Quite an ominous title this week!
There are extra letters in across clues that indicate how additional words in some down clues must be treated. That’s about all the clue we have to the theme.
Mister Sting
Enigmatic Variations No.1199 – Belief by Stick Insect
I do believe I’ve done it again! I’m sorry this is late. I had ‘EVs’ written on my hand all day Friday to remind me to finish this off.
The preamble informs us of two characters – A and B – each with a belief. Seven answers are modified in line with A’s belief, but B seems to have the upper hand, as A’s name is ultimately replaced by B’s. Extra letters spelling out B’s belief should help us on our way.
Enigmatic Variations No 1195 – Skyfall by Chalicea
Thanks to Gaufrid for stepping in!
I have switched phones and had apparently turned off email updates, alarms, and notifications (although not the messages every five minutes suggesting I buy extras)!
Appropriately, the phone I’m (mis)using is the new Bond phone. There’s obviously the possibility of a Bond reference in the title, especially when there’s a Bond film coming out soon (actually, it’s out now), but is it actually Bond-related?
Enigmatic Variations No.1191 – Briefing Received by Gaston
Prior to this puzzle, there have been a couple of weeks where the EVs had misspellings in the clues’ definitions, which I tend to find rather hard. I’m therefore heartened to see in the preamble that this one has extra letters in the wordplay. There’s some highlighting too, which can sometimes give the puzzled puzzler an extra hint.
Enigmatic Variations No.1187 – Homograms IV by Kruger
In Homograms IV, there are 12 clues (two sets of 6) that involve two different pairs of changes before they are written in the grid. In one set, the subsidiary indication clues a homonym of the definition, and the grid entry is an anagram of the homonym. In the other set, the subsidiary indication clues an anagram of the definition, and the grid entry is a homonym of the anagram. Clear?
The solving method was new to me. Homograms III (No.879) was published in 2009, about when I was starting to solve EVs, but I think I missed it.
Enigmatic Variations No.1183 – Reinstate by Wiglaf
“A sentence (now obsolete) that could help memorise a well-known series of objects (in the correct order) appears in the perimeter starting in the top left hand corner.”
Any ideas?
Enigmatic Variations No.1179 – Revolution by Oxymoron
In REVOLUTION, some answers have blank cells that are to be filled… but with what?
Enigmatic Variations No 1175 – Here’s Looking at You, Kcit
Here’s the preamble in full:
Clues are presented in the correct order. The completed grid, which does not have one letter per square, displays mirror symmetry, and resembles the item given by the unclued entry (verifiable, though not the precise form used, in the Oxford Dictionary of English). Clue numbers and bars must not be entered. Those letters which are not one per square, when combined with those in the four shaded cells, can be rearranged to give a thematic word which must be written under the grid. Chambers Dictionary (2014) is recommended, but does not contain one reasonably common foreign word; one entry is an abbreviation.
Enigmatic Variations No.1171 – Who Am I? by Ifor
The preamble to WHO AM I? is quite intimidating. There are two verses to be identified. The first explains changes to two groups of three clues each, a phrase to be highlighted, and the answer to the titular question, which is to be written under the grid. The second is given by extra letters in wordplay in 29 clues, and it identifies the number of the single normal clue and the rationale for the removal of the letters. Got that?
Enigmatic Variations No.1167 – Warning by Samuel
A somewhat unusual set-up: across clues are given in pairs, and the method of entry for four across rows is thematic (whatever that might turn out to mean), with no definition given. Another row is unclued, and must be filled with ‘the reason for the WARNING’. The down clues, meanwhile, are not idle – extra letters from their solutions give ‘the subject of the WARNING’.
Enigmatic Variations No.1163 – Lucas by MynoT
I have a soft spot for puzzles such as this that have clues presented in alphabetical order of their answers. Goodness knows why, when I might end up staring at a blank grid! Perhaps its just that the ‘sort and slot’ technique appeals to the same desire for order as jigsaws.
At any rate, ‘Lucas’ could be a number of things. Isn’t George still flogging the dead horse of Star Wars? Maybe it’s related to that.
Enigmatic Variations No.1159 – Offerings by Samson
I’m fond of these perimeter-quotation puzzles, although they can make things a little tricky if you can’t get a toe-hold in the centre of the puzzle. However, it’s not clear how much if any of the quotation will survive the dramatic cull proposed in the preamble (we are to delete almost three quarters of the grid once it’s been filled in).
Enigmatic Variations No.1155 – Reductions by Oxymoron
Oxymoron gives some hints about the possible construction of the puzzle here, by calling it REDUCTIONS, and telling us in the preamble of “a shortage of space” and “clashes”, and warning us that the number of cells given in grid entries may not be the number of letters in answers to clues.
All well and good. That still leaves a lot of questions.
Enigmatic Variations No.1151 – Contest by Kcit
Well, this is a strange-looking little thing! A 15 by 8 box, with numbered columns and lettered rows. And then there’s all sorts of other gubbins – jumbling and extra letters – with a little bit of highlighting for good measure.
OK. Deep breath, and let’s begin.
Enigmatic Variations No.1147 – Sets Out by Ferret
I’ve got my fingers crossed for an EV about set theory, although I think it unlikely. Apart from that, I’m distracted by what a ferret might set out. Answers on a postcard, please…