Enigmatic Variations

Just like London buses, you wait ages for a Piccadilly to blog (EV 949 in 2011, EV 1291 in 2017), and then three come along in quick succession (EV 1419 in February this year, EV 1431 in May and now EV 1443). Where is this particular bus taking us?…

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“Ten answers have been affected by an IT FEATURE and must be amended before entry in one of two ways. For the remaining clues, half contain a superfluous word which must be relocated into one of the clues in the other half before solving. Numbers in brackets refer to entry lengths. Letters in the four shaded cells can be arranged to provide an acronym of the IT FEATURE, which must be written in full below the grid. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended; two answers are abbreviations.”

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A pretty complicated preamble, and a pretty complicated solve! Could ‘PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE’ be a (wishful) reference to lockdown life for many of us?!

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“The left-hand and bottom perimeter cells represent empty supermarket shelves which must be ‘restocked’ (making new words) with the initial letters of the first 12 words of a song. One of its subsequent lyrics explains the specific item that was UNDERSTOCKED. Solvers must write the title below the grid and highlight the two artists (two blocks of cells in straight lines) responsible. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”

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What sort of MAJORITY is Ifor testing us with this week – is it a political majority – wafer-thin Brexitian or 80-strong Johnson-ian; a ‘coming of age’ majority; or a military major-ity, like Major Major in Catch-22?

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“Single-letter misprints in the definition parts of 18 clues must be corrected before solving. The correct letters, read in order, describe the DARK AND STORMY speaker of the words around the perimeter of the grid, whose name must be highlighted (11 cells). Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”

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