Sunday Telegraph Enigmatic Variations 969 Sunday May 29th 2011

[haggis58]

Hello all EV'rs. A very clever offering this week that all fell into place particularly rapid for a change!

[novalis]

Have still not really got into this. I've still eight clues to solve and the top unclued line is making no sense to me with the letters I have in. For that matter none of the other unclued answers is jumping out at me at the moment. I thought I had the quote ( which would fit in with the puzzle's title ) but the clashing squares which I have tell me I don't. Perhaps solving the remaining eight clues will help.

[novalis]

Just as a matter of interest has the compiler made a mistake in his clue for 1 down? The clued answer doesn't match the definition. The actual word defined differs by one letter.

[devadolly]

Good Evening N & Cer's. Confusion is reigning as ever in this neck of the woods, have plodded quite successfully through a good proportion of the grid but the x squares are (as usual) confusing the few brain cells I have left.
On an entirely different tack, does anyone have any knowledge of good eateries/hostelries in the Winchester/Andover area? We are off on Himself's choir trip next week (HE will be singing, I will be enjoying doing nothing useful) and they have a 'gig' in St Mary's Andover and another in the Cathedral, so will need feeding stations nearby!
Also an aside, hope drb managed to avoid the last 'terror tornado' across the pond.

[novalis]

Echo your final sentiment Devadolly!

[kayakamina]

Hi novalis

I thought the definition of 1d while not matching exactly the one in Chambers the word is obvious from the wordplay.As it is also the first 'clash' (with 11a) you know where the quotation starts.
Good luck.

[DocHH]

Hello everyone,
I was phased for a long while with the unclued entries! 40 clashes were a little daunting, but as Haggis indicates, once you have the author, it's just a slog. There is also a heavy hint in Haggis's post!

I managed to find the quotation in my ODQ 7,which is also in concise ODQ 3, without too much difficulty! The last few words of the quotation appear by virtue of clashes in the bottom row of the grid!
Weather here has been terribly windy, a stroll along the seafront was not really comfortable, but it did, as Herself said, "Blow the cobwebs away". Fortunately not rainy.
Novalis, I don't have a problem with1d. Devadolly, sorry, cannot help with eateries in the Winchester/Andover area.

[AndrewG-S]

Enjoyed this and it is worth checking those anniversaries again!

[haggis58]

Novalis - yes 1down is definitely a mistake by the compiler.

[Jogler]

Would agree with 1d being incorrectly defined - maybe the compiler's eye strayed! A fun crossword where we continually tried to make the answers more difficult than required; but the end game was a matter of being tidy and a bit of a struggle even when I knew what I was doing.

As to eateries, Dd, it is a long time since we lived in the Andover area but there used to be a nice chinese there - it was the first time we had duck in pancakes (so make that a Very Long time!). You could always try Heston's Little Chef which is a few miles to the east! Winchester should be quite upmarket in the food game and gastro pubby places abound throughout Wilts/Hants. We have been driving through on a regular basis as our new twiglets live in the Romsey area - but we never have the chance to say more than 'that looks like a nice place to try' before flashing past!

[suilven]

Can't sort out 12a (Digging tool tips over losing money). Needs to be SAU- but can't see an answer that makes sense of the clue. Any help very welcome.

[AndrewG-S]

your second letter should not be a U for this entry as it is a clash

[Jogler]

Suilven, you need a nice picture for your name :). We seem to have a good northern representation on the thread between yourself and the noble beast who started the thread!

[suilven]

Thanks AndrewG-S. I had a particular mistake which you have helped me correct. No trouble finsishing now.
Jogler - I'd love to have an avatar more representative of my pseudonym (my God I've enough photos of it) but try as I may I cannot find out how to personalise the avatar.

[DocHH]

Hello Suilven,
Welcome to the mad-house! Hopefully the link below will help you get a suitable avatar, just bear in mind this link is provided by a humble EVer from south of the Thames! Actually so far south on this island that any further and I'd need a boat!

http://www.theanswerb.../Question1019983.html

If there isn't enough info on that link, try searching the site with other germane questions, eg How do I, etc! You should be able to get an avatar either from your own computer or the gravatar site! We'll wait and see, what happens!

Oh well, time for a preprandial! Have planted 80 Impatiens in the front garden, just realised they need more drinks than me!

[AndrewG-S]

Rain is here at last - at just after I finished doing the pots - perfect!

[novalis]

Kayakamina, many thanks for your pointer. I now have the grid all but completed but the top line is still giving me nightmares. Any hints would be most welcome.

[copelander]

Novalis, think about how you entered the author. And, by the way, I agree re 1D.

[devadolly]

Many thanks for the hints re: feeding stations Joglers and a welcome hello to you and copelander.
Am plodding along very slowly but feel I will get there in the end, but why is there always 3 weeks work to do before one goes away for anything more than 24 hours..........?

[ringer]

Gosh, this was a struggle for me - must read the into carefully in future, as I tried to eliminate clashing letters rather than using both! Felt somewhat ashamed when I eventually hit on the author, considering one of my hobbies as Stage Manager of a local society!
Don't know why you are all thankful for rain - we've had a ample sufficiency here. Infact, more than we really need. Fingers crossed that the return to warm weather later this week is as promised.

[novalis]

Hi Copelander!

Many thanks for that. I'd actually considered that but couldn't see the wood for the trees. My excuse is the number of scripts I've marked and the amount of admin I've done in the last couple of weeks.