Never knowingly undersolved
Oxymoron puzzles vary in difficulty from ‘not too tricky’ to ‘fiendish’, and I wondered what degree of difficulty the gods had given me this week. But before I go any further, apologies for … Read more >>
The French alps and Tyrus – what a pleasant combination. Certainly one of my favourite setters and also one of my favourite settings in the valley beneath Mont Blanc. Loved 10ac – a … Read more >>
It’s incredible to me how Paul keeps up such an endless stream of excellent, witty crosswords; here’s another one… Across 1. Idiot not entirely without feeling, shame one has quit (6) NUMPTY NUM[b] … Read more >>
A good solid challenge from the Don. Progress was slow but steady and I learnt a couple of new words along the way. Thanks Don, for a workout that was more than satisfying.
Well, this really has us puzzled! As it’s a Phi, we’re sure there is something going on here, but we have no idea what it is. There is a very well-known composer … Read more >>
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26961.
A cobweb-clearer for me
A rather tough challenge from Paul today, especially in the parsings, one of which I’m still not sure of. Thanks to Paul for the workout. Across 8 Italian broadcast in stereo (8) TORINESE … Read more >>
It has been a while since it last fell to me to blog a puzzle by Monk. Monk is one of those compilers whose puzzles I have been solving regularly for many years … Read more >>
Monday Prize Crossword / Aug 1, 2016
While Mudd usually is a bit Paul in a lower gear, I thought this one was excellent.
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of July 30, 2016
I always enjoy Monk puzzles, varied and entertaining. They are not as intimidating as they used to be, I no longer have any fear of failing to complete the puzzle in time for the blog (now only Io occupies this territory). Thanks Monk for another fun puzzle.
Tough and very nicely clued – many favourites, including 11ac, 12dn and all of the four-letter ones: 13ac, 18ac, 2dn and 22dn. Thanks, Picaroon
Dac has given us a puzzle today with many basic, but well disguised, cluing techniques When I first started writing this blog, I was struck by the number of clues … Read more >>
Shark sets an Inquisitor puzzle about twice a year. The preamble in Inquisitor 1449 stated that the wordplay in thirteen clues leads to the answer with one letter missing. In … Read more >>