Enigmatic Variations 951

[AndrewG-S]

Finding this one tough going. Amendments to the clue entries makes this virtually a cold-solve in many respects. I am down to the last 5 clues, but have been stuck for a while. I guess the lack of posting means others are in a similar position.

[dr b]

Shoni, the def. is 'elevated', with the wordplay a combination of (type of) rope + East + (what a) bell (does). This clue has more than its share of changed letters!

For whatever reason I enjoyed doing this one, maybe as a reaction to the too-easy Listener this week. It might have been niftier had all the changes led to something more, but I liked it nonetheless.

[devadolly]

Thank you Bellabee for your lovely weighty hints, have advanced a little further, though still cannot see 18a (probably because I have my own blend of coffee that is very strong and drunk without milk, the thought of adding milk confuses....)
Oh dear, it must be the effect of the establishment DocHH, I have a collection of propelling pencils, all strewn about the house next to the various collections of reference works (and squishy erasers) for the sole purpose of EVing.
Have to disagree with drb & Bellabee as to interesting...........it has felt much more like a chore than an expedition.

[bellabee]

devadolly - you would need to try one of the italian chains for this coffee [+not cappuccino, the other one] - fear i am putting on too much weight now, maybe it's all that milky coffee.

[bellabee]

....or too much fry-ed food.

[novalis]

First time I've attempted EV for about 8 weeeks and am sadly out of practice. ( That's putting it mildly!! )

8 down is eluding me completely and I can't for the life of me see the grid entry which is only the first part of a hypenated word. Any pointers/heavy hints would be most welcome.

[turast]

I don't know what you mean about the hyphenated word. Sorry.
8DN. The definition is "what (the metric unit) measures" e.g length, capacity etc
The first 3 letters are a metric unit. The last letter is At first. The answer is also included in my hints. I'm currently engaged in the "half & half" clue count. I agree with fellow solvers who have found this more of a chore than an enjoyable solve.

[novalis]

Many thanks for that Turast. I was being side-tracked by the letters which I had in.
As far as the first part of an hyphenated word is concerned the rubric refers to one grid entry being in Chambers only as the first part of an hyphenated word.

[DocHH]

Welcome back Novalis, I find that even 2 weeks away on holiday is sufficient to let the brain lapse into non-EV mode! This weeks offering was certainly a chore, rather than interesting. Just settling down with a glass of my normal Tempranillo, cheers!

[crofter]

novalis, If you check BOTH words in Chambers, you will see that one is an M-RAT and the other a C-BEAN. The seven lettered words have been reduced to the single leading letter. Hence, both versions are hyphenated.

Having said that, I found this EV heavy going!

[Christiana]

Well finally finished but, like others, found it heavy going. I kept having the niggling feeling that with a bit of effort one could find more than one adapted answer to fit into one or two of the more complex sections - somewhat unsettling.

[dr b]

Christiana, I might be wrong, but I think what makes this such a nicely set puzzle is that the half and half requirement means that there is one and only one set of words that can fit into the altered grid, at least using words that appear in Chamber Word Wizard. I have not fully investigated that possibility, however.

[Christiana]

You could well be right, Dr. B. Didn't really investigate, just a feeling

[bellabee]

dr b - certainly the clued answers lead to only one possible grid fill but if you were unsure of 2dn [which i found the toughest clue] and 18ac [which devadolly was/is struggling with] then you might guess the final altered entry to 2dn to be hanaper which would still give an alternative real word for 18ac.

[bellabee]

.....and there are similar possibilities all over the place - i thought those for 29dn and 34ac were also rather devious and made a count necessary to be sure of the half and half. in the end everything had to be worked out from the clues which rather short-circuited the word-finder option. i liked that very much.

[Christiana]

Yes, for a long while I was battling with the south west section, even though I had all the original answers, and came up with several possibilities that almost filled the bill, so I suppose that's why I started wondering about alternatives. Now I've filled the grid in in ink I'm satisfied that there is only one solution. I applaud the setter for the skill exhibited in achieving this, but still found rather less enjoyment in the solving of it than I would have liked.

[Christiana]

Quick PS to say I'm off to the Algarve today, back in three weeks so will probably not be posting.

[devadolly]

Have a nice time Christina 'see' you on your return.
Am still struggling with 18d bellabee, despite having investigated (what seems like dozens) of wierd and wonderful sounding coffees. Your last post about the finished word in 2d has me very confused as, (thanks to your help) got what I thought was a very well constructed answer to the clue. With the entry of your suggested word it means the instruction in the preamble of un-checked sqares not being changed....................HELP!

[bellabee]

devadolly - sorry for the confusion - the alternative i was suggesting is only a possibility it is not the right answer. sometimes word-finders can be used to get a solution where enough letters are known [from cross-checking solutions] rather than by actually solving the clue - but rustic has made such a guessing game a risky affair by ensuring alternatives are possible [especially in the trickier areas of the grid].- as for the coffee problem [it is 18 across we are talking about isn't it?] 'latte' is the middle word. maybe your 'alterations' are puttin you off here as there are several for this answer,its definition being 'insincere praise' initially and [possibly] 'cutters' finally.

[bellabee]

hope you have a nice holiday[?] christina.

[bellabee]

sorry - missing 'g' from first of these and [more heinously] 'a' from second - i type painfully slowly and still get things wrong most of the time.