Through an alphabetical quirk, the first puzzle in our list is also among the hardest to master. If you’re reading this Guide for the first time, we recommend learning about the other flat types first, returning here when you’ve had more practice.
The solution to an acrostical enigma, or AE for short, is a word or phrase. This solution is divided into chunks of two or more letters each; each chunk is clued in a different couplet in an unusual way. The chunk plus the first two or more letters of the couplet form a word or phrase (called the “part-word”) that is clued somewhere within the couplet itself. A final couplet clues the entire solution.
ACROSTICAL ENIGMA (10)
A. Relaxing on Saturday morning I am;
I smell something burning, but who gives a damn?
B. Gargantuan flames billow smoke in the air;
Some building is blazing, but why should I care?
C. I only want something absorbing to read.
A Harlequin tearjerker: just what I need!
D. Red engines zip by with complete audibility,
Disturbing, with bells, my beloved tranquility.
It’s getting quite warm now. What can be the matter?
Let’s turn up the fan and ignore all the clatter!
=Hudu
In part A, the letters afi plus the letters re from the beginning of the couplet form the part-word afire, which is clued by “burning”. The first chunk of the solution is afi.
The remaining part-words are: ci|gar (“smoke”), on|ion (“tearjerker”), ado|red (“beloved”). Putting all the chunks together—afi, ci, on, ado—produces the solution: aficionado (clued by “fan” in the final couplet).
In an AE, only the full solution is enumerated. Both the part-words and the full solution are tagged when necessary, and hyphenated words or phrases among the part-words are noted. If a part-word needs a * or ^, it will appear before the label on that couplet.
Misleading clues are common in acrostical enigmas. Be on guard for words that have other meanings (like “fan” in the above example) or that can be used as parts of speech other than those used in the verse.
Definitions can be phrases, too. In one acrostical enigma, the solution was bodhisattva, and the definition (“future Buddha”) was concealed in this final couplet: