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Shenanigans's avatarShenanigans

I have been doing The Listener crossword on and off (mainly off) since I was about 16. I am now slightly older, and finally have a lot of time on my hands to devote to this beauty and others like it. In its honour, I created the Crossword Database, which you can get to from the Fifteensquared Links page. I try and complete The Listener, Inquisitor and Enigmatic Variations every week, with about a 90% success rate (which translates into a 0.1% prize rate). I treat all these puzzles like treasure hunts where, well not to put too fine a point on it, anything goes in trying to get to the elusive pot of gold … except of course asking someone else. I have no qualms about using Bradford's or Chambers Crossword Dictionaries or about Googling whatever seems appropriate. On the non-crosswording front I play golf and tinker with computery stuff. I grew up with William Hartnell's Doctor Who and Monty Python, but feel at home in the 21st century with Matt Smith's Doctor, Little Britain and the League of Gentlemen.

Enigmatic Variations 1049: Iris by MynoT

Sat January 5, 2013 at 9:01 amSat January 5, 2013 at 1:00 am by Shenanigans

A fairly straightforward puzzle this week by the looks of it. Six extra words to be found in the clues which would give an instruction. I’ve struggled with some of MynoT’s puzzles before, … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 1 Comment

Enigmatic Variations 1045: Musical Idol By Lato

Sat December 1, 2012 at 1:00 am by Shenanigans

The annual-ish EV outing for Lato this week, and no extra/missing letters/words or misprints to look out for. Instead there were just nine unclued entries, each suggested in one of two ways by … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 2 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 1041: What’s the Point by Oxymoron

Fri November 2, 2012 at 12:00 pm by Shenanigans

I noticed last week that the deadline for EV entries moved, with effect from number 1039, from Friday to Thursday. I guess we should be posting our blogs sometime on Friday now, in … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 1 Comment

Enigmatic Variations 1037: Men Are Fools by Wan

Sat October 13, 2012 at 8:57 amSat October 6, 2012 at 1:00 am by Shenanigans

Wan is a new setter to me. I haven’t seen him in the Listener, EV or Inquisitor series, but he/she may have appeared elsewhere. Consequently, I’ve no idea whether to expect a tough … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 11 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 1033: Game Money by Warbler

Sat September 8, 2012 at 8:30 am by Shenanigans

Extra letters in the wordplay spelt out a quotation and author, which would help to identify a formation and some constituent parts. A good puzzle this week from Warbler, but nothing too strenuos. … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 2 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 1029: Turning to Eccentricity by Ifor

Sun August 12, 2012 at 12:32 pmSun August 12, 2012 at 7:15 am by Shenanigans

Apologies for the late running of this blog, but having just gone through the trauma of preparing for a house move, and then experiencing it, many crossword-related tasks have been delayed. However, I … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 1 Comment

Enigmatic Variations 1025: 13 Down by Kcit

Sat July 14, 2012 at 7:00 am by Shenanigans

Just to reiterate what mc_rapper highlighted last week, The Sunday Telegraph is now accepting email submissions for Enigmatic Variations. This requires you to scan your solution/entry coupon, and email it to prize.puzzles@telegraph.co.uk, with … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations

Enigmatic Variations 1021: Blown Off Course by Jaques

Sat June 16, 2012 at 8:30 am by Shenanigans

I started this puzzle only a couple of days shy of this blog being due, so I was beginning to panic. The clues sounded relatively straightforward, with only seven misprints to be found. … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 2 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 1017: Epilogue by Oxymoron

Sat May 19, 2012 at 7:30 am by Shenanigans

I blogged the last EV Oxymoron puzzle, with its Humphrey Bogart and Sir Isaac Newton theme. That was great fun, so hopefully more of the same here. Single letters were to be dropped … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 4 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 1013: Essentials by Rustic

Sat April 21, 2012 at 1:00 am by Shenanigans

A seemingly straightforward puzzle this week, but I was sure it wouldn’t turn out to be free of a trick or two. There were no extra/missing letters/words or misprints in the clues, just … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 1 Comment

Enigmatic Variations 1009: Rash by Kcit

Sat March 24, 2012 at 1:00 am by Shenanigans

A lot going on in the preamble here, but everything was spelt out relatively clearly! There were extra letters in subsidiary indications which, together with three unclued entries, gave a quotation from the … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 3 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 1005: Answer by Shark

Sat February 25, 2012 at 1:00 am by Shenanigans

I’ve come across a couple of Shark puzzles before and have been nicely entertained by them. Here, subsidiary indications led to an extra letter not entered, and they spelt out part of a … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations

Enigmatic Variations 1001: Croquet by Salamanca

Sat January 28, 2012 at 7:30 am by Shenanigans

I did a blog for a Salamanca puzzle at Listen With Others back in January 2010. However, this is my first for one of his EVs, which is surprising since he’s had ten … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 2 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 998: Nativity by Oxymoron

Sat January 7, 2012 at 1:00 am by Shenanigans

Only ten weeks since the last Oxymoron EV (988, Pairs), but I, for one, am not complaining. One letter or (in five cases) word to be removed from each clue, and they would … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations

Enigmatic Variations 994: Choice by Chalicea

Wed December 14, 2011 at 2:36 pmSat December 3, 2011 at 1:00 am by Shenanigans

We were given a CHOICE by Raich with EV 985, and now it’s Chalicea’s turn. Here we were presented with a 14×14 grid and sixty-two clues — I felt that perhaps an overtime … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 5 Comments
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