Enigmatic Variations – Page 33

Enigmatic Variations No. 1275: Replacements by Artix

Sat May 6, 2017 at 12:01 am by mc_rapper67

I have to admit I found REPLACEMENTS by Artix a pretty tough EV – so much so that I even considered calling for ‘replacements’, from amongst my fellow EV bloggers. But I persevered, accumulating answers … Read more >>

Enigmatic Variations No.1274 – Structure by proXimal

Sun April 30, 2017 at 12:10 amSat April 29, 2017 at 12:01 am by Mister Sting

Puzzles like this one, where the clues given in alphabetical order of their answers, tend to involve a fair amount of cold solving before a tipping point where (if the solver is lucky) everything slots into place. I have a soft spot for them, but the obvious worry is that one will run into difficulty with the cold solving.

Enigmatic Variations 1273 Adieu by Gaston

Sat April 22, 2017 at 12:05 am by twencelas

Bonjour Gaston – Extra letters in the wordplay – these give a pointer to the number, order and content of the 7 unclued entries. The ending is to highlight a character. Sounds like … Read more >>

Enigmatic Variations No. 1272: Fugue by Kcit

Sat April 15, 2017 at 12:00 am by Shenanigans

Oh dear… a musical theme this week: not my forte. I just hoped it wouldn’t be too technical, although the preamble indicated otherwise: The FUGUE’s four-note motif appears four times, entering lower each … Read more >>

Enigmatic Variations No. 1271: When One Becomes Two by Harribobs

Mon April 10, 2017 at 2:12 pmSat April 8, 2017 at 12:01 am by mc_rapper67

I believe there was a book (and a film?) titled ‘The Men Who Stare At Goats’…and, for a while, I thought I was auditioning for the sequel – the solver who stares at … Read more >>

Enigmatic Variations No.1270 – Uplifting by Chalicea

Mon April 3, 2017 at 10:45 amSat April 1, 2017 at 12:01 am by Mister Sting

The preamble tells us that there is an UPLIFTING sentiment found in five sides of the perimeter. However, the grid is a square, so what does this mean?

Enigmatic Variations 1269 Significance by Oxymoron

Sat March 25, 2017 at 12:02 am by twencelas

A nice short preamble – additional words in all clues and many entries are not words. Interesting. The first thing that became apparent with this puzzle was the mismatches between some entry lengths … Read more >>

Enigmatic Variations No. 1268: Talking Points by Poat

Sat March 18, 2017 at 12:00 am by Shenanigans

A fairly straightforward preamble from Poat this week, indicating some misprints and some colouring in to do in the endgame: In TALKING POINTS, the vertices of a figure appear in one-third of grid … Read more >>

Enigmatic Variations No. 1267: Half by Steve

Sat March 11, 2017 at 12:01 am by mc_rapper67

As John Cleese once warbled in a Monty Python sketch: ‘Fiddle-de-dum, fiddle-di-dee, Eric the half-a-bee’… Steve seems to be challenging us to solve or find HALF a something in this EV…Eric the half-an-EV? … Read more >>

Enigmatic Variations No.1266 – Missing Lights by Shark

Wed March 8, 2017 at 2:43 pmSat March 4, 2017 at 12:01 am by Mister Sting

Sorry this one’s late! Apparently I hadn’t set it to publish automatically.

Enigmatic Variations 1265 Association by Maranga

Sat February 25, 2017 at 6:15 pmSat February 25, 2017 at 12:05 am by twencelas

12 thematic clues with an associated definition and an extra thematic word. The remainder are normal. As preambles go quite long but straight forward. It took me a while to get the theme … Read more >>

Enigmatic Variations No. 1264: Alternative Shortlist by Jago

Sat February 18, 2017 at 12:00 am by Shenanigans

Jago has primarily been a Listener setter, with puzzles going back to 1975. He has also had one Inquisitor two years ago and one EV about twelve years back. No clueing gimmicks from … Read more >>

Enigmatic Variations No. 1263: The Creeping Man by Jaques

Sat February 11, 2017 at 12:01 am by mc_rapper67

The preamble to THE CREEPING MAN states that:“One letter must be removed from each clue before solving; in clue order, these identify a group of people associated with THE CREEPING MAN. Having completed … Read more >>

Enigmatic Variations No. 1262 – The Upton Times by Kruger

Sat February 4, 2017 at 12:01 am by Mister Sting

This puzzle has additional and missing letters, and misprints in definitions. However, we don’t know which clues are affected in what way or even how many of each there are (only that there are ‘approximately equal numbers of each’). Nor do we know what is to be done to complete the puzzle, only that these letters will explain whatever it is.

Well, this should be a piece of cake.

Enigmatic Variations 1261 Frame by Ifor

Sat January 28, 2017 at 12:05 am by twencelas

A complex preamble to say the least. Two set s of clue amendments to produce two messages – extra letters to be removed from the clue and wordplay with an additional letter. Add … Read more >>