Dalibor, aka Sil van den Hoek, a doyen of this site, has sent a puzzle for the delectation and delight of the S&B 2024 crowd, even though he won’t be able to join the festivities…much missed… (For anyone who wasn’t there but would like to try the puzzle before reading the blog, it should be at this link here)
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Enigmatic Variations No. 1663: The Right Fit by Piccadilly
Ah, yet another jigsaw EV, albeit one with a piece missing from the middle. Let’s hope I can get the RIGHT FIT of entries in the grid…although the preamble mentions ‘ambiguities’, which may add some jeopardy to proceedings…
Guardian Saturday Prize Crossword 29,506 by Boatman (5 October 2024)
My first ever Boatman blog, and a rare Saturday Prize slot outing for the jolly sailor…and we have a special instruction: ‘A dozen of a kind are missing from their clues’ wordplay.‘
Cyclops 788 – Boorish Earworm
Cyclops has a couple of topical references this fortnight, and thankfully none of them involves Ronald T Dump…
Enigmatic Variations No. 1659: Problem by Eclogue
Ah, Monsieur l’EV Editor, two cartes blanche in as many weeks – you do spoil us! The only PROBLEM is that it is my turn to blog…
Guardian Saturday Prize Crossword 29,482 by Paul (7 September 2024)
It wouldn’t be a Paul if there weren’t a few multi-location entries and a bit of cross-referencing…and sure enough, on the first scan through, 26A/27A seems to get a lot of mentions…
Cyclops 786 – Celebrate Gnome
Cyclops seems to have some fundamental things on his mind, this fortnight…
Enigmatic Variations No. 1655: Assertion by Skylark
ASSERTION anagrammatises to ‘arsonites’, ‘notarises’, ‘rosinates’ and ‘senoritas’…which one is Senorita Skylark maybe leading us towards?…
Guardian Saturday Prize Crossword 29,458 by Picaroon (10 August 2024)
My fourth Picaroon Prize Puzzle blog of 2024…I took a bit of a wrong turn at the start, but it didn’t make a ‘material’ difference to the end result…
Cyclops 784 – Gymnast Stiffy
This fortnight’s title alludes to the, maybe apocryphal, story/video doing the e-rounds of a pole-vaulter who successfully negotiated the bar on his way up but then dislodged it on the way down with his…
Enigmatic Variations No. 1651: Upwardly Mobile By Luxor
After ‘Death on the Nile‘ two weeks ago, we have moved up to Luxor…
Guardian Saturday Prize Crossword 29,434 by Picaroon (13 July 2024)
My three-ish monthly grapple with Picaroon on a Saturday prize slot…blooming hell, what do we have here?…
Cyclops 782 – Tory cul-de-sac
Cyclops has presumably had to do some pretty nifty footwork during a six-week election campaign…and is probably feverishly working away at some new names, with a new political complexion to the government…and binning a load of his bank of clues relating to the outgoing administration…
Enigmatic Variations No. 1647: Happy Ending by Kcit
The phrase ‘HAPPY ENDING’ can have several meanings…at least one of them being not very salubrious – let’s hope Kcit keeps it clean!…
Guardian Saturday Prize Crossword 29,410 by Brockwell (15 June 2024)
Brockwell has become a fairly regular Grauniad setter, with eight puzzles since his debut last April…and most (all?) of them have contained a theme of some sort…