Enigmatic Variations

I blogged the last EV Oxymoron puzzle, with its Humphrey Bogart and Sir Isaac Newton theme. That was great fun, so hopefully more of the same here. Single letters were to be dropped … Read more >>

A short preamble instructs solvers to consider ‘SENTRY DUTIES’ in ‘thematically treating’ 12 answers before entry, to create new words. So far so good. But then we are told: ‘How the remaining answers … Read more >>

There’s a lot going on in the preamble: a partial quotation, CLASHes ‘contributing to’ a further CLASH, those involved in the CLASH and – just for good measure – a final CLASH to … Read more >>

So straight clues this week apart from seven with no definition (with a thematic treatment) and six unclued. So what will the “Two of a Kind” prove to be? This was a puzzle … Read more >>

A seemingly straightforward puzzle this week, but I was sure it wouldn’t turn out to be free of a trick or two. There were no extra/missing letters/words or misprints in the clues, just … Read more >>

A cryptic title, hinting maybe at Columbo, with his dour demeanour and down-at-heel dress sense? The preamble tells us to find a horizontally-symmetrical four word quotation, and twelve answers needing some sort of adjustment … Read more >>

With this sort of DIY grid puzzle, it all depends how easy cold-solving is. So how easy is this going to be? And what’s the puzzle actually called? In fact, in addition to … Read more >>

Lego – now that’s something you can never get tired of playing with! A nice short and sweet preamble with extra letters in the down clues giving an instruction to solvers. All relatively … Read more >>

A lot going on in the preamble here, but everything was spelt out relatively clearly! There were extra letters in subsidiary indications which, together with three unclued entries, gave a quotation from the … Read more >>

Food for thought this week, with SARNIES on the menu from Syd Lexis. Not much else to chew on for starters – with an unnumbered and only partially-barred grid…but at least Across and Down … Read more >>

I do like Samuel. I can’t remember exactly which past EVs were his, but his name is associated in my mind with a sort of pleasant, hazy, possibly-toughish-in-parts-but-fair feeling. Perhaps I’m post-rationalising, because … Read more >>

Well a short preamble – completely straight clues and just five unclued entries. Sounds like this could be one for the less experienced to try. And an unfamiliar compiler, to me, anyway. Nine … Read more >>

I’ve come across a couple of Shark puzzles before and have been nicely entertained by them. Here, subsidiary indications led to an extra letter not entered, and they spelt out part of a … Read more >>

What delights does Warbler have in store for us with A TRIP OUT? A magical mystery tour? A druggy ‘trip’? Or maybe a wildlife safari – is that ‘OUT’ an anagrind, with TAPIR as A … Read more >>

This was magnificent. A great theme, well executed. Many thanks to… well, to whom, exactly? There seems to be a fair amount going on – unclued entries, additional words and subsidiary indications, and … Read more >>