The enigmatic spell calendar is a unique and intriguing concept that blends ancient mysticism and modern technology. This calendar is no ordinary tool for tracking time; it offers a glimpse into the world of spells and magic. Designed for those who are fascinated by the occult, the enigmatic spell calendar provides a daily dose of enchantment and wonder. At first glance, the enigmatic spell calendar appears like any other traditional calendar, with dates neatly arranged in the usual format. However, what sets it apart is the inclusion of an enigmatic spell for each day. These spells are carefully curated by experts in the field of magic, drawing from different traditions and practices.
The preamble reads:
The 24 unnumbered clues contain an extra translated word thematic to their clue number, to be removed before solving, except the first, which has two to be treated as one. The 24 unnumbered clues contain an extra translated word thematic to their clue number, to be removed before solving, except the first, which has two to be treated as one.
These spells are carefully curated by experts in the field of magic, drawing from different traditions and practices. The calendar is not restricted to any particular magical tradition; instead, it encompasses a wide range of spells from various cultures and belief systems. This diversity ensures that users get to explore different magical practices and rituals throughout the year.
Enigmatic Variations No. 1496: The European One by Vismut
Hi all. Thanks to Vismut for another fun puzzle with a theme I enjoyed finding – and finding out about.
The preamble reads:
The 24 unnumbered clues contain an extra translated word thematic to their clue number, to be removed before solving, (except the first, which has two to be treated as one). The position of these words in each clue indexes the letter to be selected from that word and in the order presented they spell out an invention. The remaining six from the group run around the perimeter of the grid and the group’s name in the source language (THE EUROPEAN ONE) is given by the circled letters when they are read in the conventional way from the grid.
Something, read in a straight line within the completed grid, was destroyed prior to this invention and must be restored to complete a description of the one from the group that should be highlighted (four letters). Unchecked letters in the perimeter might make YOU CRACKING VERBS. The final grid contains real words and phrases; Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.
Quite a lot to the rubric this week. I solved some of the normal clues then started to scan the starred ones looking for the low-hanging fruit. Low-hanging vegetables, as it turned out, because the clue with the extra shallot caught my attention very early on, followed swiftly by the onion in the very next one. I solved a little cluster of the starred clues and could place DENOTE in the grid because I had checkers, from the numbered entries, for all of the other 6-letter answers.
It became apparent that the extra words featured lots of plants, a few animals … and one or two mysteries. I got to the point where I could fill in the blanks in my generated letters by guessing at some likely extra words and got as far as …EPUBLICANCALENDAR. With 30 clues in total that were either “thematic to their clue number” or one of the “remaining six” things were starting to make sense. It was tempting to start some online research at this point but I resisted the temptation and continued looking at known and likely extra words. Out came:
FRENCH REPUBLICAN CALENDAR
Well, the question now was whether to look this up immediately to find the information that would give me all the grid positions, or to carry on with the jigsaw and see how much further I could get on my own. I do often like to make things difficult for myself, but in this case opted to skip any more jigsaw puzzling in favour of pure crossword puzzling. In the end I found enough challenge remaining to be happy with that decision.
What I learned about the French Republican Calendar calendar is all contained in one handy web page: unsurprisingly, it’s this one . Finally, the strange list of thematic words made sense! We have the English translations of the names given in this calendar to each of the days in the month of:
MESSIDOR
… which appears in the circled squares. I was a little premature in fitting the remaining six day names in the perimeter, messing up the order slightly and having to change a couple around as I finished the puzzle. I should have been diligent and checked YOU CRACKING VERBS!
