Posted by shuchi on 3rd September 2010
Easy anagrams and cryptic definitions, and a liberal helping of hidden word answers, made this a quick solve most of the way. I came to a halt at the last two and had to resort to lookups for 23A and 2D.
Posted in FT | 3 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 27th August 2010
It is befitting that we have a lovely Bradman puzzle to solve on Don Bradman‘s birthday. Many anagram clues today, some excellent ones like 27a and 17d.
Posted in FT | 5 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 20th August 2010
The top-left of the grid held me up with an unfamiliar synonym of ‘river’ and some tricky wordplay. 9A is still waiting to be annotated.
Posted in FT | 8 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 13th August 2010
3-4 clues into this crossword and I had a strong sense of déjà vu. A quick search told me why. This is a repeat of FT 13391 published on May 21st, 2010.
Posted in FT | 2 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 6th August 2010
A mix of simple and tricky clues, with uniformly clean surfaces. Specially enjoyed the devious definition in 19A.
Posted in FT | 3 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 30th July 2010
A very entertaining puzzle, my picks for favourites today are 12a, 28a, 20d. I started from the bottom of the grid and worked my way up, with a pause to check the answer for 14a.
Posted in FT | 7 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 23rd July 2010
John Henderson (IO) is getting married to Jane Teather (known in crossword circles as jetdoc) today. This puzzle is a tribute.
Posted in FT | 6 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 16th July 2010
This was a pretty gentle, pleasant offering from Viking with plenty of starter clues (17A, 23A, etc.) to give you a foothold in the puzzle. The vocabulary was on the easy side too with only FLIC needing a look up. An enjoyable workout.
Posted in FT | 7 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 9th July 2010
GK buffs will feel right at home with this puzzle which touches a range of domains like literature and biology and geography. The wordplay is accessible, so with help from good old Wikipedia, it wasn’t too tough. Liked the consistently smooth surfaces of the clues.
Posted in FT | 11 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 2nd July 2010
An enjoyable puzzle with many nice clues (14D, 17D, for example), but I missed something outstanding (like a memorable &lit) as there usually is in Bradman’s puzzles.
Posted in FT | 4 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 25th June 2010
A very enjoyable puzzle liberally sprinkled with anagrams and cryptic definitions. The clue surfaces are uniformly well-crafted. Specially liked the neat anagram at 8D and the wordplay with ‘bill’ in 23A.
Posted in FT | 5 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 18th June 2010
A fine offering from Viking. The SE corner was tricky to unravel, the rest of the answers fell into place without hiccups though the wordplay took more time to work out.
Posted in FT | 9 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 11th June 2010
I started off smoothly with this puzzle but struggled to finish it, stuck for a long time with 11A, 5D. While there were some neat clues like 17A and 28A, I wasn’t particularly pleased with a couple of letter selection devices (6D, 19D).
Posted in FT | 17 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 4th June 2010
The second Loroso puzzle to appear in FT, and the first I’m blogging about – welcome to the setter who’s better known in these parts as Anax.
Posted in FT | 13 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 28th May 2010
Bradman gives us his trademark &lit clues for the long slots and general solid clueing all round. There are some superbly smooth clue surfaces, as in 20A and 9D. A very enjoyable solve.
Posted in FT | 6 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 21st May 2010
This was a pleasure to solve. Impeccable clues, creative and challenging without being insurmountable. It took me the longest time to see 4D, but got there in the end.
Posted in FT | 4 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 14th May 2010
A simple crossword, no obscure words or circuitous wordplay. Newbies might want to cut their solving teeth with this. For old hands, it might seem a little uninspired.
Posted in FT | 5 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 7th May 2010
Falcon is ideal for days when you want a smooth ride with the crossword without it getting dull. A pleasant puzzle with especially nice clue surfaces, and not much to hold one up for long.
Posted in FT | 10 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 16th April 2010
An elegant puzzle from Viking as always. Especially liked 1A, 27A and 1D, and 6D for its fun surface.
Posted in FT | 4 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 9th April 2010
A wide spread of domains covered today – books, film, food, places, famous people. Harder than Falcon’s usual; fine clueing as always.
Posted in FT | 2 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 19th March 2010
I had a great time with this puzzle. Not as hard as Viking usually is, but with lots of clever wordplay. Thank you Viking.
Posted in FT | 4 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 12th March 2010
Straightforward solve today with most answers entered on first pass through the clues. I had to look up a couple of wordplay components that involved people’s names, but this didn’t pose much difficulty.
Posted in FT | 5 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 5th March 2010
As always, an entertaining, challenging puzzle from Bradman. Required plenty of research/help to get this finished.
Posted in FT | 11 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 26th February 2010
The usual from Falcon, elegant and not too taxing.
One new word for me, at 24A, nothing too obscure otherwise.
Posted in FT | 3 Comments »