Enigmatic Variations No. 1554 – Absolutely Nothing by Kruger

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Wordplay in each of fifteen clues yields an extra letter that is not entered in the grid. In clue order, these letters give the start of a quotation from a poem (in ODQ and associated with ABSOLUTELY NOTHING) and the initials of its source. The third line of this quotation suggests how twelve answers are to be thematically treated before entry. Lengths in brackets refer to grid entries while word counts refer to original answers. Chambers Dictionary (2016) and ODQ7 are recommended; 21 is in Collins.

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Guardian 28,847 / Maskarade

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I enjoyed the theme for this bumper double-grid bank holiday alphabetical jigsaw puzzle from Maskarade, and it’s another impressive bit of grid construction. The theme was given names: one of each pair of … Read more >>

Financial Times 17,193 by GUY

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An enjoyable puzzle; not too hard, not too easy. Thank you Guy.

Oops! Sorry the blog is late, I wrote this up first ting and then forgot to hit the “Publish” button at the end.  I am on holiday now, I cam answer queries but complicated corrections to the blog may have to wait until I can get to real computer rather than phone.

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Financial Times 17,192 by BOBCAT

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Well, I found this rather hard sledding, for some reason, with a variety of elaborate constructions on some clues, and a couple of inventive surprises, mentioned below, but overall an enjoyable challenge nonetheless. I am not sure that I quite explained 6D. Note the ninas TAILS and CLAWS down around the center column; is this a Bobcat trademark? (I am a newbie on the FT scene.) As always, I welcome comments and elucidations.

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