Monthly Prize Puzzle (Mar 2021)
Permutations by Phibs
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
Why not have a go at our latest Monthly Prize Puzzle?
The winner will receive their choice of any of the Telegraph Crossword Books.
Please note that, due to punitive postal charges, while the competition is open to all, the prize is only available to UK solvers.
A review will follow after the closing date (20th March 2021)
The competition is now closed
The puzzle is available by clicking on the above grid.
Please read the instructions carefully.
I’ve left this post open for comments, but if you don’t want your comment to be deleted then do not provide any help for other solvers or mention any detail about the puzzle, especially references to individual clues, until after the closing date.
This was very light for a Phibs puzzle but as enjoyable and ingenious as ever. Working out the answer required following the advice from The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy – “Don’t Panic!” – but it yielded with some persistence.
With the caveat that I am probably mistaken, there seems to be one undefined answer so I will need to wait patiently for two weeks to find out about that.
Many thanks to Phibs for the fun, and in advance to CS for the review.
Oops! I think that when I rewrote the wordplay for the clue in question I must have accidentally deleted the definition :sad: . I’m hoping that with BD’s help the definition will shortly be reinstated!
Oh good, I’m not going crazy then! Thanks for the confession, Phibs, and very well done on constructing such an impressive puzzle.
The puzzle has been updated, and 8 Down now reads “Controversial plan of action largely involves Phibs retiring (7)”
I’m just hoping that was the clue which RD was referring to…
:yes:
:phew:
I felt your presence was fair enough to get hold of the word.
I stand in awe of the effort that it must have taken to put this one together.
Excellent fun and thoroughly enjoyed.
Thanks Phibs.
Enjoyed thoroughly and many thanks to Phibs for the entertainment. My grid is complete and I have the word without the vowel, but am yet to change the letter and unravel the two words required for the answer. I think I still need to read and reread the preamble to my satisfaction, particularly whether the bracketed words should indeed be ‘ranging from none of them to all five’ in place of ‘ranging from one of them to all five’, although I am certain that hardly matters.
Well, I have a completed grid but there are a couple of parsings that are eluding me.
Anyway, it is now a case of staring at the grid until the answer to the riddle leaps off the page.
Thanks Phibs.
One of Phibs’ trademarks seems to be that you know the answer when you get there – hope that holds true this time!
So much to enjoy in this one, I’d be very hard pushed to name a favourite.
Many thanks for the fun, Phibs.
What a tangle I got myself into with all those possible combinations…but eventually the answer jumped out at me…at least I think it has.
Great puzzle, many thanks to Phibs (and much admiration)
What a great puzzle! We thoroughly enjoyed the workout which followed the answers to the crossword. Big thank you to Phibs for all the effort involved in putting this together. Great!
I’m lost in admiration! Words fail me – which is clearly a problem Phibs does not have :smile:
I spotted a likely solution once my grid was completed, but ticking off all the combinations to confirm my suspicions was as much fun as solving the puzzle.
Truly inspired cruciverbalism!
What an amazing puzzle.
Just remembered this would be here; managed to do it this month – a very enjoyable solve. In awe of Phibs’ ability to set these!!
Well, finally the preamble mattered. Today, it was my second attempt at searching for the answer. After I had found it, I stared at the grid for a long time and wondered at the magnificent creation of Phibs the ‘mathemagician’. Once again, thanks but to the power n to Phibs for this special enjoyment.