Enigmatic Variations – Page 49

Enigmatic Variations No. 1048: Missing Title by Nutmeg

Sat December 29, 2012 at 12:01 am by mc_rapper67

Another annoyingly misleading editing error in the preamble – which starts: ‘Half of the 24 clued answers…’ but should probably start: ‘Half of the 48 clued answers…’, or ‘Of the 48 clued answers, 24/half…’. … Read more >>

Enigmatic Variations No.1047 – X Marks the ???? by Rustic

Sun December 23, 2012 at 12:30 amSat December 22, 2012 at 12:00 am by Mister Sting

There are two errors in the first sentence of this EV’s preamble. There are dots rather than commas separating some of the numbers giving word lengths for the quotation, which is described as “running clockwise IN THE MOST of the perimeter”. I appreciate that these are small mistakes (and not the setter’s fault), but they irk me.

Enigmatic Variations 1046 Author by Picadilly

Sat December 8, 2012 at 1:40 amSat December 8, 2012 at 12:01 am by twencelas

An extra letter in each of the subsidiary indications – straight forward enough but then the answers must be jumbled except for the first and last three rows and first and last 2 … Read more >>

Enigmatic Variations 1045: Musical Idol By Lato

Sat December 1, 2012 at 1:00 am by Shenanigans

The annual-ish EV outing for Lato this week, and no extra/missing letters/words or misprints to look out for. Instead there were just nine unclued entries, each suggested in one of two ways by … Read more >>

Enigmatic Variations No. 1044: Seven Things by Wiglaf

Sat November 24, 2012 at 9:39 amSat November 24, 2012 at 12:01 am by mc_rapper67

Wiglaf is a new name to me – and doesn’t seem to appear anywhere else on 15×15, so is either a new setter. or one of those occasional collaborations of setters(?). Either way … Read more >>

Enigmatic Variations No.1043 – Dark by Chalicea

Sat November 17, 2012 at 12:00 am by Mister Sting

An ominous title to this EV. Will Chalicea leave me in the Dark?

Enigmatic Variations 1042 Tempting Fate by Samuel

Sat November 10, 2012 at 12:05 am by twencelas

Seven unclued entries, 18 with extra letters in the wordplay, one clued without definition and quite a convoluted preamble as to how the unclued entries are derived. Would I be tempting fate by saying … Read more >>

Enigmatic Variations 1041: What’s the Point by Oxymoron

Fri November 2, 2012 at 12:00 pm by Shenanigans

I noticed last week that the deadline for EV entries moved, with effect from number 1039, from Friday to Thursday. I guess we should be posting our blogs sometime on Friday now, in … Read more >>

Enigmatic Variations No. 1040: Two Seventeen Eighteen by Owzat

Sat October 27, 2012 at 12:01 am by mc_rapper67

This puzzle certainly wasn’t a sprint…and I had to stop for a few ‘comfort breaks’ along the way…but it turned out to be a very enjoyable EV, with a quirky/off-the-wall denouement. Six unclued … Read more >>

Enigmatic Variations No.1039 – Pictures by Shark

Sat October 20, 2012 at 12:00 am by Mister Sting

Recently, there have been a number of EVs that have left me staring blankly at a filled grid, unclear as to how to proceed. Although it shouldn’t have been, this was one of those.

Enigmatic Variations 1038 Difficulty by MynoT

Sat October 13, 2012 at 12:05 am by twencelas

So a puzzle with a title of Difficulty – but no indication of its level of difficulty. Nine letters are missing from the subsidiary indications and this then needs to be used to … Read more >>

Enigmatic Variations 1037: Men Are Fools by Wan

Sat October 13, 2012 at 8:57 amSat October 6, 2012 at 1:00 am by Shenanigans

Wan is a new setter to me. I haven’t seen him in the Listener, EV or Inquisitor series, but he/she may have appeared elsewhere. Consequently, I’ve no idea whether to expect a tough … Read more >>

Enigmatic Variations No. 1036: Approximate & Appropriate by Moordon

Fri October 5, 2012 at 8:15 pmSat September 29, 2012 at 1:58 am by mc_rapper67

‘And’, so it goes on – if you read last week’s rant from Mister Sting… This week’s preamble tells us to replace ‘parts of’ 14 clue answers – as ‘forms’ of 26A. All very … Read more >>

Enigmatic Variations No.1035 – Last One To Join by Kruger

Sat September 22, 2012 at 12:00 am by Mister Sting

First of all, let’s have a rant. The editing was shoddy. Again. There was a missing bar in the grid (making 47ac appear to have 7 letters), ‘for’ was written as ‘fo’ in 7dn, while ‘or’ replaced ‘of’ in 30ac. Only the 7ac mistake was innocuous. I’m sure that the puzzles could be proof read by some enthusiastic amateur if there’s no one willing to do the job properly at the newspaper. At the very least, they could be fixed in the online version. But I digress…

Enigmatic Variations 1034 Dismissal by Ifor

Sat September 15, 2012 at 12:01 am by twencelas

Back to a long preamble, this week. Four clues with double definitions with one entry different by a thematic entry from the other one. The thematic items can then be described by a … Read more >>