I think it’s safe to say that none of us will be around in December 2184 to verify any sequences that may or may not be continued. So we’d better hope that we can work out what Samuel has in mind some other way.
Of course, with Samuel, the solver is sure of a treat. This puzzle is no exception. It starts with a thump. Specifically, with the word ‘TWAT’. I trust I am not the only one who was amused.
This was just tricky enough to have me worry a few times whether progress would continue, but never enough to discourage. I was rather slow with the end game, despite all the pointers. But the penny dropped and, as always, its metallic jangle was most pleasing.
Three entries clued without definition turn out to be ONE, TWO and THREE. What was meant by their ‘positions in the grid’ escaped me for some time, but it turns out to be their clue numbers, which are 1, 10 and 11. These are the numbers 1, 2 and 3, only not in base ten.
The six symetrically-placed further unclued entries are FORM, STAR, NOTATION, MUNITION, WEAPON and SYSTEM. Although it took me a while to figure it out, these words can all be prefaced by the word BINARY.
The additional letters not to be entered spell NEXT THEMATIC SERIAL NUMBER. (I liked the way the letters were grouped into words, only separated by other thematic clues.) The number of this puzzle is 1111, which is 15 in binary. Therefore, 10000 is to be written beneath the grid. Enigmatic Variations 10000 (16 in binary) will, ‘all being well’, be published in December 2184. This date allows for leap years and for the fact that the Enigmatic Variations do not appear on 25th December, should Christmas fall on a Sunday.
Cheers, Samuel.
Notation
(xxx) = definition
[xxx] = (anagram/homophone/container/etc.) indicator
XXX* = anagram
< = reversal
xxx = unused letter(s)
NAIVESON=additional letter
*thematic entry (clued without definition)
Please post a comment if the explanations are not clear.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | TWATTLINGS | TWAT (Viciously strike) L (lecturer) [to stop] TIN (paltry) and GS [g |
|
| 9 | NAE | [Without] L (a bit of Learning), |
|
| 10 | TWO | [Finally lifT] WO (old curse) (3) | |
| 11 | THREE | TEE (Support’s) [overwhelming] HR (House of Representatives) (5) | |
| N | 13 | EVASION | Excuse |
| * | 14 | FORM | FOR (In favour of) M (money) (4) |
| E | 16 | STEM | Race [ultimately crippleS] T |
| X | 19 | ELODEA | ELO (Jeff Lynne’s band) <A |
| T | 20 | GUTTA | Drop GUT (deeply personal) TA |
| 21 | RUN | Make a short journey [in] aRUNdel (3) | |
| * | 22 | NOTATION | OT (Books) [grasped] by NATION (a great number) (8) |
| * | 23 | MUNITION | UNI (University) [starts to Tutor Individuals] during MON (Monday) (4) |
| T | 25 | SKI | SKI |
| H | 26 | ENSKY | Set on high HENS (faint-hearted folk) [vacating K |
| E | 28 | RUNYON | Crime writer‘s RUN ON (to talk incessantly) [about] [start and finish of |
| M | 30 | TEMP | Contractor <MET (encountered) [rising] MP (politician) (4) |
| * | 31 | STAR | TAR (Mariner)’s [beyond] S [venuS at last] (4) |
| A | 32 | ASCETIC | Hermit CITES* [lunatic] [stopping] |
| T | 35 | EYRIR | E (English) < |
| I | 36 | TOR | <R |
| C | 37 | ENO | Musician and producer <[returned] |
| 38 | BLITHESOME | THEMOBILE’S* [damaged]? Joyous! (10) | |
| Down | |||
| 1 | ONE | ONE |
|
| 2 | TAVEL | TRAVEL [without vintneR’s ultimate] wine (5) | |
| * | 3 | WEAPON | ONEPAW*’s [injured] (6) |
| S | 4 | TWI | African‘s [trapped by] ouT |
| E | 5 | LINESTORM | Autumn winds [disrupted] MET |
| R | 6 | ITEM | |
| I | 7 | GROAT | G |
| A | 8 | BEMOANING | Grieving (M |
| L | 10 | TSADDIKS | Religious leaders DIDSTA |
| 12 | ERATO | Muse A (about) T (Troy) [being overcome by] |
|
| 15 | PER MENSEM | Monthly PERM (forecast) [about] MENSE (credit north of the border) (9, two words) | |
| N | 17 | TAOISEACH | Minister‘s [broken] (OATHSI |
| U | 18 | MUTINEER | Silver, perhaps, [rendered] |
| M | 24 | UNITY | |
| * | 25 | SYSTEM | [Half of eaSY] STEM (race) (6) |
| B | 27 | SNARL | S (Son) <[brought up]BRAN (health food) on [top of Lavatory} – grrr! (5) |
| E | 29 | OPINE | Suppose <PO |
| R | 30 | TART | Sharp T |
| 33 | COS | CO (Company) [initially Sold] rabbit food? (3) | |
| 34 | COL | Pass [sChOoL every now and then] (3) | |
Thanks for the blog, Mister Sting. I’m glad you enjoyed the puzzle (and the word TWATTLINGS, which I only recently discovered).
I almost wished that I hadn’t set this puzzle given the volume of correspondence I received regarding the perceived inaccuracy as to the publication date of a putative EV10,000 – which is explained by the fact that the Sunday Telegraph does not appear on Christmas Day. However, it’s not quite that simple. If EV day falls on Christmas Day, there is still an EV puzzle. It is only available online though (as there is no newspaper that day), and has a serial number that falls outside of the normal range. Solvers wouldn’t be expected to know that, however! In hindsight, perhaps calling the puzzle simply “2184” would have been better.
Thanks for the blog Mister S. As you say, we’re sure of a treat with Samuel.
I actually (sadly) tried to get WolframAlpha to work out something like “23/02/2014 plus 8889 weeks excluding Christmas Day”, but it ignored the last bit and just gave me 4 July 2184… near enough though. I wondered whether this was the mathematical puzzle that Samuel promised us at the end of last year, but hope that is still to come. And rest assured, you were certainly not alone in being amused by the clue to TWATTLINGS!
Dave, I can confirm that this wasn’t the mathematical puzzle that I mentioned. That’s coming in April.
Up to being unaware of the “no EV serial numbers on Christmas Day” rule, didn’t find this too difficult, but as with most Samuel puzzles it was fun and fair. Seems a shame that some people were put off by the maths… what maths? It didn’t take too long to realise that a) the next number containing only 1s or 0s after 1111 is 10000; b) 10,000 is “about” 8900/52 = 171 years away, so that 2184/2185 is about when we can expect EV 10,000. It’s a shame that some people can get frightened by the mere appearance of numbers. Sigh… rant over.