EV 901 - Time For Action

[Mampara]

I have followed the weekly thread about the Enigmatic Variations crossword
and thought I would give it a go today.

Although it has taken me all morning, I have completed it, and wonder how it rates in terms
of difficulty from the norm.?

Could any of the regular solvers give me a view please?

[kayakamina]

Well done on breaking your duck.

You may have picked a good weekend as the Listener crossword in the SaturdayTimes is also a friendly puzzle for newcomers. You can get a copy from the Times on-line site.

On occasions I have found EV harder than even the Listener, but today, maybe because I'm having a good day, I filled the grid quite easily.
I assume, if you are tackling puzzles at this level, that you have the latest Chambers Dictionary , and I find Bradford's Dictionary invaluable.

I hope no one comes along and bursts your bubble as you've done very well for a first timer.

Cheers K

[Captain Spod]

I'm full of admiration. I'm quite happy with cryptic crosswords generally but EV leaves me floundering, usually just reading the introduction has my head reeling.
I don't have a Chambers, but I think I might give today's a go on the basis that there doesn't seem to be too many answers relying on other answers.
Well done Mampara.
CS

[Mampara]

Thanks to both of you.

I feel encouraged by your replies.

[DocHH]

Welcome to the madhouse Mampara! The straightforward clues were relatively easy so I populated the grid with their answers quite quickly and therefore identified the 5 clashes without difficulty, but I battled for a while to resolve the Enigma!

I'd echo Kayakamina's sentiments, both on solving it completely at your first attempt, and also that this weeks EV was not as quirky and with no really obscure words as some weeks.

Have a go, Captain Spod. I normally read the rubric, then ignore it while looking for any obvious grid entries. After a while the relevance of the rubric emerges.

[turnerjmw]

I thought this was mid-range for an EV puzzle, mampara. Nothing terribly obscure, and a twist of comparable difficulty to normal. The Listener has been as easy this year, though that could all change, and this week's Inquisitor in the Independent was probably more difficult (and more interesting)

[Jogler]

Welcome Mampara and Captain Spod. We started doing the EV regularly a little while ago and found the advice from the regulars very constructive without ever giving the game away, which gives one confidence to keep on going even when nothing seems to fall into place immediately. The clues always seem to go in groups with a few falling into place and then a long drought where you lose the will - and then that doh moment when you wonder why you missed something so obvious.

Hello, n&c'ers, from a slightly damp Las Vegas! dr b has done the biz and we are in possession of a pdf form of the crossword. Next stop is to get it printed out - but it looks quite fun. So far nothing to report as we spent yesterday travelling around the houses having been bumped and only got in very late. However, today is the Superbowl and we are looking forward to finding a bucket of beer and some appallingly naughty things to eat with it :). More from your roving reporters in due course.

The Jogler(s)

[devadolly]

Welcome, welcome to our two new friends. Haven't yet seen the offending article yet as my papershop failed to get enough of the extras in my paper and I had to resort to a major hissy-fit and threats. The outcome being, one will be sent from the wholesaler's tomorrow. I am not only berift, but seriously worried by all these quickly finished grids - I just know I am going to groan when I do see it!
Las Vegas.......damp? That must be a bit of a blow Joglers, hope the weather improves.
Just a thought to those without the BRD (Big Red Book) one can often find them in the Oxfam book shop, obviously not the newest edition but still good.

[DocHH]

Hello Jogler(s),
Pleased to hear dr b has sent yo a pdf, I don't think you'll need the big red brick too much this time, but

http://www.chambersha...ards/wwizards.py/main

help, but for sure it is not as complete as the printed version, and you'll have to check definitions elsewhere,

http://www.onelook.com/

might help.

A bucket of beer! The mind boggles, is it full of the nectar, allowing you to drink it with straws, or as conventional glass. Sadly, I suspect it's a few bottles of American beer in a bucket of ice!! In Uni days at Georgia Tech we used to order a pitcher of beer and several glasses to share between numerous of us. Our finances usually dictated that we just had a wet glass rather than a drink! I'm on my normal Tempranillo, and I'm with Novalis on the full Upminster!

Enjoy your travels, not much N&Cing yet! What is your planned itinerary?

