Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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What an intriguing pseudonym. Apart from being a playing card, The Ace of Hearts is the title of a 1921 film in which the member of a vigilante group who is to carry out an assassination is selected by a card being dealt to each person in turn until one receives the ace of hearts. Is this relevant? I’m hoping that our setter might be able to tell us.
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It seems that this is only Cagey’s third Enigmatic Variations crossword though his is a more familiar name in the Magpie.… Continue reading
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Ifor is a name of Welsh origin, meaning ‘archer’, and also the label given to the Implementation Force, a NATO-led multinational peace enforcement unit deployed in Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1995 and 1996 under the codename Operation Joint Endeavour. However, I suspect that the alias assumed by today’s setter owes more to the Deefor Dog, Ellfor Leather and Peefor Pleasure school of nomenclature. Let’s hope we’re not dealing with Ifor Impenetrable…
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Artix was chosen by solvers as the compiler of this year’s favourite Inquisitor crossword, one which had WORDLE as its theme.… Continue reading
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I wonder if when two setters are contemplating a collaboration their decision is influenced by the name of the hybrid which will result. eXternal and Serpent combine very neatly to produce eXtent, and the marriage of Hellebore and Phi to produce Hellphire was surely irresistible. Eclipse plus Logogriph is less obvious, Ecriph or Loglipse having understandably been ignored in favour of Eclogue. But what about Ifor and Wickball getting together as Iball, or Harribobs and Piccadilly forming Harpic? Jacques and Sea-kale as Jacqusea, perhaps? Curmudgeon and Wan might need to think carefully about names before entering into an alliance, though…
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It is a pleasure to download a crossword by Piccadilly who has been setting them for 34 years and EVs since 1995 – this one is his 52nd Enigmatic Variations crossword.… Continue reading
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In the setter’s blog for Listener puzzle 4600, Opsimath wrote “This was one of the very first puzzles I attempted to set. I know, because I only stumbled on my pseudonym while looking for suitable words to use for the grid. Putting *psi* into TEA produces loads of words like campsite and lop-sided, but oΨmath caught my eye and seemed appropriate, since I was already well into my 60’s when I even started to think about setting. Plus, I was always a Math teacher. To save you rushing to Chambers, an opsimath is someone who learns late in life. I’ll admit to having been offered the very best schooling from an early age, but I only started to learn quite recently.”
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There is no need to introduce Kruger who has been setting EV crosswords for over 26 years.… Continue reading
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Georges Remi, the creator of Tintin, came up with his pseudonym by taking his first and last initials, reversing them, and turning the French pronunciation of the individual letters into the name Hergé. Today’s setter did something along the same lines – his first and last initials are PH, a reversal of which gives HP, an abbreviation for ‘hire-purchase’. This loosely equates to ‘credit’ or ‘tick’, and a complementary reversal of the latter gives ‘kcit’. Simples!
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Solvers can be sure that they will have no difficulty with an EV by Chalicea who invariably sets crosswords packed with thematic material but with relatively gentle clues that adhere fairly strictly to Chambers Dictionary definitions.… Continue reading