Sunday Telegraph Enigmatic Variations 954 Sunday February 13th 2011

[AndrewG-S]

Fun this week. Thankfully got Brewers for Christmas which made much easier.

[cruciverbali]

For a different challenge why not take a look at this week’s Azed Crossword:

http://image.guardian...1/02/10/2020feb13.pdf

[DocHH]

Hello AndrewG-S, I got mine last Christmas, so it's well thum(b)ed now.

[devadolly]

Hello everybody, it's even in my ancient one, 9d was the giveaway. Looks like we'll just have to N & C this week and discuss various tinctures of choice. Currently contemplating a G & T, was given a very interesting bottle - Beefeater 24, a very nice gin which has pushed Plymouth into third place with Hendricks still in the lead.
Shed a little tear for me will you all......Himself is off to Brum for a Conference and I cannot go this year as am being cruel to Councillors so will just have to indulge myself with a whole bottle of Fizz to myself tomorrow!

[DocHH]

Hello Devadolly,
I wondered if AndrewG-S had managed to lose everyone by the full title rather than just EV!
Happy to N&C! Just about to start on a bottle of Jamesons, which was an Xmas present from Herself's brother and sister-in-law! For one moment I cannot imagine why Himself would not want you there being cruel to Councilllors! Surely it is now a National sport, soon to become an Olympic Sport! As for a whole bottle of "fizz", what is it? If something vintage, just enjoy!

[dr b]

Indeed I was searching for EV 954! I may have spent more time tracking down the versifier than I did filling the grid - some web sites attribute it to Dr Johnson.

A lovely 55 degrees (F) here in St Louis today - all the ice & snow should be gone by Tuesday.

[AndrewG-S]

I typed in the usual and filled in the options (Sunday Telegraph etc.) then hit a button I had not seen before called "Build Title" it automatically filled in this splendid title for me and apparently lost everyone else.

[devadolly]

Cruciverbali, I think I might be pushing my minute brain a bit too near the edge with that one, as you know from my cries for help I can be very feeble minded.
DocHH would be going, much more fun than BCTC's, however the meetings are beyond my control (so will probably be crueller than normal as could be enjoying myself baiting other folk!) Wasn't thinking of the whole bottle in one go......a Charles Heidseik.....HE'LL be furious!
drb - you were warning of an ice storm in a past post, did it happen? It sounded dreadful.

[devadolly]

We crossed in the ether AndrewGS.....what button? Where? Sounds quite useful!

[dr b]

dd, we got lucky and after a glazing of ice it all turned to sleet followed by show & so was easier to shovel. All in all we only got about 10" of white stuff compared to 20"+ in other areas, so not too bad.

[devadolly]

Oh My God drb, just how do you cope with such extreme weather? It really doesn't sound like fun to me. I just hate the white stuff, hard or soft, a real wimp I just head straight for the duvet.

[AndrewG-S]

When you create the question it was just there on the bottom right.

[novalis]

Managed to look at it this week. A nice one for Dr. B.

[kayakamina]

I wondered where everyone had gone as nothing came up in my search box for
EV 954.
I thought that maybe the rugby had been a distraction.

A relatively easy grid fill and, in fact, I only identified the logic of some of the superfluous letters after I'd filled the grid and found the author etc.

[DocHH]

Cruciverbali, I took up your suggestion to try a different challenge. Is it always that straightforward? I was disappointed that there was not an extra dimension as in EV or Speccie, despite it being a barred crossword.
K, in future if I'm searching for an EV thread, i'll just use the numbers!
And, dr b, as for being pleased with only 10" of the white stuff rather than 20", I'm with Devadolly, there's only place to be!
Good to see you back on the EV thread Novalis! Not working too hard I hope. With any luck, just marking time and the odd quiz!

[dr b]

Doc, my experience is that Azed (and Mephisto) are pretty much always like that - straightforward puzzles, where the answers are hopelessly obscure words, but the wordplay is pretty transparent. As a result one spends a lot of time running to the dictionary to confirm that "pargana" and "tschernosem:" are actual words. Not too interesting, for me anyway.

The Azed (#2019) last week was more interesting, with double clues (two clues in one long sentence strung together) entered in one half of the grid or the other. Here's a link:

http://image.guardian...11/02/03/2019feb6.pdf

[DocHH]

Thanks for that dr b, I'll take a rain, or should that be snow check on that link. Will avoid AZED in future. Am scheduled for day 2 of a hectic year's 9 day work on wednesday! The other 7 days are appropriately spaced to ensure they do not interfere with holidays! Herself does not like me being too stressed!

[AndrewG-S]

I don't do azed but I think every fourth is thematic and with a tie breaker clue writing bit. This looks like the one to do.

[turast]

I've only just found this thread, as I've been typing in EV 954. I enjoyed this puzzle. I found it educational, as I'd never heard of the versifier or his verse. I think I'll visit his tomb next weekend as I'm going to see my son, who shares the subject and the alma mater of our rhymester. The final detail on the completion was a bit hard on those who do not have access to Brewer's I thought. Though probably guessable, it's always nice to have some form of confirmation.

[turast]

The AZED is always worth checking out. Although most are "plain", he does have some great variations every now and then. These include "Eightsome reels", where solutions are to be entered around a central square, reading either clockwise or anti-clockwise, and interlocking with an adjacent solution. He also does "Spoonerisms" crosswords which are highly entertaining and groanworthy. As the puzzles are available online, you could just log on to the Observer to see if it's one of his "specials" and have a go at ones which pique your interest. The list of competition winners is the place where Colin Dexter sourced character names, including Morse. Dexter himself often gets mentioned in despatches.

[AndrewG-S]

helloo