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chips

thanks- I now have Wilder from the other letters. I assumed actor but from what you say, another connection to the "project" whatever it was

S*ME*AKE*TH*T...........
Your A is wrong ..then it's split 4,4,2,3

xwordfan

Thanks - I had to look it up - did not know it.

I take malones point about this one being easy. I seem to be the only person in the world who struggled. I got on the wrong track thinking it was "the odd couple" when I got Curtis and Lemmon. Now I find that Curtis was not even in the film as I had thought.

My lack of knowledge of films, football and pop music let me down, especially with 2 of those subjects in one clue.

Very enjoyable though

Jigjag, glad you got there in the end! We all have subjects that can catch us out.

PS. For me, the best part of this one was how the title fitted in!

malone

I agree - I was pleased when I eventually got the film to find the title
was hidden in it.

...and it was nothing to do with Penelope, Moon, Richards or any other Keith I could think of!

Thanks for all your help on this

The reliably poor Enigmatic Variations has hit a new low. Clunky lists of abbreviations (22 ac.) or the lazy 'double definition' (21 ac.) are either challenging or satisfying to solve.
After Saturday's wrestle with The Listener in The Times, one wonders of these EV things are completed in someone's lunch hour, or they are giving school leavers something to do in their gap year,
Trudging through these on a Sunday morning is like having to do homework while watching all the other children playing outside the window. Last one.

That's harsh, crassnsilly. True this is one of the easier ones and 22a is clunky but double definitions are never lazy, especially when the different meanings go together well, as in 21a.

I think the title is clever and the entries cunningly mislead you as you think you've found what you're looking for only to find it's not quite the required word. I understand why jigjag thought the Odd Couple was involved as "couple" is almost in there as an anagram in a few places.

I've never heard anyone describe EV as reliably poor. Quite the opposite. You're not someone who's had a submission rejected by any chance?

Crassnsilly, doing homework is normally compulsory, solving crosswords isn't. While EV is probably my least favourite of the thematic puzzles, I wouldn't describe it as 'reliably poor'. I enjoyed the previous EV, authors in search of titles, whereas I found this week's offering too easy. I know, however, that personal taste comes into things. I was surprised recently when posters here commented on how much they liked a particular setter's crossword, and I reminded myself that other people's opinions are as valid as mine. You can't please all of the people...

Oh dear, so I’m not getting smarter then? Genius and EV this week both gave me hope.
It must be difficult for the setters to pitch it to please most of the people most of the time. My preference is for something more taxing than these but not so difficult that I feel inadequate.

One query on this. Who or what is Colin, the Virginian flier?