ev 860

[devadolly]

Good afternoon EVers. I know I am early but have been in need of light relief from the boring piece I am trying to finish so just thought I would check and see how difficult this week's is considered to be. Haven't got mine yet as the papers hadn't arrived when Himself went to get them this am. and no-body has had time since, so, what is it like?
Caught a complaint about the layout in Q & P so have added my two-pennoth, seems 'they' have really boobed this week!

Regards

[kayakamina]

I'm just about to start mine and on the initial read through it looks reasonably straightforward but we'll see.

I usually do the Sundays in order of Mephisto, Azed , Beezlebub & EV and have got the first two out of the way but am scratching around for a copy of Beezlebub.

I've left a plea for one and hope someone takes pity.

I agree with all the comment about the damn stupid placement of the crosswords in the Telegraph and will e-mail the Editor.

Enjoy your afternoon.

[novalis]

Hi Devadolly!

It's not too bad this week once you get into it. The title certainly helps.

Sorry Kayakamina -- don't have Beezlebub. I've done it only once ( about two years ago ) when I found a copy left on a train. The OED which arrived as a result was a very pleasant surprise.

[BigDave44]

I thought you would be interested in this from an email I received this morning sent by the Telegraph Puzzles editor, Phil McNeill. He was writing about the changes to the regular cryptic over the last two or three weeks:

"Although it is a lighter puzzle, it is not necessarily easier. And if people want a really tough Sunday puzzle, then of course there is Enigmatic Variations, which will remain very tough. At the same time, we want more people to try the EV, so it now carries Solving Strategies to make it more accessible to people who may not have known where to start before."

I had written to him asking, among other things, if photocopies or CluedUp printable versions are admissible, but this has not yet been answered.

[DocHH]

Hello everyone,
Once I'd discovered the theme it all fell into place nicely, just a little more difficult than last week, I'd never heard of 30 across, but it had good cryptic clueing.
About to decamp again into the garden and enjoy another afternoon of sunshine! Any leftovers from last weeks party?

[novalis]

Hi DocHH!

Re 30a ---- years ( and years and years ) ago extracts from a certain Gothic novel by Horace Walpole, the title of which contains the answer to 30a, were a staple for A-Level English to German translations. 'Twas the only way I'd heard of it.

[DocHH]

Hello Novalis
I "Yahoo-ed" my answer to 30ac, rather than Googled, I find it better. It actually gives warnings of harmful or offensive results. It also gives "predictions" of sites as you type. So found the novel you referred to. English Lit and even English Grammar were not my forte, so dropped both as soon as it was possible, Lit went first!! Had to return from the garden to replenish my glass, a South African Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon. Very fruity and at 14% abv, potent!

[DocHH]

Hello BigDave44,
Your post here prompted me to have a shot at the Sun Tel 2481, (I don't normally bother as the clues are normally not very elegant), but like last week the whole thing was trite, some of the Quick Crosswords in the D.Tel have been more challenging.
And as for the EV Solving Suggestions, if you can't fathom things out from the rubric, then should you even start? In my humble opinion, the Solving Solutions are superfluous. If the aim is to make EV more attractive to other solvers, why not improve on the prize, rather than dumb it down? It seems inane that you get the same prize for a trite or GK crossword as EV, which the supposedly erudite Puzzles Editor calls very tough! I don't bother sending in EV, there are only so many inexpensive plastic pens you can use!
No doubt other EVers will comment as well, if they take a break from enjoying the sunshine! BTW, I have my laptop with me on the patio now!
What is the e-mail addy of Phil McNeill, please?

[BigDave44]

Hi DocHH

If it had been a clue in EV you would probably worked it out!

Put a dot between his names and then send to him at telegraph.co.uk.

[Christiana]

Hi everyone. Have only just started EV but thought I would check for this thread as it's sometimes difficult to find if I leave it too long.
Funnily enough, on a quick look through I immediately got 30a. I haven't read the relevant novel, but read of it in another novel (possibly Northanger Abbey) and somehow it stuck .
Gosh BigDave I hope CluedUp copies are acceptable, otherwise I'm wasting my money on the stamp. As a member of the Telegraph Crossword Society I feel it ought to be.

[BigDave44]

Christiana

I believe that CluedUp copies are admissible, but I haven't found anywhere that it is confirmed. I also asked about pencil and tippex and I'll let you know when (or if) I get an answer.

[Christiana]

Thanks BigDave

[Christiana]

Hi again. Am making steady progress but puzzled by two alternatives for 23d. Chambers has two alternatives for both the whole word and for the 'child' part of the clue. Do I go for the 'e' or the 'i'?

[dr b]

Assuming we mean the 6th letter in the word, I went for the E.

[Christiana]

Yes, I meant the sixth letter. Thanks.

[dr b]

Well, I found this one to be quite a slog, although looking back at it I can't say exactly why. Perhaps trying to work an EV while watching a basketball game that goes into double overtime is not the best solving strategy.

I also found 30a as one of my first answers, getting it from the wordplay and a quick googling (not yahooing, sorry dochh) of the resulting word.

[devadolly]

Good afternoon/evening all EVers. Have got my copy at last, only a day late! But, I think my EV is different to everyone else's - it doesn't mean a thing to me. The only one I have actually done in 30a and that is only because of the Gothic connection but cannot grasp what is supposed to have gone AWOL. Have an answer for 11a but again, what is missing??? It is a long time since I have been so comploetely flummoxed and I think it is going straight over the shoulder to light the fire with!
On a much more interesting note, had the first Jersey Royals last night (with some wild river salmon that comes straight from the river into my freezer within the hour) - from a paper sack in the traditional wooden tub, all nice and earthy. The skins flew off when scraped and the taste was fantastic, I would suggest a boycott of all washed and plastic-bagged JRs.

[dr b]

dd, note that the number of clues with something AWOL is equal to the number of unclued answers (5, as I recall), so that most answers are quite normal. 30a, for example, has nothing missing and so can be entered normally. (You'll know you've found a live one when the answer doesn't fit the grid!)

[DocHH]

Hello drb,
On the first pass through I found there weren't many gifts this week, and those that were there didn't intersect, and from then on most clues needed to be worked. I thought that 32a was also quite sneaky. I don't have the distraction of a TV!
I suspect that your Google and my Yahoo experience yielded the same result.
Speccie thursday?

[DocHH]

Welcome back DevaDolly,
drb is correct only 5 anomolies, although the rubric is misleading enough to infer that "all" clued answers appear to have parts that have gone AWOL. That lead me astray initially.
Start on the assumption that all is normal and then you will find the anomolies, which are not fully obvious as all lights end up as words.
Enjoying a G&T before starting to cook dinner, Jersey Royals still cost an arm and a leg here and are far larger than I prefer them. They are certainly a perfect companion for salmon!! What did you use to wash the meal down! Something white and chilled I suspect?!

[devadolly]

Thank you DocHH & dr b - that does seem more approachable now! I really must be getting near the B12 injection! I do rather think it reads in a very clumsy manner - will try again (having retrieved it from the fireplace and wiped off some sooty bits!
Doc HH the classic JR is the larger spud, about 2-3 inches long and somewhat kidney shaped (if one wishes to grow the JR variety in the garden they are known as International Kidney but obviously don't taste the same because of the soil differences etc), I think what you like are the Jersey Mids, the tiny ones - so do I.

Thanks everyone