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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 No. 1276: XXXX by Ifor

May 14, 2017 at 11:25 amMay 13, 2017 at 12:00 am by Shenanigans

Here we had Ifor opening his soul to us, but obviously in code. The preamble read: An exhausted and destitute Ifor says “I’m XXXXX and on my XXXXX, so I’m going to stop … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 3 Comments

Enigmatic Variations No. 1272: Fugue by Kcit

April 15, 2017 at 12:00 am by Shenanigans

Oh dear… a musical theme this week: not my forte. I just hoped it wouldn’t be too technical, although the preamble indicated otherwise: The FUGUE’s four-note motif appears four times, entering lower each … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 1 Comment

Enigmatic Variations No. 1268: Talking Points by Poat

March 18, 2017 at 12:00 am by Shenanigans

A fairly straightforward preamble from Poat this week, indicating some misprints and some colouring in to do in the endgame: In TALKING POINTS, the vertices of a figure appear in one-third of grid … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 7 Comments

Enigmatic Variations No. 1264: Alternative Shortlist by Jago

February 18, 2017 at 12:00 am by Shenanigans

Jago has primarily been a Listener setter, with puzzles going back to 1975. He has also had one Inquisitor two years ago and one EV about twelve years back. No clueing gimmicks from … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 2 Comments

Enigmatic Variations No. 1260: Highlights by Xanthippe

January 21, 2017 at 12:00 am by Shenanigans

This week’s preamble was fairly straightforward, with an extra word to be identified in every clue: Solvers must highlight, appropriately in two cases, five works by famous 17ac (58 cells in total). Each … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 4 Comments

Enigmatic Variations No. 1257: Metaphor by Gaston

December 31, 2016 at 10:03 pmDecember 31, 2016 at 12:00 am by Shenanigans

Normally, I try to paraphrase the essential elements of the preamble. This week, it seemed far easier to reprint it word for word! Solvers must identify and highlight the five-letter keyword from a … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 2 Comments

Enigmatic Variations No. 1253: Famous Last Words by Kcit

December 3, 2016 at 12:00 am by Shenanigans

Kcit’s puzzles range from the relatively straightforward to the definitely difficult, and you don’t know which it will be until about 30 minutes into the solve. His recent Listener, A Bit Up in … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 2 Comments

Enigmatic Variations No. 1249: Stateless by MynoT

November 5, 2016 at 12:00 am by Shenanigans

MynoT is a fairly tricky setter, but his puzzles are always worth the challenge. Here, like many of his recent EVs we had an alphabetical jigsaw, with sixteen answers requiring thematic modification before … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 2 Comments

Enigmatic Variations No. 1245: Occupational Hazards by Clarence

October 8, 2016 at 12:00 am by Shenanigans

I took this puzzle on a golfing holiday to Portugal with the intention of tackling it in quiet moments by the pool. For one reason or another, I never got near the pool, … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 2 Comments

Enigmatic Variations No. 1241: Wrecked and Salvaged by Kruger

September 12, 2016 at 8:10 amSeptember 10, 2016 at 12:00 am by Shenanigans

This was Kruger’s third EV of the year (and if you want more of this fine setter, he had his third Inquisitor of the year last Saturday). Here we had some extra wordplay … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 1 Comment

Enigmatic Variations No. 1237: Side by Oxymoron

August 14, 2016 at 5:32 pmAugust 13, 2016 at 10:30 am by Shenanigans

Oxymoron puzzles vary in difficulty from ‘not too tricky’ to ‘fiendish’, and I wondered what degree of difficulty the gods had given me this week. But before I go any further, apologies for … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 5 Comments

Enigmatic Variations No. 1233: Part by Shark

July 16, 2016 at 12:00 am by Shenanigans

This week I have to grapple with Shark. He can be one tough setter, predominantly creating D-grade puzzles for Magpie. (FYI D-grades are very tough, but just short of E-grades which are impossible!) … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 2 Comments

Enigmatic Variations No. 1229: Rising Doubt by Chalicea

June 18, 2016 at 12:00 am by Shenanigans

A smaller than average grid for me this week — just 11×11 and 22 cells to be highlighted. Each across clue contained an extra thematic word, the first letters of which give an … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 2 Comments

Enigmatic Variations No. 1225: The Eminence Grise by Gaston

May 21, 2016 at 12:00 am by Shenanigans

Gaston’s last puzzle (no. 1191, Briefing Received) had the I before E rule/exception as its theme. I remember enjoying that puzzle, especially the highlighting which gave a large I and E in the … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 1 Comment

Enigmatic Variations No. 1221: A Man of Letters by Harribobs

May 3, 2016 at 12:46 pmApril 25, 2016 at 1:00 pm by Shenanigans

Firstly, apologies to bloggees and, especially, Harribobs for the late posting of this blog. I thought it was my turn this coming weekend. Wrong! (And I haven’t even solved it yet!) This was … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 2 Comments
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