Enigmatic Variations – Page 50

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 >>

Enigmatic Variations 1033: Game Money by Warbler

Sat September 8, 2012 at 8:30 am by Shenanigans

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 >>

Enigmatic Variations No. 1032: 12 Down by Syd Lexis

Sat September 1, 2012 at 8:23 amSat September 1, 2012 at 12:01 am by mc_rapper67

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 >>

Enigmatic Variations No.1031 – Single Shot by kcit

Sat August 25, 2012 at 12:00 am by Mister Sting

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?

Enigmatic Variations 1030 Swimming Aid by Rustic

Sun August 19, 2012 at 7:59 pmSat August 18, 2012 at 12:05 am by twencelas

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 >>

Enigmatic Variations 1029: Turning to Eccentricity by Ifor

Sun August 12, 2012 at 12:32 pmSun August 12, 2012 at 7:15 am by Shenanigans

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 >>

Enigmatic Variations No.1028 – Small Change by Piccadilly

Sat August 4, 2012 at 12:00 am by Mister Sting

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?

Enigmatic Variations No.1027 – Checkmate by Shark

Mon July 30, 2012 at 2:44 pmSat July 28, 2012 at 12:00 am by Mister Sting

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.)

Enigmatic Variations 1026 Going Global by Chalicea

Sat July 21, 2012 at 10:22 amSat July 21, 2012 at 12:01 am by twencelas

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 >>

Enigmatic Variations 1025: 13 Down by Kcit

Sat July 14, 2012 at 7:00 am by Shenanigans

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 >>