This (6 September 2020) should have been the first Sunday in years without an Enigmatic Variations puzzle. Instead we have the start of a month of easier puzzles to help attract new solvers in. It’s hardly surprising that the first off the mark is Chalicea who has made something of a speciality of solid, straightforward and enjoyable puzzles, in a range of outlets.
The preceding puzzle was one of my own, with presumably an implication that it was harder. Based on comments received so far, I’m not so sure of that, but as I’ve said repeatedly, I cannot assess the difficulty of my own puzzles with any great confidence. More on that in the blog appearing on the site later this week. I note that I have to have it ready a little earlier than usual as fifteensquared will be changing its scheduling to tie in with Big Dave’s site, where hints and explanations will be available. All part of the process to encourage new blood.
Reasonable then to put up one of my own EVs from a few years ago. I do think this one will be harder than the one in today’s paper and, if you want a hint, well, you might think of the alternative meanings of shot.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Telegraph, there’s a Kcit Toughie on September 9, and elsewhere in the cruciverbosphere, there’s a Phi IQ on Saturday 12th, and a Pedro Quick Cryptic on September 17, just to use up all the pseudonyms. As mentioned, there’ll be a blog on Matches appearing later in the week – with photos!
Encouraging new solvers is I think a very good thing. I was poised to take out a newspaper sub this week, but when I looked at the small print, the sub did not include any of the puzzles–I buy newspapers first and foremost for the puzzles. I do think, in these days of varying degrees of lockdown, one of the big draws for papers of all kinds has been the quality, and to a degree, the number of puzzles. The smaller general puzzles are a great draw into the easier cryptic, which then draw into the more complex puzzles. We all need mental stimulation, each to their own degree, and good starter cryptic puzzles are a must to get folks interested and to give a degree of achievement/satisfaction. Unobtainable is I think for many, unrewarding and thus uninspiring.
Judging the difficulty of our own work is a definite challenge, one I can appreciate from trying to write for younger readers.
Hi Erin,
I subscribed to the Telegraph puzzles club about a year ago as I was preparing to set a puzzle for EV (which was published today as it happens) and I wanted to set it from the start for the target style. I got hooked and the EV puzzles are now my second of each week after the Listener. Certainly at that point you could subscribe to the puzzles separately from the paper.