EV 941

[crockshard]

Advice, please! I retrieved a copy of the Telegraph from my father-in-law's bin this morning and have been attempting the EV for the first time this afternoon. I complete the Times crossword every day, the Mephisto on Sundays and various 'enigmatic' puzzles like The Oldie. But this EV one has me flummoxed. I have filled about 70% of the cells, but am no nearer understanding the puzzle. I have just read the string on this site (and what's C&Ning?!), but am no nearer an understanding.
I don't want the answers (unless I get desperate!), but would welcome some hints/ explanations of how to progress!

[JMR27]

I finished this...eventually. I didn't twig what the preamble was on about until I put the title of the crossword into Google. Hope this is of some help.

[AHearer]

Advice? Perhaps put it back in the bin or you risk ending up as an obsessive who spends all weekend on EV, Azed, Listener, Mephisto....

But I suppose, having come this far, you won't take this advice, in which case follow JMR27's. The preamble and the title give you a hint about what to do with the solutions which don't appear to fit in the grid, and the (other search engines are available)ing will explain the "n'th of 4" entries.

Good luck, and buy yourself a comfortable straightjacket.

[DocHH]

Hello crockshard
Welcome to the mad-house that is EV! We are a group of EV solvers who Natter and Chatter (N&C). We tend to only give hints in relation to solving EVs, which I seem to suspect is what you require! I am a slave to the Daily Telegraph crosswords, and normally find the quick more demanding than the Cryptic or Toughie!
This week the rubric to EV 941 does actually give away a lot of hints to the thematic entries. You will need to put your deerstalker on and get out your magnifying glass, or perhaps even do a search for the first few words of the rubric!
The difference between the clue indication length for 27a and the grid length should help!

[crockshard]

Thankyou, JMR27 - good advice that I will follow-up tomorrow afternoon and let you know how I get on.
AHearer, you have seen through me - an obsessive nut once I have got so far with a puzzle. But now I have another cryptogram to sort out, the 'n'th of 4', before I can progress tomorrow!....

[crockshard]

Thankyou, DocHH. I now have track to explore. I will report back in a fortnight when I might have finished it!

[DocHH]

AHearer,
Did you deliberately omit the Speccie! Something else you could try crockshard. There is normally a link to it on here on a thursday, at about 08.00 to 08.30!

[AHearer]

Mea culpa, DocHH. I would pretend to pedantry and claim that as The Spectator's offering comes earlier in the week it was excluded by 'all weekend', or included in the ellipsis, but it was a serious omission and is always an entertaining puzzle. While I'm at it, I might mention The Crossword Centre (http://www.crossword.org.uk/), Puzzletome (http://www.puzzletome.com/crossword/), and also Oxford Today which now only publishes its crossword on-line (http://www.oxfordtoday.ox.ac.uk/) -- not that it really competes with CAM which has Schadenfreude as a regular compiler.

Ve hav vays of making you vaste time.

[kayakamina]

As we are talking about enjoyable themed crosswords, we shouldn't forget the
Inquisitor in the Saturday Independent.
Probably somewhere between EV & The Listener in difficulty, it usually provides an entertaining challenge with puzzles set by the likes of Schadenfreude.

[AHearer]

Yes, kayakamina, I've often seen complimentary references to The Inquisitor, but I've not tried it myself. Is it accessible on-line?

[crockshard]

I seem to have actually completed it, and my poor maths even tells me I have a better than seven percent solution! I have never come across an alpa-numeric solution before...

[slaney]

Glad you got there in the end, crockshard.
Mine were mostly unfinished when I first started.

AHearer, the Inquisitor is not on-line (yet) - more's the pity.

[AHearer]

Thanks, slaney. I had looked unsuccessfully for it on-line, and it's good to know it's more than just my poor web skills that got in the way of my finding it.