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Shenanigans

I have been doing The Listener crossword on and off (mainly off) since I was about 16. I am now slightly older, and finally have a lot of time on my hands to devote to this beauty and others like it. In its honour, I created the Crossword Database, which you can get to from the Fifteensquared Links page. I try and complete The Listener, Inquisitor and Enigmatic Variations every week, with about a 90% success rate (which translates into a 0.1% prize rate). I treat all these puzzles like treasure hunts where, well not to put too fine a point on it, anything goes in trying to get to the elusive pot of gold … except of course asking someone else. I have no qualms about using Bradford's or Chambers Crossword Dictionaries or about Googling whatever seems appropriate. On the non-crosswording front I play golf and tinker with computery stuff. I grew up with William Hartnell's Doctor Who and Monty Python, but feel at home in the 21st century with Matt Smith's Doctor, Little Britain and the League of Gentlemen.

Enigmatic Variations 926: Question & Answer by Loda

August 14, 2010 at 11:12 amAugust 14, 2010 at 8:00 am by Shenanigans

This was a nice straightforward puzzle from Loda, with six members of a group appearing as unclued entries in the grid and two others (not part of the group) appearing as extra words … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 2 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 922: Works by Oxymoron

July 17, 2010 at 1:00 am by Shenanigans

Here we are with Oxymoron again (Schadenfreude’s EV pseudonym). A pretty straightforward puzzle this time: eight clues with an extra word with first and last letters spelling out a hint, and the barred-off … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 2 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 918: Motorworks by Piccadilly

June 19, 2010 at 1:00 am by Shenanigans

Well, it seems that I’m the blogger that gets saddled with all the EVs involving jumbled entries! There are twenty extra words in clues to be discovered, paired and jumbled to form the … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 1 Comment

Enigmatic Variations 914: Opus by Hypnos

May 22, 2010 at 8:00 am by Shenanigans

This is the sixth Enigmatic Variations puzzle by Hypnos since the EV blog started at fifteensquared about 18 months ago, and I’ve done four of them! They are usually good fun, so I … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 7 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 910: All the Initials by Oxymoron

April 24, 2010 at 6:00 am by Shenanigans

A fairly straightforward puzzle from Oxymoron this week. Each clue requires a letter or a word to be removed before solving. These spell out a quotation which reflects the clues and suggests how … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 2 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 906: Recognition by Kruger

March 27, 2010 at 6:00 am by Shenanigans

Kruger has been setting EV puzzles for over ten years, with a puzzle every four or five months, and the occasional Inquisitor for good measure. I have always found his crosswords fair, but … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations

Enigmatic Variations 903: Crews by Piccadilly

March 6, 2010 at 6:00 am by Shenanigans

Piccadilly has set puzzles for all the series, although the last five years has seen him (Mick Willey) setting for Enigmatic Variations. He is also that rare beast, someone who sets both word … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 3 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 901: Time for Action by Raich

February 20, 2010 at 8:00 am by Shenanigans

Five clues have no definition. That sounds easy, since that leaves over fifty other normal clues that presumably do. Little did I know …! Despite seeing some 4-letter words beginning with I, a … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 4 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 898: Prime Suspect by Nutmeg

February 1, 2010 at 10:08 pmJanuary 30, 2010 at 6:00 am by Shenanigans

A puzzle entitled Eggheads in this month’s Magpie (January 2010) and French Polish in last week’s Inquisitor (#1108, 09/01/2010) are Nutmeg’s most recent offerings, and here we are with Prime Suspect. In this … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 2 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 895: Gagless by Hypnos

January 11, 2010 at 2:29 pmJanuary 9, 2010 at 9:08 am by Shenanigans

Lots going on in this preamble: a person appearing as an abbreviation (eh?), clues without definitions, unclued entries, and wordplay leading to an extra letter not entered. Plus something that appears in ODQ, … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 2 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 892: Johannes & Ferencz by Oxymoron

December 19, 2009 at 7:00 am by Shenanigans

I have no idea what the title means, although it does sound a bit like a Swedish clothing company … or is that Hennes & Mauritz? Each across clue has a misprint, sometimes … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 3 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 889: Indistinguishable by Hugo

November 28, 2009 at 6:00 am by Shenanigans

As far as I can see, Hugo is a new setter, so good luck to him with this puzzle. As far as I’m concerned, he’s off to a good start with lots of … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 9 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 888: Title by Hypnos

December 2, 2009 at 2:48 pmNovember 21, 2009 at 6:00 am by Shenanigans

In this puzzle you were required to deduce the title of a work by a figure (why that word was used I know not; it sounded a bit cryptic, but turned out not … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 4 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 886: Toss Up by Warbler

November 7, 2009 at 6:00 am by Shenanigans

A relatively simple preamble: eight answers require modification based on a quotation and author running round the perimeter. Although some parts of the puzzle were a bit tricky, it helped seeing ?IRS?????LB? in … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 1 Comment

Enigmatic Variations 883: Knocker by MynoT

October 17, 2009 at 6:00 am by Shenanigans

I didn’t know whether to expect a tricky puzzle from MynoT, or an easy one. He seems to be a setter who can produce varying levels of difficulty but, this being EV, I’ll … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations
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