[DocHH]

Devadolly,
I'm glad I'm not your newsagent! A hissy-fit, accompanied by threats,WOW! I hope Himself doesn't see too many of those, or does he just ignore them? Don't worry, this EV is eminently finishable, there are lots of gifts in the regular clues. So really no need to even consider entering DC!

[dr b]

Hi all; Super Bowl Sunday! Not much interest in crosswords today. I filled out most of the grid last night, but did not get to the parts where the (suspiciously brief) preamble might come into play, nor any idea how the title might fit in. I'll look at it again tomorrow.

Joglers, good thing you were not heading to the east coast this weekend - up to 30" of snow in some parts! I hope Utah has some white stuff on the ground.

[Jogler]

Not a very groundbreaking itinerary DocHH; normally we indulge in a road trip at this time of year, but on this occasion we are staying for a week in Las Vegas (no not to feed the slots!) and then driving up to Park City, Utah where we hope to catch up with the white stuff for a week. Although most people come here for the gambling, there are several National Parks in the vicinity that offer some fun walking in spring like weather. Right now, as dr b said, the Superbowl is on - it is the only programme where the ads are bits I come in and watch!

Dd, I hope your newsagent will learn from his mistakes.... letting you down once is an error - but twice in short order - foolish person; a hissy fit was light judgement!

Back to the coal face - we decided to forgo the pleasures of the bucket and settle for a g&t in our apartment :)

[Jogler]

Forgot to say, thank you DocHH for the useful links.

[AndrewG-S]

I filled in most of the grid pretty quickly, but have now hit a block on what to do with the remaining 7 answers (which include the 5 from the preamble). Any gentle hints gratefully received...

[novalis]

Hi everybody!

Welcome especially Mampara and Captian Spod.

I'm sending this from my local library as my P.C. has had a catastrophic ( probably hard drive ) failure.and my computer guru can't call round until tomorrow.

As far as this week's offering is concerned I'm afraid I'm well behind all those who have started/finished. I've still nine clues to solve, including all five which need adjustment and four which check a letter in those.. ( I've an idea on the first one which I think/hope is an anagram. ) I'm assuming that the adjusted answers are all of the same length and that they all start with the same letter once the adjustments have been made. Any pointers/heavy hints will be more than welcome. I'll keep trying in the interim and hope to get back to this forum tomorrow morning.

[DocHH]

Hello AndrewG-S and Novalis,
Novalis you are correct in assuming all 5 are the same length and have the same starting "character". Look at the intersecting clues that you are having trouble with, they have something in common in them. I assume the anagram you are referring to is 21d. Once I'd got that everything fell into place, 48d is also not the obvious! My initial post also gives 2 hints! Hope that helps you too AndrewG-S.

[AndrewG-S]

DocHH, Thank you - that helped! making progress again now

[dr b]

hmmm.... I have all but 5 answers, which I assume are the ones "with no definition" as in the preamble. I have their crossing answers, which are the ones where "numbers in brackets give the length of grid entries" is relevant. Not sure how to ask for confirmation of an idea I've got about the 5 "no definition" clues, without giving it all away. So I will come back to it later.

For those who care, the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl, which is a nice boost for a city that badly needs one (there are large parts of the city that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 that are still in very bad shape).

Snow in St Louis today! I would gladly ship it all to Utah so the Joglers can ski on it.

[devadolly]

Yes, it arrived and as Himself has had to go to a funeral (thoughtfully arranged for 12.30pm), I am 'let off' getting lunch so have sneaked an illegal hour with the EV. Have got much of the grid completed but am very confused by both the preamble and the five nasties. Am I right in assuming they are those nasty little words that seem to be somewhat egocentric in their composition?
No DocHH, Himself knows better than to ignore a full-scale tirade as there is generally a good reason for it!
Joglers, looks like you could have got another load of the white-stuff this side of the Pond later this week.......ugh! I'm off to the South Seas...................if only!

[dr b]

aha. finis.

[copelander]

Hello all, and welcome newcomers. The only hint I would add to DocHH's is once you have the grid nearly filled, apart from the thematic and undefined, have another read of the title. Mampara, I would rate this as a mid range EV, with not too many obscure words and a pleasing "penny drop moment".Glad you got your copy sorted out DD, and maybe the hissy fit will prevent that happening again any time soon!