An abundance of missing and added letters and words this week. To be precise, 15 omitted letters, 21 extra letters and 4 extra words. But a ‘single shot’. What could it all mean?
Mister Sting
Enigmatic Variations No.1028 – Small Change by Piccadilly
A simple enough preamble introduces ‘Small Change’. All clues have an extra letter in their subsidiary indication, and these letters spell out an instruction. All well and good, but will the small change prove to be a big headache?
Enigmatic Variations No.1027 – Checkmate by Shark
Hopefully I’ve got the right puzzle this time. Let’s check… 1027. Yes. Good.
Many apologies for posting the wrong one earlier.
Shark’s ‘Checkmate’ has extra letters and highlighting galore, which I’d like. I’d also like it if ‘Checkmate’ was a reference to the Wu-Tang Clan (warning: link contains rap music), but I doubt it will be. (It’s not.)
Enigmatic Variations No.1023 – Phoenix by Rasputin
I’ll get my grumble out of the way first: the crossword editor should be hanged. There were FIVE length errors (46 across and 2, 16, 32, 42 down). These didn’t make solving harder, but such mistakes can do so, and are in any case unacceptably sloppy. Also, 38dn should have been hyphenated, and this did affect the difficulty. Furthermore, speaking of affects, 31ac read ‘AFTER AFFECTS’, rather than ‘AFTEREFFECTS’.
No one who solves the Enigmatic Variations with any regularity will be inclined to the opinion that perhaps the editor had an off day, as errors are far too common. In summary, next time I suggest that the editor uses the time-honoured technique of actually looking at the puzzle. With their eyes.
Enigmatic Variations No.1019 – Losing the Plot by Nutmeg
A standard format this week: missing letters form a message that will hopefully give enough information about the theme to allow the grid to be filled in without too much difficulty.
Enigmatic Variations No.1015 – Clash by Kruger
There’s a lot going on in the preamble: a partial quotation, CLASHes ‘contributing to’ a further CLASH, those involved in the CLASH and – just for good measure – a final CLASH to … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No.1011 – Title by Piccadilly
With this sort of DIY grid puzzle, it all depends how easy cold-solving is. So how easy is this going to be? And what’s the puzzle actually called? In fact, in addition to … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No.1007 – Loyalty by Samuel
I do like Samuel. I can’t remember exactly which past EVs were his, but his name is associated in my mind with a sort of pleasant, hazy, possibly-toughish-in-parts-but-fair feeling. Perhaps I’m post-rationalising, because … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No.1003 – Identity Crisis by 1ac or 44ac
This was magnificent. A great theme, well executed. Many thanks to… well, to whom, exactly? There seems to be a fair amount going on – unclued entries, additional words and subsidiary indications, and … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No.999 – All Change by Loda
‘All Change’ seems appropriate for a puzzle published on 1st January. Will the theme at least be more apt than last week’s war-based Christmas offering? Once again, we’ve to resolve clashes by substitution … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No.996 – Medium Rare by Jacques
The preamble doesn’t give very much away: 12 normal clues, the answers to which require ‘adjustment’. The other clues must have a letter removed before solving. The last sentence includes the always-worrying “numbers … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No.992 – Udergroud by Loda
Hey, boys and girls! Do you like shameless cross-promotion? You do? Well, that’s just great, because I was about to tell you that you should listen to Mighty Mighty Mix Tape on www.oxideradio.co.uk … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No.988 – Pairs by Oxymoron
I found this an enjoyable little number. A certain amount of cold solving required for the thematic clues, but it was helpful that they were listed in alphabetical order. No word lengths given, … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No.984 – Practically Worthless by Lato
On a first reading, the preamble doesn’t give one a lot to go on: “Though they’re far from alone, seven unclued answers according to two others (taken as a pair) 9, which might … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No.980 – Balancing Acts by Nudd
Balancing Acts, eh? What sort of acrobatics does Nudd have in store? He/She/It tells us to highlight “the work in which the quotation was originally attributed”. That’s an odd instruction – what can … Read more >>