Inquisitor 1305

[Ripper]

I've filled in the grid (and spotted many references to the milestone) I've got the rhetorical question. But now I'm completely stuck!
"each of four answers describes a pair of others etc....."
I've just no idea how to progress
Any help gratefully appreciated!
Thanks in advance

[boreas]

The four 'describers' are at 23A, 19D, 30D and 35D

[Neveracrossword]

I have three of the four pairs but not the question!

Have you got any of the pairs? It's hard to give an extra hint - so I'll just say, look at 19 D and then 38 A and 14 A. The other two I have work along similar lines. Hope this is of some help.

[Ripper]

Thank you both, that's given me something to work on.
Neveracrossword: the first letters of the question are WCPGW
Hope that helps

[Neveracrossword]

Ripper, thanks - have now got the question and the four pairs. I've still to tie them together, get the final step, but will have another go after tea.

[Begemot]

I'm really struggling with this one. Got the question, got the four pairs. The four pairs seem to point at a set of abbreviations, which I suspect I then jumble. If that's the case, I'm finding the geographical pair ambiguous, & whichever option I choose, I can't see an anagram.
At which point did I stray off the true path?

[boreas]

Each of the eight words give you one letter.
(Each letter being an abbreviation for the word).
That is the anagram.

[Begemot]

Thanks, Boreas, that's got me a stage further. I still can't get from this 8-letter word & the 18-letter, 4-word "alternative title". If you're able to point me one last time, I'd be very grateful. I think this is the first time I've got this stuck in the last two years!

[boreas]

Begemot, I'm stuck at exactly the same point as you.

The preamble says the word needs to be used in conjunction with the title (Take ...) but I can't see where that takes us.

I have a possible answer for the alternative title.
If you'd rather not know, I'll send it as a separate post - then you don't have to look!

[boreas]

I googled the 'relevant question' and ended up on a site about tropes in disaster type dramas.

The sort where someone says:' What can possibly etc'.

This site also mentioned another phrase used in similar situations, where something going wrong is: 'Million to one chance'.

Right number of words and letters . . . but?????

[JagoBean]

Still stuck on this. The event is Nimrod's 50th birthday, which was celebrated with beers at the Sheffield Tap. Presumably he left London from St Pancras. Does that help? If so, tell me how!

[Neveracrossword]

Boreas, I am as stuck as you are - and was led to the same site with tropes and so on. I couldn't make get anything worked out - at one point I wondered if the alternative title would relate somehow to Kipling's 'triumph and disaster' stuff. I didn't get anywhere with that either!

[boreas]

I can't see any connection between the 'milestone' and the theme.
I decided it had nothing to do with it.
But I am probably missing something glaringly obvious. Not for the first time.

[Begemot]

Thanks again, Boreas. Seems a little tenuous for a Nimrod, but, to adopt the same mannerism, "it's a slim hope, but it's the only hope we've got". :)
If I suddenly have any different inspiration I'll post you back.

[boreas]

Okay Begemot.

Now,do we cut the red wire first . . . . or the blue one?

[boreas]

Hi Never,

Do you think the 'sample' and 'a few' ales have anything to do with it - or just a distraction?

[JagoBean]

The milestone etc surely has to be relevant; otherwise, they wouldn't be mentioned in the preamble but in Nimrod's editorial commentary, no? But the milestone, which is celebrated by Sheffield (at least) in the grid, seems irrelevant to the anagrammed pairs.

'Happy birthday to you' has 18 letters.

But so do many 4 word phrases. I fear this may be my 'fail' this year. Grr.

[Neveracrossword]

I thought the sample and some ales must have some relevance, seeing as they come after the title. I also still don't see what the 'Take...' actually means - not on its own, not when it's combined with the anagram. I thought of 'happy birthday...' - but there was no reasoning for it. Although the milestone is important, surely the crossword should be accessible to first-time solvers?

[boreas]

JB,

I'm coming round to your point of view.

[boreas]

and Never, I agree with you.

[jockie]

take + sample + some ales = 18 letters, and applying the 8-letter word obtained from the pairs as an anagrind might be worth considering.