Enigmatic Variations 820

[Rapparee]

Break the Link by Jaques

As Midazolam appears to be offline at the moment I am taking it upon myself to post the link along with his usual message. I hope he doesn't mind.

Rapparee

Midazolam writes......

To any EV solver!

I am undertaking the statistics for the Telegraph EV. This is because several people find the timeframe until submission too short and in my opinion there have been some crosswords harder than the listener. It would be interesting to see these statistics and depending on the results may influence this timeframe. I could never reach the echelon of J Green and it must be stressed I don't submit the EV and never will do. So I have no interest other than seeing how we fare. E-mail a scanned copy/reconstructed typed grid or a list of the answers with the info of the required theme to [email protected] by 6pm on the Wednesday after the EV (i.e. last post). However please e-mail me whenever you have finished as they will be invaluable to the statistics. Just use any alias and not your name (if you don't want to) or home address. As we generally do with the listener threads � hints and tips only on the threads. Comments are most welcome and I will copy this every week, so spread the word.

Regards Midazolam

[DocHH]

Hi Rapparee
I am sure Midazolam would be pleased you took up the mantle of EV Poster".
Filling the grid didn't take very long, but am struggling to see how to "Break the Link" with that bar!

[Rapparee]

Hi DocHH
I'm sure you'll have noticed the two related entries. I worked on the second of them till I got two words that fitted with the down answers. The a symmetrically inserted bar in each entry finished it off. Just hope I've got it right!

[greyfox]

I think there is a dark side of my brain that prevents me from making the leap into the 'penny drop' moment of so many crosswords and this one is no different. Completing the grid wasn't too demanding, but can I get to the 'Of course! Why didn't I see that?!' revelation. No! A subtle (or not so subtle) hint would be much appreciated.

[DocHH]

I'm with you greyfox, even wth Rapparee's rather cryptic guidance I'm still struggling!

[novalis]

To Greyfox and DocHH
Think of the missing link --- and what it connects!!

[Rapparee]

Good hint, Novalis.

Further to that I would say that the uppermost entry only requires a bar to separate its two words and therefore the lower one's symmetry has to match it.

[copelander]

The answer is on the same theme as the two relevant full grid length answers. Does this help or is it too obvious? As a reatively new subscriber I'm not too sure exactly how to reply.

[greyfox]

Sorry, it must still be staring me in the face. Clearly(?)it's required to do something with the two clues at 12 and 30 across, but can I see the 'missing link'? Can I heck as like!

[Tichfield]

Like Rapparee, I looked at the possible letters that could go into the down lights, from those available, that would make proper words.

The first word then stood out like a sore thumb bearing in mind the context. That left the letters comprising the second word to be anagrammed. I have to say I had never heard of the word that I came up with, but it does make sense, again in the context of the puzzle.

[novalis]

Hi Greyfox!

Ask yourself what the most famous missing link is supposed to connect. One of the words is already in the grid. The other has to be the same length as the grid is symmetrical.

Hi Copelander!

The convention for EV on this site is hints rather than direct answers.

[copelander]

Thanks Noaalis, that's what I thought, but wasn't sure if maybe I'd been too obvious, but seeing the ensuing comments, probably not.

[DocHH]

Thanks for the hints,the penny dropped after readng the rubric carefully, and finished it about mid-day today. Must have spent too much time in the Caribbean with brain disengaged!

[midazolam]

thanks for posting that rapparee

as i mentioned on the listener thread - my internet is not up and running. Just printed it out now. This is another example of the timeframe gone mad as I wouldnt have time to submit it even if I did

I will be sending a letter to the telegraph with all your comments/concerns. I am not sure how much sway it will have.

p.s. none has said they would actually like it kept this way. Any comments for this are welcome.

midazolam

[Rapparee]

Good to see you back, Midazolam.

If you are still unable to post again this weekend I will do it on your behalf once more.

[novalis]

Hi Midazolam!
Hope you're still enjoying fatherhood. As far as the submission date is concerned I wouldn't mind if it went back to Friday as this would still give them time to print the Seven magazine. All they would need to do is put the winner's name into the relevant space. ( Same for Cryptic and GK. )
Unfortunately I can't see them going back to Monday, but I for one would be willing to wait three weeks rather than two to see the printed solution if they did so.

[midazolam]

at last - up and running

quick finish here - i wonder if 7 down was intentional?

enjoying fatherhood thank you novalis - although i could do with some more sleep