Ev: Sunday Telegraph Enigmatic Variations 1132 -- Another Game By Artix

[jim360]

I think I would have found this impossible without managing to have a lucky guess about who players 1 and 2 are, followed by another lucky guess about where the various empty squares should be. Both being correct suddenly allowed speedy progress through the grid, but even then the endgame was rather tricky to work through -- and even another guess at the guy who Artix reckons "might have beaten them all" (really? He was good, but one of the more recent players is surely far better -- talent andapplication!) and I still had difficulty finding him in the grid.

So a challenge all the way along. Thanks Artix!

[devadolly]

Hello Jim, just thought I would have a look and see if any clever-cloggsis had worked it all out. Did reply to your last post on 1131 by the way. Am assuming it is a second letter at 1a/1d leading to the two great adversory's, but as to the more modern and other players, haven't a clue. If I'm on the wrong track to start with I am well and truely scuppered. That said, am not finding the clues too enlightening either so had better confine my time to the Speccie & the FG! Either that or get on with painting the house.

[jim360]

The various players to be highlighted only appear after some major grid changes, the nature of which is explained later on, but I'm not quite sure about what you mean about the first bit.

Sorry to hear about the last one, but this is the second in a pair of tough EVs and perhaps does somewhat justify the position of EV as the second toughest thematic crossword as the moment. That said, I'm failing even worse at IQ's lately!

[Cagey]

Have just twigged as to two players. Lack drive to finish tonight. Agree with jim as to difficulty without getting names.

[AHearer]

This was, indeed, great fun. I had to go through the game twice to be sure I hadn't made a mistake, as there was another player who seemed to be trying to emerge. I was lucky in filling enough of the top left corner to be able to make a guess at the two players. Many thanks to Artix for an excellent puzzle.

[EV_Solver]

Great stuff from Artix, and a puzzle that would feature in the Ascot Gold Cup voting if it had appeared in The Listener. Also not as difficult as I thought it would be. Clue solving was steady, and apart from a baffled ten minutes wondering what the "strange" part of the message would spell, reached the end without too much trouble. I'm with Artix with respect to his views on the various merits of those involved.

[devadolly]

Jim.....The Letter B was my thought!

[jim360]

Ah, right deva -- then yes.

[devadolly]

Wow! Hooray! Still doesn't help with the others..........plod, plod, plod!

[Bobbibunny]

I was congratulating myself on completing the Listener this week and then this comes along! I have completed the grid but cannot for the life of me work out the last seven clues worth of instructions. Any hints would be welcome. Thanks

[jim360]

The last few letters from the instructions are sadly meant to be gobbledygook, at least until you fully understand what the "other game" is, and what's given earlier in the instruction, when it all starts to make sense. So I'd say that you should focus on understanding the first part of the instruction.

The Listener this week was definitely easier than the EV, which is apparently part of a recent trend towards harder EVs and easier Listeners!

[Jogler]

Enjoyed this one but as we had the theme in our minds already it was helpful. Thought the end game excellent; had been following the first part of the instruction and found the two modern players by luck, but until looking much closer had assumed we had made a mistake with the extra words in the second part (not helped by the fact we did have 2 errors!). Word search is much easier once one has the confidence that it will be there...

[Bobbibunny]

Thanks jim360. I have now found two recent match players after some simple manipulation and have 9 letters left for the old champion. I don't really understand what is meant by 'probably not 1ac in the game actually played' and I am not sure if my manipulation was correct as I still can't make sense of the last bit of the instruction!

[jim360]

That comment is just Artix's view on relative abilities at the first game, and isn't strictly relevant to the puzzle. 1ac was pretty much unstoppable in the match played against 1dn, and in the build-up to it, when he thrashed two other fine players of the game 6-0. The final name you are missing was also a seriously good player in his day; but could anyone have beaten 1ac at his best? Probably not.

The point is that you're just looking for another top player of the main game, who was most prominent in the 1910s - early 1930s.

[TheBear69]

I think this is brilliant, but I do not understand how the game we are given the rules for is a 2-player game

[TheBear69]

I also do now see how the phrase "in the game actually played" can refer to any of the games that really occurred between 1a and 1d. If so, which one of the games? And in any case, if 1ac played the old champion in 'that game' it would presumably have diverged fairly rapidly and then, in what sense, would it be the same game?

So I think "in the game actually played" is referring to this ANOTHER GAME we are somehow exhibiting here. If so, why would 1ac be the probable winner? Very mysterious....

[jim360]

My won personal answer is in terms of their respective abilities at the first game. That said, a second answer could be based on the fact that 1ac was apparently incredibly skilled at game 2 also, capable of completing it within 30 seconds. I think either interpretation is possible, since in the period leading up to the first game between 1ac and 1dn, 1ac was nigh-on unplayable.

[TheBear69]

Aha! If one Googles 1ac along with the best known, hyphenated name of this 'game' the first hit explains a lot...

[crosswhit99]

Agree with The Bear that 'in the game actually played' means the game that the solver is actually playing in order to manipulate the big squares, ie the fifteen-puzzle. The old champion actually has 10 letters Bobbi, as he shares the L with one of the modern players.