I was double-Serpented on the weekend of the York get-together, with his Indy puzzle to blog on the Saturday, and then this EV on the Sunday…if I had a BELIEF SYSTEM that included previous lives, I would suspect I had done something wrong in one of them!
Enigmatic Variations
Enigmatic Variations No.1562 – Loss by KCIT
Clues to the nine-letter entries — all real words — consist of three definitions to component parts in order. To form the entry, each part must suffer an identical LOSS affecting the same letter each time in a given clue. The six letters thus obtained can be arranged to give a relevant two-word phrase, which must be written below the grid. Nine other entries are deemed to have suffered the same LOSS leading to a different word being clued. However, the entries have their losses restored, always in checked cells. Numbers in brackets refer to the spaces available. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended; 5 is in ODE.
Enigmatic Variations No. 1561 Thirtieth Anniversary by proXimal
Well 30 years since the first EV – clues are 3’s and 0’s, as in that is how they are entered. The zeroes around the number and the threes jumbled between three numbers. … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 1560: It’s Not What You Say by Vagans
Hello everyone, and the now-usual thanks to mc_rapper for ensuring that we bloggers have access to a usable version of the puzzle. That I wasted a few moments wondering what relevance Daniel had in 24d is due only to my own imperfect proof-reading of the converted text! As for the puzzle itself, another enjoyable EV from Vagans, to whom thanks.
Enigmatic Variations No. 1559: Save by Vismut
Is Vismut referring to the current cost-of-living crisis, and urging us to try and SAVE a few pennies?…
Enigmatic Variations No.1558 – Name that Tune II by X-Type
“NAME THAT TUNE to be highlighted in the grid, behaving in a manner befitting its title. The unclued entries making up the top row composed the song. The album from which the song is taken is the other unclued entry. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”
Enigmatic Variations No. 1557 Or Do They? by POAT
My first blog since the EV left the telegraph puzzle’s site – as did I, though still with several months of paid subscription left. Straight clues, an un-clued entry then a series of … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 1556: Limitations by Jaques
Hi, intrepid EV-ers, and congratulations on securing access to the puzzle despite the LIMITATIONS those in charge at the paper have introduced. (Not the EV or puzzles editors, I hasten to add – their skills and commitment to the series have steered it through this far.) Before getting to the puzzle, I must give a big thank you to my fellow blogger mc_rapper for supplying me with a copy, complete with perfectly OCR-ed clues.
The two previous Jaques puzzles I’ve had the pleasure of blogging should have put me in a good frame of mind for this one but, perhaps because blogging the EV gets a smidge less fun with every attempt to kill it, I didn’t get around to starting this until Tuesday evening. I was lucky that it wasn’t a monster! Instead, it was all most enjoyable with a satisfying ending.
Enigmatic Variations No. 1555: The Rules Of The Game by Ifor
The RULES OF THE GAME for the EV series seem to have changed, with it disappearing from the online Telegraph puzzle site and becoming a ‘paper-only’ puzzle…I hope most of you were still able to get your fix…
Enigmatic Variations No. 1554 – Absolutely Nothing by Kruger
Wordplay in each of fifteen clues yields an extra letter that is not entered in the grid. In clue order, these letters give the start of a quotation from a poem (in ODQ and associated with ABSOLUTELY NOTHING) and the initials of its source. The third line of this quotation suggests how twelve answers are to be thematically treated before entry. Lengths in brackets refer to grid entries while word counts refer to original answers. Chambers Dictionary (2016) and ODQ7 are recommended; 21 is in Collins.
Enigmatic Variations No. 1553 Exclamations by Maranga
Exclamations from a compiler new to myself. Straight clues and a perimeter to fill in and a fifth example to highlight in the grid. A reasonably gentle puzzle, meaning my blog is not … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 1552: Instruction by Piccadilly
Hi all. A relative pussycat of an EV with a theme right up my alley! The preamble reads: Some clues are really two clues run together. Their combined answers must be treated … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 1551: Opinion by Chalicea
After five weeks of the recent ‘Elementary’ themed EV series, we are back to normal…or whatever constitutes ‘normal’ in an EV! My OPINION on seeing it was a Chalicea this week was that it should be at the ‘gentler’ end of the EV spectrum, and would probably be educational and/or entertaining in some measure…
Enigmatic Variations No.1550 – Elementary Solutions by A Few
“Each quadrant represents one of five ELEMENTARY SOLUTIONS; solvers must determine which quadrant each set belongs to. Clues are in normal order within each group. All entries except one at every stage are real words or names. Initial answers may not fit the space allocated. Solvers must highlight four examples of the fifth solution, each spanning two quadrants (16 cells). Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”
Enigmatic Variations No. 1549 Elementary IV: A dramatic instruction by KCIT
The fourth in a series – misprints in definitions and eight answers with a common theme. So the misprints spelled out: REPEATS IMPLY HEIGHT – FLOOD THE GRID The common them of two … Read more >>