Enigmatic Variations No.1314 – Moonlighting by Chalicea

10 comments on “Enigmatic Variations No.1314 – Moonlighting by Chalicea”

1. It may be too obvious to have mentioned this, but the Auden verses were written in a very pragmatic way for the soundtrack of the FILM Night Mail – 1936 classic of British documentary. Co-director Harry Watt gave a vivid account of Auden working the lines out by trial and error in the studio, working to a rough-cut of the film. (Music by Benjamin Britten.)

   There is a fifth unclued answer in the grid, the only Down one: BILLS.  (‘Receipted bills and invitations…’)

   Anyway, many thanks to Mr S and to Chalicea. I don’t see the Sunday Telegraph every week, and don’t always get a start on EV, often rather too complicated, but this one was pitched just right.

2. Is it really worth continuing with a regular entry for EV on this site? Looking back, I see that there are, each week, at best a very few comments, sometimes none at all. This particular puzzle, above, was an accessible one, more so than many, with a good blog by Mr Sting. In supportive mode, I responded quickly, see @1, offering one minor, and valid, addendum; but in the five days since then there has been nothing from anyone else, or indeed from Mr S, whether acknowledging or contesting my addendum. No reflection on Mr S himself, since it must be thoroughly demoralising to take such things on when a lack of interest is pretty much guaranteed. So why not just draw a line under it?

   Is there anybody out there listening, to agree or otherwise?! Maybe not,

3. Hello quenbarrow,

   I don’t expect any comments – unless they’re corrections! Even an accessible EV is a niche puzzle, and what is there to discuss once one has either completed the puzzle or checked here for the answers? I know there are normally chats on Crossword Forum (and, to a lesser extent, on The Answerbank), although these tend to be asking for/sharing help on the clues (and are thus full of spoilers).

   I’ve looked at the other posts on here, and the other bloggers use whizzy graphics and comment more on their experience solving. I’m never sure what to say (and don’t know how to include animated grids!). I’m happy to include anything that might encourage chat, though. I think the only time I’ve managed that was when I objected to the use of a particular word that I thought was insensitive – and that’s not the kind of discussion I want!

4. If I read you correctly, you are basically agreeing that there is no point in having a conversation about EV on this particular site (as opposed, perhaps, to some other sites that I am not familiar with). If one simply wants a record of the correct answers, then it’s easy to go to the paper itself in due course. I provided a minor correction (BILLS) in this instance, and neither you nor anyone else responded, in agreement or otherwise, so what is the point?! This whole strand of 15squared is just moribund, so why not put it out of its misery?

    

    

5. The parsing of the answers is not available anywhere else. This also stands as a record of the questions – again unavailable unless one has a subscription to Telegraph Puzzles.

6. quenbarrow

   This post has been viewed over 250 times so somebody must be interested in the EV blogs, even if they don’t attract many comments. As Mister Sting has said, these posts are the only place solvers can find the clue parsing if something has defeated them.

   To put this into context, the typical number of views for other puzzles blogged on  this site (excluding the Guardian) is around 600. The Guardian posts attract about 6 times as many views and consequently have more comments. A rough assessment indicates that only 1%-2% of views generate a comment, though this of course depends on whether there is anything contentious to discuss.

    

7. I check the blogs every week – and comment when I have something to say.

   When I first started coming to these blogs, I was managing to complete fewer than 50% of EVs and I needed the blogs to help me understand where I had fallen short.

   These days, I can complete the EV most weeks but I still need to check the details from time to time.

   And I can sometimes help on the rare occasions where a blogger has failed to parse a clue.

    

   I’m sure there are other solvers out there on a similar trajectory who will find the blogs as useful as I have.

   I am grateful to all the bloggers for contributing to this excellent resource.

8. As a fellow EV blogger, once every four weeks, I would like to add my two-Euro-cents’ worth. As Mister Sting says at #3, we don’t primarily do it for the comments/feedback – although I do sometimes gaze wistfully on a Saturday morning at the latest Grauniad prize puzzle racking up 20-30-40 comments before noon…or the Inquisitors, with their annual reviews and ‘puzzle of the year’ awards (;+>)

   I hope I speak for the others in saying that we do it for the love of the EV series, and in the hope of ‘giving something back’ for all the pleasure it has given us over the years…

   My blogs usually have the ‘whizzy graphics’ and (sometimes over-detailed) solving ‘experience’, but that is just my style. The other three weeks of the four I am just another visitor, appreciating the effort of that week’s blogger – and I suspect that the majority of viewers of the EV blog are more interested in the parsing of clues or explanation of devices/denouéments which might have (nearly) defeated them, than in the style of the blog…

   As a ‘niche’ puzzle, there must be a smaller catchment group than some of the more ‘mainstream’ ones, and with two weeks (previously three) between publication and submission deadline/blog appearance, there must also be some loss of momentum/interest, compared to the daily/weekly puzzles. I also do a Genius blog every six months, which has a month’s lead time, and also has its own natural/slower cadence of comments/responses. At the end of the day, as Mister Sting says, if you make a mistake it will usually get picked up – which means there must be somebody out there watching! (trees falling in the forest, etc.  etc.)

   Gaufrid’s statistics at #6 are interesting – I have sometimes wondered whether it would be worth having a ‘hit counter’, but always ended up deciding it was better not to know!

9. And, as a corollary, to quenbarrow at #2 and #4…your underlying point seems to be that neither Mister Sting or anybody else acknowledged/responded to your contribution, re BILLS, in a timely manner…?

   I expect that a large proportion of the 250-odd viewers that Gaufrid has logged would have seen and appreciated your comment…I certainly did…so please keep them coming.

   I’m sure I have often been guilty on many occasions of not responding to every single comment on my blogs…or responding ‘too late’ – at the end of the day it comes down to whether something really needs responding to, or stands on its own as a valid contribution – and/or whether the blogger has the time or suitable technology/internet connection to post a reply in a suitable timeframe, before we have all moved on to the next two EV puzzles that have been published in the meantime…

10. Chalicea coming in rather late this time but I have commented before that I really appreciate the blogs written by the group of four with their individual styles. I feel that it is a shame that there is less reaction to an EV puzzle than there is to an IQ, for example, but truly hope that the blog continues. Indeed quenbarrow, your addition of the BILLS as one of the things carried on Auden’s night mail was appreciated and obviated any need for me to add a comment. I know that my puzzles are generally among the easier and more approachable ones and therefore rarely give a need for lengthy discussion. I write a ‘Numpty’ blog on the Listener each week and know that, although we rarely provoke a reaction with our three blogs (unless we have omitted something or made an error) there is a large audience of viewers who enjoy and are entertained by the blogs – so please, Mr Sting, keep them coming and please continue to respond quenbarrow.

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