expat_phil

@Lewis Agreed. It's an outstanding debut, and a lot of fun to solve! Thanks, Nathan.

@Mark Some of us look forward to Thursdays just for puzzles like this. Please don't ask the editors to publish only those types of puzzles that you like. You can skip Thursday puzzles and still have a whole archive of more straightforward puzzles to choose from.

@john ezra Thanks for the Benet tip - it'll be my next read. Years ago, I came upon a worn volume of "John Brown's Body" on one of my dad's (many) bookshelves, and was for some reason intrigued. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down. Recently, I tried to track down a copy for myself, only to discover that it wasn't stocked by one of the largest U.S. bookseller chains. After scolding a company representative over the phone, I finally tracked it down elsewhere, but I have often thought that it is a sadly overlooked classic. It is a beautifully written, and thoroughly American, epic poem, and deserves more recognition than it gets.