The last task was to restore the something which had been destroyed. In one of those oft-fruitful diagonals we can change four letters (leaving real words) and “restore” BASTILLE to give:
BASTILLE DAY
… which is 14 July – or, in the French Republican Calendar, SAGE – our word to be highlighted.
| Clue No | ANSWER (FINAL ENTRY) | Clue with definition underlined | |
| Explanation, with quoted indicators in italics and letters appearing in the ANSWER capitalised and emboldened | |||
| Across | |||
| 7 | SRI | Murray perhaps has international moved back to secure Indian Men’s Title (3) | |
| SIR (Murray perhaps) with I (international) moved to the end (moved back) | |||
| 10 | KAE | Scottish jackdaw starts to keep an egg (3) | |
| First letters of (starts to) Keep An Egg | |||
| 19 | IMPLORE | Beg for stories with naughty child in the van (7) | |
| LORE (stories) with IMP (naughty child) first (in the van) | |||
| 26 | AEDILES | Advanced diesel adapted for ancient magistrates (7) | |
| A (advanced) + DIESEL anagrammed (adapted) | |||
| Down | |||
| 6 | MAELID | Priest possessed by crazy, fabulous nymph (6) | |
| ELI (priest) in (possessed by) MAD (crazy) | |||
| 14 | KNEES-UP | Drink follows joint in riotous party (7) | |
| SUP (drink) follows KNEE (joint) | |||
| Unnumbered (now numbered for ease of reference) | |||
| *25 | AESIR | Inhabitants of Asgard talk about keeping [guinea Fowl] eggs on vacation (5) | F |
| AIR (talk about) containing (keeping) EggS with the middle letters removed (on vacation) | |||
| *28 | LAO | Without German [taRe] , load’s problematic for Asian citizen (3) | R |
| Without D (German), LOA[d] is anagrammed (problematic) | |||
| *5 | CARE (CART) | Have affection for [mulE] caught on short piece of ground (4) | E |
| C (caught) + all but the last letter of (short) AREa (piece of ground) | |||
| *21 | INDENE | Perhaps need [miNt] harvest seen first, it’s used to make resins (6) | N |
| An anagram of (perhaps) NEED, with IN (harvest) seen first | |||
| *16 | SONIA (IONIA) | Independent American pursuing native [tobaCco] label for girl (5) | C |
| I (Independent) and A (American) after (pursuing) SON (native) | |||
| *12 | OBELISE | Mark word suspect, old country [articHoke] spelt with s instead of z (7) | H |
| O (old) + BELI[z]E (country) spelt with S instead of Z | |||
| *1 | CRIME | [Rye] cargo fiddle supported by European iniquity (5) | R |
| C (C-, cargo) + RIM (fiddle: A raised rim round a table to keep dishes from sliding off it (nautical)) + E (European) | |||
| *18 | LINEAR | Zero [vEtchling] coming up before plough gets straight (6) | E |
| NIL (zero) reversed (coming up) + EAR (plough). (Ear meaning plough is marked as obsolete in Chambers) | |||
| *4 | UMAR | Man’s [sPeedwell] given name of Blue Arum (4) | P |
| An anagram of (blue) ARUM | |||
| *17 | ORDERER | Gold [cUrrant] more expensive, without one customer possibly (7) | U |
| OR (gold) + DE[a]RER (more expensive) without A (one) | |||
| *23 | TIRE (EIRE) | [Bean] can Neymar’s first dropped about to get whacked (4) | B |
| TI[n] (can) without N (Neymar’s first dropped) + RE (about) | |||
| *8 | IRONIST | Irish peeled long [shaLlot] before it’s stewed for satire’s employer (7) | L |
| IR (Irish) + lONg without outer letters (peeled …) + an anagram of (… stewed) IT’S | |||
| *3 | ETH | Character used [onIon] in Old English fete, topped and tailed by husband (3) | I |
| fETe without first or last letters (topped and tailed) + H (husband) | |||
| *15 | DENOTE | [Chamois] mark off territory in arousal of ten doe (6) | C |
| An anagram (arousal) of TEN DOE | |||
| *30 | PAS | Not Parisian [shAwm] for French dance (3) | A |
| A double definition | |||
| *22 | NIZAM | Turkish soldier adding variable [cumiN] to staple from the South (5) | N |
| Z (variable) added to the middle of MAIN (staple) reversed (from the South) | |||
| *13 | EMOTE | [Clove] head picked from outside to go on with heat (5) | C |
| The first letter (head) is removed from (picked from) rEMOTE (outside) | |||
| *20 | EISEL | Fish [pArk] encircling island it previously preserved (5) | A |
| EEL (fish) around (encircling) IS (island) | |||
| *27 | SHY | Second couple of [garLic] mushrooms gets Yankee nervous (3) | L |
