Enigmatic Variations No. 1492: PTO by Charybdis

8 comments on “Enigmatic Variations No. 1492: PTO by Charybdis”

1. thanks for the writeup. i filled the grid but was totally beaten by the endgame, being unaware (or having forgotten) that there were standard three-letter abbreviations for the books, and convincing myself that GENES in the grid must be short for genesis somehow. oh well!

2. This was unfortunately the least satisfying thematic puzzle that I have attempted this year. I’m generally not fond of word jigsaws anyway when not all the pieces are known or some knowledge of a hidden theme is needed to get them. The puzzle ended up as an exercise in cold-solving, albeit an enjoyable one.

   I reached my limit with these clues when I had solved 35 out of 41 in Set A and 8 out of 11 in Set B – a good result by my standards when there is no assistance beyond the clues. I would have been able to start the jigsaw, and possibly finish it, if I had been able to solve CORKBORERS. And a clearer pointer to the theme would have helped.

   For those with the knowledge and skill to work this one out it was obviously an altogether different experience. I’m hoping for a different kind of puzzle from this setter next time.

   Thanks to Kitty for unravelling the theme and explaining everything.

3. A very impressive construction. Having the altered entries appearing symmetrically was masterful given the constraints of crossing entries making real words. Solving the clues was fairly smooth and fitting them into the grid a fun challenge, with the B set changes fortunately being reasonably spottable. I took a long time over the endgame, creating a red herring for myself in spotting there are eight books with repeated titles, eg 1 Kings/2Kings, and trying to make that somehow work. Eventually though a bit harder about “overbooking” and spotted spets to steps, when it all fell into place – a very satisfying moment of discovery. Thanks Charybdis and Kitty.

4. Thanks, Kitty, for a great blog. I’m impressed with your ingenuity in tallying the grid lengths to confirm suspicions that Set B answers each lose a letter.
   Alan B, you seem to have been very unlucky to have solved so many clues cold [a really impressive tally and better than I’d probably manage!] and yet be unable to fit them together in the grid. I’d hoped that iCy/sCoot or sCrag and Pip [or Pie]/Pe[k]an might have been one of several ways in. Knowledge of the theme was not required in order to complete the jigsaw element, and in fact the theme was only supposed to emerge as a result of completing the jigsaw rather than the other way round. However, I’ve had my share of frustrations as an unsuccessful solver so I feel your pain!
   Stick Insect, you’re very kind! I’m the sort of thematic setter who is willing to jettison symmetry in favour of theme complexity but in this case I tried extra hard to keep affected grid entries symmetrical as a help to the solver and I was relieved to manage it.
   If anyone is interested, there’s a setter blog on http://bigdave44.com/2021/07/01/ev-1492/#comment-523824

5. … or http://bigdave44.com/2021/07/01/ev-1492 even!

6. Charybdis
   I studied the solution before posting my first comment, and although it is true, as you say, that “knowledge of the theme was not required in order to complete the jigsaw element”, one still had to know what to do with the Set B answers in order to make any progress.
   Incidentally, I sometimes choose to cold-solve as many clues as possible, even when one is not forced to do so, as a sort of test of the quality of the clues. In this ‘test’ I have to say you did well! I have had some interesting and even surprising results doing that, and it can be fun.
   Thanks for your comment.

7. Alan B You’re welcome 🙂

8. Alan B, do you really test the quality of a clue on whether or not you can solve it cold?

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