Enigmatic Variations 1719 (Hints)
Inspired by Skylark
Hints and tips by Gabriel / Jpeg
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Skylark apparently has set an inspired puzzle for us. Is AI inspired by the preamble?… Continue reading
Category: EV Hints
EV 1718 (Hints)
Enigmatic Variations 1718 (Hints)
Wanted by Kruger
Hints and tips by Phibs
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Since I couldn’t see anything in the preamble that would give ChatGPT a fighting chance of identifying the theme, I asked instead, “Why might a crossword setter choose the pseudonym Kruger?” I was pleased to learn that this was “a fun and subtle question — and in crosswords, setters often choose pseudonyms that have wordplay, personal resonance, or a hint of mischief built in.”
EV 1717 (Hints)
Enigmatic Variations 1717 (Hints)
In Absentia by Gaston
Hints and tips by Gabriel
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Gaston often seems to have French themes, so you perhaps would have expected Wicksparrow’s recent offering to have been a Gaston oeuvre – though who knows?… Continue reading
EV 1716 (Hints)
Enigmatic Variations 1716 (Hints)
Puzzle by Arcadia
Hints and tips by Phibs
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I gave Claude as much information as I could glean from the preamble: “In a themed crossword puzzle, we are told that we must highlight cells in a block in the completed grid which cryptically represent a puzzle referred to by an entry in the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. What might this puzzle be?” Good luck with that, matey…
EV 1715 (Hints)
Enigmatic Variations 1715 (Hints)
The Wrong Sort by Wicksparrow
Hints and tips by Gabriel / Jpeg
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A puzzle titled “The Wrong Sort” makes us instantly think of anagrams or, perhaps, of Winnie the Pooh and “The Wrong Sort of Bees.”… Continue reading
EV 1714 (Hints)
Enigmatic Variations 1714 (Hints)
Shambles by Curmudgeon
Hints and tips by Phibs
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I asked Claude “Why would a lady crossword setter who normally uses the pseudonym ‘Chalicea’ occasionally set puzzles under the name ‘Curmudgeon’?”
EV 1713 (Hints)
Enigmatic Variations 1713 (Hints)
Lost in Translation by Nudd
Hints and tips by Gabriel
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Gemini really wasn’t much help when I submitted the preamble. It just kind of regurgitated – garbage in and garbage out.… Continue reading
EV 1712 (Hints)
Enigmatic Variations 1712 (Hints)
Obstacle Courses by Luxor
Hints and tips by Phibs
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I felt that I’d set Claude a pretty tough challenge last time out, so I gave him a chance for redemption, asking “A themed crossword involves four ‘obstacle courses’, which have to be spelt out by joining 30 letters together in the grid, and includes a two-word phrase which describes what their constructors did to make them. Can you suggest what these obstacle courses might be?”
EV 1711 (Hints)
Enigmatic Variations 1711 (Hints)
Lullaby by Charybdis
Hints and tips by Gabriel / Jpeg
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I hope you are wide awake for this puzzle, because Charybdis challenges us by wanting us to sleep dreamily.… Continue reading
EV 1710 (Hints)
Enigmatic Variations 1710 (Hints)
Immutable by Vismut
Hints and tips by Phibs
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Always keen to steal a march on the setter, I told Claude, “A themed crossword puzzle asks us to identify an ‘immutable’ character, and we are required to add coloured circles into the completed grid. Who or what might this immutable character be?”