Skip to content

Buy Me a Coffee

Fifteensquared

Never knowingly undersolved

  • Home
  • Info
    • Setters
    • Bloggers
    • FAQ
    • Links
    • About Fifteensquared
  • Blogs
    • Enigmatic Variations
    • FT
      • FT Daily Cryptic
      • FT Jumbo
      • FT News Puzzle
      • FT Sunday
    • Guardian
      • Guardian Genius
      • Guardian Quiptic
      • Quick Cryptic
    • Independent
    • Inquisitor
    • Listener
    • Observer
      • Everyman
      • Azed
      • Gemelo
    • Private Eye/Cyclops
  • Share your thoughts
    • Site Feedback
    • General Discussion
  • Policies
    • Site Policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookies
  • Newbie Corner

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. 1105: Loss of Life by Kcit

January 9, 2018 at 5:58 pmJanuary 31, 2014 at 4:00 pm by Shenanigans

[Apologies for the slightly early (and slightly bizarre) time of posting this blog. Fast forward to Spoiler Alert to find out why!] OK! So here we had a Kcit puzzle with a long … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 6 Comments

Enigmatic Variations No. 1101: Prevention by Charybdis

January 9, 2018 at 5:58 pmJanuary 4, 2014 at 8:00 am by Shenanigans

Charybdis is one of my favourite setters (mind you I’ve got quite a few). His puzzles are always sound and often quirky… like his recent Listener, #4268 Check This Out last November. Here … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 1 Comment

Enigmatic Variations No. 1097: Distortion by Stick Insect

January 9, 2018 at 5:58 pmDecember 7, 2013 at 12:01 am by Shenanigans

A smaller than normal 10×10 grid this week, so do I expect easier than normal clues or a toughie? I wasn’t really expecting the theme of this puzzle this week, but assumed that … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 4 Comments

Enigmatic Variations No. 1093: Phenytoins by Ifor

January 9, 2018 at 5:57 pmNovember 9, 2013 at 9:00 am by Shenanigans

This week it’s another chance to blog one of my favourite setters. Here, we had to change the appearance of ten answers with nine clues containing a word or phrase which would help … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 1 Comment

Enigmatic Variations 1089: Choreography by Kea

October 12, 2013 at 9:00 am by Shenanigans

Kea’s puzzles are normally at the trickier end of the spectrum, certainly those in the Listener series. Time would tell whether I was in for a hard time this week or not. My … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 1 Comment

Enigmatic Variations 1085: Unreliable by Kcit

September 14, 2013 at 12:00 pm by Shenanigans

A seemingly straightforward puzzle from Kcit this week. There were only four misplaced clues to identify, each lacking a common definition. The absence of misprints and missing/extra letters in clues made it a … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 1 Comment

Enigmatic Variations 1081: Welcome! by Samuel

August 17, 2013 at 12:01 am by Shenanigans

This week we had the first solo puzzle from Samuel since he took over the EV editorship. (In case you didn’t know, he made up one third of Samphiry, responsible for EV 1079 … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 2 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 1077: A Figure produced by Oxymoron

July 20, 2013 at 12:01 am by Shenanigans

It’s always a pleasure to blog an Oxymoron (or Schadenfreude!) puzzle, and this one was titled A Figure produced by Oxymoron—intriguing! Only eleven misprint clues this week, the balance being made up of … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 2 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 1073: Crowning Glories by Glow-worm

June 22, 2013 at 12:01 am by Shenanigans

“Four musical CROWNING GLORIES are clued without definition.” So we were celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s coronation. That would explain why she popped up in so many of the clues. Sixteen … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 7 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 1069: Greetings … and Farewell from Rustic

May 25, 2013 at 12:01 am by Shenanigans

Little did I realise when I wrote my last fifteensquared blog that I would be blogging another Rustic puzzle this month as well … for all the wrong reasons. Sadly, James Leonard, Rustic … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 3 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 1065: Hotiuhtw by Rustic

April 27, 2013 at 12:01 am by Shenanigans

Having escaped from the jaws of Playfair codes with yesterday’s Listener (Oh, No! Not Another Playfair), courtesy of Mordred, here I am well and truly in at the deep end! Time to see … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 1 Comment

Enigmatic Variations 1061: Not Quite All There by Warbler

March 30, 2013 at 1:00 am by Shenanigans

For the second month running, I have a crossword that hasn’t got any extra/missing letters/words or misprints. Instead, just eleven words in the perimeter and central row to identify, and something to write … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations

Enigmatic Variations 1057: Market Loan by Moordon

March 2, 2013 at 8:00 am by Shenanigans

A larger than normal grid this week, 14×14, and a lot of clues to go with it. What’s more, all the clues were normal, not a misprint or extra letter in sight. There … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 5 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 1053: Making a Point by Ifor (& Brat)

February 8, 2013 at 8:18 amFebruary 2, 2013 at 1:00 am by Shenanigans

No time this week for anything more than the bare bones as I’m in the process of moving house … for the second time in six months (and the last time in at … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 4 Comments

Enigmatic Variations 1049: Iris by MynoT

January 5, 2013 at 9:01 amJanuary 5, 2013 at 1:00 am by Shenanigans

A fairly straightforward puzzle this week by the looks of it. Six extra words to be found in the clues which would give an instruction. I’ve struggled with some of MynoT’s puzzles before, … Read more >>

Categories Enigmatic Variations 1 Comment
Older posts
Newer posts
← Previous Page1 … Page6 Page7 Page8 … Page11 Next →

Announcements

Spectator blog

S&B York

 

Today’s Cryptics

Daily
Financial Times
Guardian
Independent
Sunday
Azed
Everyman
Gemelo

Recent Posts

  • Inquisitor 1929: The Party’s Over by Ifor
  • Independent 12,179 by Hoskins
  • Guardian 29,831 – Pangakupu
  • Financial Times 18,192 by PETO
  • Financial Times 18,191 by MUDD
  • Independent 12,178 by Hubble
  • Guardian Cryptic crossword No 29,830 by Vulcan
  • Spectator 2723: Not Like Us by Fire
  • Financial Times 18,190 by Guy
  • Everyman 4,121/12 October
  • Guardian Quiptic 1,352 by Pasquale
  • Gemelo 11
  • Independent on Sunday 1,860 by Filbert
  • Independent No. 12,177 by Umpire
  • Guardian Quick Cryptic 81 by Pasquale
  • Guardian Prize crossword No 29,823 by Philistine
  • Independent 12,176 / Phi
  • Listener 4887 Head of Steam by Agricola
  • Guardian Cryptic crossword No 29,828 by Enigmatist
  • Financial Times 18,189 by SOLOMON
  • Independent 12175 / Wiglaf
  • Guardian Cryptic crossword No 29,827 by Tramp
  • Financial Times 18,188 by NEO
  • Enigmatic Variations No. 1715: The Wrong Sort by Wicksparrow
  • Independent 12,174 by Eccles

Categories

Site Search

Calendar

October 2025
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
« Sep    

Archives

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
© 2025 Fifteensquared • Built with GeneratePress