Never knowingly undersolved
Not the easiest Everyman I’ve ever solved or blogged. It’s all pretty sound, if a bit one-dimensional. Abbreviations cd cryptic definition dd double definition (xxxx)* anagram anagrind = … Read more >>
We haven’t seen a Monk puzzle in the Indy for quite some time – indeed we had the pleasure of blogging the most recent one last September. We didn’t find this quite as … Read more >>
The puzzle marked an anniversary: the 50th anniversary of a gathering in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.
This week’s preamble was fairly straightforward, with an extra word to be identified in every clue: Solvers must highlight, appropriately in two cases, five works by famous 17ac (58 cells in total). Each … Read more >>
This is my first Friday blog of 2017, but no surprise to find that it is a Phi-day! I found this to be a medium difficulty puzzle, which I made steady progress through … Read more >>
I made a slow start on this, but after a while had filled the bottom half. The top half took rather longer… For my taste there are rather too many inaccurate or ungrammatical … Read more >>
Typical Bradman fare this Friday. Thanks Bradman for a mostly straightforward challenge with just a few twists that pushed the finishing line out a bit.
The mid-solving-period was a slog for me, as is always the case with Boatman’s puzzles and I. Somehow I can’t get on to his wavelength. All the same, I finished it eventually, and … Read more >>
I finished this, but not sure how…
Maize has given us an interesting puzzle On 6th January John commented that he was blogging an Independent puzzle by Phi with only 22 clues, probably the lowest number of … Read more >>
Monday Prize Crossword / Jan 9, 2017
Only my first FT blog in the new year. At some point, I was expecting a Carte Rosee (like in previous years) but ….
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of January 7, 2017
More of the good stuff form Julius. I have to say that his CDs don’t really grab me, but apart from that what more could I ask? Thank you Julius for another super puzzle.
A slightly strange crossword, in that it was rather harder than a normal Dac to begin with and for some time very little was filled in, but by the end it was just the same as ever — not too demanding at all but right up to the usual standard of smoothness and elegance.
A quick glance at the clues shows that more often than not ‘in’ is a link-word rather than a sign of inclusion’. Perhaps this was what initially held me up.
I wasn’t all that happy with 1dn and may be missing something.
Definitions underlined and in maroon.
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27097.