Enigmatic Variations No. 1360: Vacant by Ifor

8 comments on “Enigmatic Variations No. 1360: Vacant by Ifor”

1. 

   Dave Hennings

   #1 - Sat 22nd Dec 18, 08:37

   
   

   Thanks for the opening compliment, Kitty, and good luck with your EV blogging. This was certainly a baptism of fire for you, being one of Ifor’s trickier puzzles in my opinion. Well done on an excellent blog, far better than most of mine. Thanks to Ifor as well.

2. 

   Brian Wildersome

   #2 - Sat 22nd Dec 18, 09:26

   
   

   I thought this very difficult and one of the hardest of the year. Very enjoyable though. I read a rumour on another site that the EV is about to be scrapped by the Telegraph and replaced with a Sunday Toughie. A shame if this is true.

3. 

   mc_rapper67

   #3 - Sat 22nd Dec 18, 17:34

   
   

   Welcome Kitty, and a fond farewell to Dave Hennings (from a blogging perspective…)

   A challenging puzzle for a debut blog, as Dave says. I got there in the end, but at one point, when I had the grid filled but no traction on the three ‘sets’, I did consider blanking all except the perimeter, leaving the interior of the grid (‘some’ cells?!) VACANT, along the lines of EV 1159 Offerings.

   Brian at #2 – I do hope that isn’t the case – would be a great shame…

4. 

   Chesley

   #4 - Sun 23rd Dec 18, 08:11

   
   

   Brian @2 : Sunday Telegraph threatened to scrap EV many years ago but a concerted campaign initiated by the then EV editor, James Leonard, saved it. Perhaps the current editor could do likewise.

   Letters of protest to ST may have some influence too – there certainly would be nothing to lose.

   EV is already a “Toughie” so what’s the point?

5. 

   Gordon Hunter

   #5 - Mon 24th Dec 18, 15:03

   
   

   Thanks for the blog Kitty, I must admit the ‘Spaced Out’ clues threw me. Am I the only one who got 7d by a different route? My solution was using the same anagram of lien, but then adding delves on the end (plural of delf, a charge in heraldry) and then removing elves!

6. 

   Ifor

   #6 - Mon 24th Dec 18, 15:37

   
   

   As ever, my thanks to blogger and commenters.  Especial thanks to Kitty, whose exposition allies thoroughness and clarity with complete accuracy as to my intentions – a very worthy successor to Dave, if I may say so.

   Gordon – my own feeling was that LINEFEED was perhaps the most difficult clue to understand, involving as it does a relatively obscure fairy and the unusual FEE’D / FEED.  Your ingenious interpretation I think fails to meet the criterion that both w/p and defined solutions must be real words (and also that elegance prohibits the use of both ELF and ELVES, as well as a singular / plural mix).

   I would add that as a fairly regular EV setter with a number of puzzles awaiting editorial consideration I should have expected to be alerted to any significant changes affecting the series.  I do hope that this isn’t being unreasonably optimistic, as I’d miss it enormously both as setter and solver.

   Ifor

7. 

   DocHH

   #7 - Thu 27th Dec 18, 10:13

   
   

   I e-mailed the EV editor about EV being replaced, his reply is below;

   Dear DocHH,

   Thank you for your correspondence regarding the EV. I can reassure you that there are no plans to scrap the puzzle. Hopefully that is good news.

   Yours sincerely,

   Chris Lancaster

    

8. 

   Cap'n P'ng'n

   #8 - Thu 27th Dec 18, 13:55

   
   

   I know I’m late to comment (real life got in the way a bit), but I’d like to add my welcome to Kitty.

   And thank-you for a comprehensive blog of a challenging EV.

    

   And thank-you to Ifor for the challenge and to Chris Lancaster for the good news.

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