I’ve been hoping for a more challenging Tuesday FT since I bgan blogging it. Be careful what you wish for…
Year: 2016
Guardian Quiptic 887 / Provis
This one meets the remit nicely. A good cross-section of clue types, some pleasing surfaces and nothing obscure (apart from perhaps the archaic word in 2dn). I think this was probably my first … Read more >>
Guardian 27041 – Nutmeg
A nice surprise to see Nutmeg’s name this morning. A suitable straightforward puzzle for a Monday, though by no means a write-in, and with (as we would expect) some very nice clues. Thanks … Read more >>
Independent 9387/eXternal
I struggled with this a bit, but after getting a foothold in the various parts of the grid, the rest came with a bit of brainwork. Some good clues, though. … Read more >>
AZED 2,318 – transgender
A fun but hard variant of the typical Azed — we ended up solving as a team (thanks Jutta, Martin, Frank!) — given the title, at first thought that likely theme is Armistice Day (Nov 11) or Guy Fawkes day (Nov 5) — turned out to be the latter — “remember, remember, the fifth of November” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_Night. To be clear, the theme was basically replace male names in answers with female names (“penny for the guy”) as exemplified by 1A.
Independent on Sunday 1,395 by Hoskins
I rarely seem to draw a Hoskins on blogging day, but it’s certainly a relief after two Nimrods on the trot. It officially being Remembrance Sunday, I did wonder whether we might see … Read more >>
Everyman 3,657
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3657.
Independent 9386 / Crosophile
We enjoyed this offering from Crosophile today. As we said on Thursday, for a crossword to be enjoyable it has to raise some smiles, have some smooth surfaces and is even better when … Read more >>
Guardian Prize 27,034 / Puck
It’s always a delight for me to see Puck’s name on a puzzle, especially when I’m blogging it, and so my cup ran over when I saw that this was an alphabetical – … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 1250 Second Best by Oxymoron
As Chambers gives as an example of an Oxymoron – would this puzzle prove to be a form of cruel kindness or would that be falsely true. My tussles with Oxymoron or his … Read more >>
Financial Times 15,395 by ORENSE
A very easy challenge from Orense and ripe for beginners on the FT.
Independent 9,385 by Phi
Phi’s typically good sound Friday offering. I found this on the hard side for him, although progress was steady enough and there were no long pauses while I failed to see the way forward.
Definitions underlined and in maroon.
Guardian 27,039 – Imogen
Apart from a couple of very easy clues, this started off looking rather impenetrable, but it yielded gradually and satisfyingly. There are a few rather tricky parsings (including one that is so obscure … Read more >>
Independent 9384 / Klingsor
The last Klingsor puzzle that we blogged was back in March last year. Once again, we enjoyed the solve. It was tricky in places but one of the criteria for enjoying a … Read more >>
Financial Times 15,394 / Hamilton
Well, this one was different! Normally I enjoy Hamilton’s puzzles but this one left me rather confused as there seemed to be some extraneous words in several clues (or at least some that … Read more >>