Enigmatic Variations 1695 (Hints)
Responsible by Kruger
Hints and tips by Gabriel / Jpeg
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Kruger has been setting EV puzzles for almost 30 years now. What do our AI friends think about this one? Trying Gemini again, I gave it the preamble…
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Enigmatic Variations 1694 (Hints)
Final Scene by Kcit
Hints and tips by Phibs
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I thought I’d give ChatGPT a chance to impress, asking “A themed crossword tells us that the grid will represent the situation approaching halfway through the final scene of an opera. Can you suggest some operas where this point might be significant?”
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Enigmatic Variations 1693 (Hints)
Press Release by Vagans
Hints and tips by Gabriel
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I gave Gemini (if nothing, I’m loyal – for now) the preamble. And they proposed a promising tactic and one completely wrongheaded observation: “Two Unclued Entries: These are the key! They spell out PRESS RELEASE”. They don’t. The promising tactic: “Tackle the Wordplay-Only Clues: These might be easier to solve initially as they don’t have the extra layer of surplus letters.” Slightly helpful albeit a bit obvious.
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Enigmatic Variations 1692 (Hints)
Anonymous by Ifor
Hints and tips by Phibs
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This week I thought I’d do a search on Dave Hennings’ excellent database of themed crosswords (xwdb.info) to locate earlier puzzles that had a connection with the word ‘anonymous’.
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Enigmatic Variations 1691 (Hints)
Column 1 by Shark
Hints and tips by Gabriel
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Shark is familiar to me as being at the harder end of the spectrum – he’s a frequent contributor to the Usual Cryptic Suspects. The title probably meant that something thematic was going to show up there and might be of some help while solving. Though I’ll admit I usually only manage to decode titles ex post facto. I didn’t bother consulting my Gemini advisor since I couldn’t imagine even him/her having anything useful to contribute given that particular title. Also, I didn’t wonder (though I should have!) whether Easter Sunday might be thematically relevant.
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Enigmatic Variations 1690 (Hints)
Nob by Vismut
Hints and tips by Phibs
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In contrast with the AI-fidelity of my fellow blogger, I decided to continue on my technologically promiscuous way by giving ChatGPT the chance to answer the question “In a themed crossword puzzle, we have to find the name, title and nickname of a person who is in some way connected with ‘nobs’. Any ideas?”
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Enigmatic Variations 1689 (Hints)
Good Buddies by The Ace of Hearts
Hints and tips by Gabriel
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If nothing else, I’m loyal to Gemini (I’ll admit to being somewhat biased, so I don’t flirt with ChatGPT and Claude). I asked him/her: “In an advanced thematic crossword, we are asked to find the real names of two GOOD BUDDIES that have ‘better-known aliases’. What do you make of this?”.
He/she coughed up “Batman and Robin” (yes, they have real names and aliases indeed) and “Holmes and Watson” (real names but no obvious aliases). And I was finally advised to: “crucially, understand the theme of the crossword”. Oh, OK. Will do. Not helpful.
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Enigmatic Variations 1688 (Hints)
Spies by Luxor
Hints and tips by Phibs
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I thought I’d give Claude another chance to impress this week, so I asked, “A crossword’s theme involves three spies and the focus of their attention. To whom and what might this refer?”
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Enigmatic Variations 1687 (Hints)
I Am What I Am by Artix
Hints and tips by Gabriel
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Inspired by the title my first thoughts led me to Dr Seuss. I wasted a bit of time rereading “Green Eggs and Ham”. Jigsaw puzzles are somewhat daunting at first since a lot of cold solving invariably lies ahead. Also, we immediately realised that this is a semi-carte blanche.
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Enigmatic Variations 1686 (Hints)
Good Advice? by Skylark
Hints and tips by Phibs
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This week I thought I’d see if Google could point me in the direction of some Good Advice for crossword solvers.
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