord updates lolloping odd essays from the Bee, so if you want those, scoot along to theallusionist.org/donate - and you’ll also be keeping this independent podcast going, in return for which you get regular livestreams, inside scoops into the making of this show, watchalong parties, and the company of your fellow Allusionauts in our delightful Discord community.
Our ad partner is Multitude. If you want me to talk lovingly and winningly about your product or thing on the show in 2024, sponsor an episode: contact Multitude at multitude.productions/ads. This episode is sponsored by:
• Understance: comfortable, stylish, size-inclusive bras and undies. Shop the range and learn about your own branatomy - like I did! - at understance.com.
• Bombas, whose mission is to make the comfiest clothing essentials, and match every item sold with an equal item donated. Go to bombas.com/allusionist to get 20% off your first purchase.
• Squarespace, your one-stop shop for building and running your online empire/new home for your cryptic puzzle that takes months to solve. Go to squarespace.com/allusionist for a free 2-week trial, and get 10 percent off your first purchase of a website or domain with the code allusionist.
Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the illusionist, in which I, Helen Zultsman, shake up language into that |
| 0:08.8 | coagulates into a smooth emulsion. Here we are still cavorting in the Word Play series. |
| 0:14.6 | It's been really lovely to hear from so many of you who enjoyed listening to all the |
| 0:18.4 | crossword constructors last episode. |
| 0:20.7 | This episode is about what happens when crossword constructors really go big on making a cryptic puzzle that can take months, even years to solve. |
| 0:32.0 | Next episode, if all goes years to solve. |
| 0:32.8 | Next episode, if all goes according to plan, |
| 0:35.1 | I'll be reporting to you from the script spelling bee. |
| 0:38.6 | For real-time bee reports, follow me on the socials |
| 0:42.0 | at Illusionist Show, but members of the Illusionverse will be getting pretty much running commentary while I'm there. |
| 0:49.0 | So head to the Illusionist.org, slash donate if you would like that too. |
| 0:53.0 | On with the show. Hello, I'm Jean Finamore. I'm a writer, a comedian, an actor. I write mostly comedy, mostly |
| 1:09.1 | for radio, but also TV and film. And I have just written a thing that's extremely hard to |
| 1:15.4 | categorize it's not really a book it's a puzzle it's also a murder mystery and |
| 1:20.4 | it comes in the form of a box of a hundred picture postcards |
| 1:25.0 | with text on one side and pictures on the other. |
| 1:28.0 | I mean now you describe it like that it is quite hard categories. |
| 1:31.0 | Yes, people are always saying, what's the new thing you're working on? |
| 1:34.7 | I'd say, okay, sit down in 1934. All right, yeah. Let's start in 1934. In. Yes in 1934 a man called Edward |
| 1:45.9 | Powys Mathis Mathis who was better known at the time by his his |
| 1:50.2 | a pseudonym of Tor Camada as in the Spanish Inquisitor. He was the crossword editor of the observer and he more or less invented the British style cryptic crossword where you have a definition part of the clue and then a word play part to the clue. |
| 2:07.0 | There's a clue in the clue as to how to approach the clue. |
... |
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