| The second pair of letters in (second couple of) muSHrooms + Y (Yankee) | |||
| *29 | RACHE | Amidst amber [whEat] a Cherokee’s former hunting dog (5) | E |
| Inside (amidst) ambeR A CHErokee is our answer | |||
| *24 | BLAH | Insipid bleach taking off [alkaNet] base and colour, primarily (4) | N |
| BL[e]A[c]Hx without (taking off) E (base) and C (Colour primarily) | |||
| *9 | ETYMA | Original roots of alien unknown before Matilda [WormwooD] initially taken aboard (5) | D |
| ET (alien) + Y (unknown) + A (= ante, before), with the first letter of (… initially) Matilda inserted (taken aboard) | |||
| *2 | LEPTOME | Botanist’s [oAt] transporter’s record volume covering Spain (7) | A |
| LP (record) and TOME (volume) around (covering) E (Spain) | |||
| *11 | HOARIER (HOARSER) | Much older [coRiander] collector exchanging dinar for one (7) | R |
| HOAR[d]ER (collector) exchanging D (dinar) for I (one) | |||
Why? Because you can find the names of "the boys" concealed among.
Each day, users are greeted with a new spell, accompanied by detailed instructions and explanations. This allows beginners to dip their toes into the mystical world of magic, while experienced practitioners can enhance their knowledge and expand their craft. The spells included in the enigmatic spell calendar cover a multitude of purposes and intentions. From love spells to protection spells, from healing rituals to manifesting abundance, there is a spell for every situation and desire. The calendar acts as a repository of magical knowledge, offering a wealth of spells that can be incorporated into one's daily life. Aside from the spells, the enigmatic spell calendar also provides astrological information, including moon phases and planetary alignments. This additional feature serves as a guide to help users align their magical practices with the cosmic energies at play. The enigmatic spell calendar is not only a practical tool for keeping track of time but also a source of inspiration and empowerment. It allows individuals to engage with the mystical world around them, harnessing the power of spells to create positive changes in their lives. In a world where technology dominates our everyday lives, the enigmatic spell calendar offers a refreshing break from the mundane. It invites us to reconnect with our inner magic and embrace the mysteries of the universe. By incorporating the enigmatic spell calendar into our daily routines, we can infuse our lives with a sense of enchantment and wonder..
Reviews for "The Enigmatic Spell Calendar: How to Align with the Universe's Rhythms"
1. John Smith - 2 stars
The Enigmatic spell calendar turned out to be a big disappointment for me. The descriptions of the spells were extremely vague and lacking in detail, making it difficult to understand how to perform them correctly. The calendar also did not provide any information about the potential risks or side effects of the spells, leaving me feeling apprehensive about attempting them. Additionally, the design of the calendar was rather dull and unappealing visually. Overall, I would not recommend the Enigmatic spell calendar to anyone looking for a comprehensive and user-friendly guide to spellcasting.
2. Emily Thompson - 1 star
I was excited to try out the Enigmatic spell calendar, hoping it would add some magic to my daily life. Unfortunately, it fell short of my expectations. The spells provided were generic and lacked creativity. It felt like the creator just copied and pasted spells from other sources without adding anything new or unique. Moreover, the calendar itself was poorly organized, making it difficult to navigate and find the spells I wanted to try. I was left feeling bored and unimpressed with the Enigmatic spell calendar.
3. Sarah Johnson - 2 stars
As someone who has some experience with spellcasting, I found the Enigmatic spell calendar to be quite underwhelming. The spells provided were basic and lacked depth. I was hoping for more advanced and intricate spells that would challenge my abilities and expand my knowledge. Additionally, the calendar did not provide any guidance on the proper timing or alignment of the spells, which is crucial for successful spellcasting. Overall, I was disappointed with the lack of substance and guidance in the Enigmatic spell calendar.