Never knowingly undersolved
Extra letters in the wordplay spelt out a quotation and author, which would help to identify a formation and some constituent parts. A good puzzle this week from Warbler, but nothing too strenuos. … Read more >>
This puzzle had what seemed a rather daunting preamble: across entries intersecting the unclued 12D had to lose ‘something’ which could be construed as a ‘mistake’, replaced by a letter to help form 12D, and … Read more >>
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?
So a short preamble – all entries are affected by A SWIMMING AID, leaving non-words predominantly. I should add that the clue lengths refer to the grid entry. Well 13ac was an exception, … Read more >>
Apologies for the late running of this blog, but having just gone through the trauma of preparing for a house move, and then experiencing it, many crossword-related tasks have been delayed. However, I … Read more >>
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?
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.)
A short preamble, this week – across clues have an extra letter in their wordplay to spell out an instruction related to an unclued light. Sounds entry level, but is it? The answer is … Read more >>
Just to reiterate what mc_rapper highlighted last week, The Sunday Telegraph is now accepting email submissions for Enigmatic Variations. This requires you to scan your solution/entry coupon, and email it to prize.puzzles@telegraph.co.uk, with … Read more >>
Phew…this was enough to drive a man to drink…(well, this man, anyway)…fiendish preamble, tricky devices and tough clues – with maybe a modicum of encouragement in the definition part of 35A – ‘…this can be resolved‘. … Read more >>
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.
A short preamble, straight clues apart from a protagonist to find and several without a definition 3 descriptions of the protagonist and four works by them – Sounds like this might be one … Read more >>
I started this puzzle only a couple of days shy of this blog being due, so I was beginning to panic. The clues sounded relatively straightforward, with only seven misprints to be found. … Read more >>
There are several devices going on in LOSS – answers altered before entry; extra letters in wordplay; clashing across and down entries; and lines to be drawn in the completed grid. All probably … Read more >>
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.