Cineraria

Born in 1963, I began with crosswords as a little boy by “helping” my grandfather with the puzzle in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. I have done American-style crosswords since I was a teenager, and I enjoy many other types of word puzzles, including cryptograms and acrostics. I cannot remember when I discovered cryptic crosswords. I used to do the Guardian puzzle every day, but being a lawyer by profession does not leave me a lot of time to indulge my deliberate yet desultory solving method. I have been doing the Guardian Prize every Friday and the Azed every Saturday since 2020, and the Genius every month since 2018 (typically succeeding, but admittedly with some DNFs). I was even gratified to be a Genius winner a few years ago. I have learned an awful lot from studying the post-mortems on fifteensquared. As for other interests, I have a large collection of origami books, and I like folding the most complicated models I can find.

Financial Times 17,435 by BOBCAT

Tue June 6, 2023 at 8:13 amTue June 6, 2023 at 3:45 am by Cineraria

A surpassingly good puzzle with some clever surfaces from Bobcat . . .

Azed No. 2,658 Plain

Sun June 4, 2023 at 12:24 am by Cineraria

Azed gave us few more twists and turns in this week’s puzzle, as compared to the most recent Plain puzzles, but nothing too outlandish.

Financial Times 17,422 by SLORMGORM

Tue May 23, 2023 at 4:12 amTue May 23, 2023 at 2:52 am by Cineraria

Quite the workout today from Slormgorm . . .

Financial Times 17,416 by PETO

Tue May 16, 2023 at 4:18 amTue May 16, 2023 at 3:17 am by Cineraria

An interesting variety of clues today from Peto.

Financial Times 17,410 by STEERPIKE

Tue May 9, 2023 at 1:31 pmTue May 9, 2023 at 4:14 am by Cineraria

A bit of a workout from Steerpike . . .

Financial Times 17,396 by AARDVARK

Tue April 25, 2023 at 2:00 pmTue April 25, 2023 at 5:02 am by Cineraria

I found three-fourths of this clear sailing, and for the final quarter, Aardvark really dialed up the ingenuity. I hope I have accounted for everything satisfactorily.

Azed No. 2,652 Plain

Tue April 25, 2023 at 9:48 pmTue April 25, 2023 at 12:02 am by Cineraria

This week’s puzzle seemed relatively straightforward, with some nice surfaces and only a few notes/questions indicated below.

Financial Times 17,390 by BUCCANEER

Tue April 18, 2023 at 5:49 pmTue April 18, 2023 at 2:54 am by Cineraria

The four long perimeter clues made this a slow solve for me on this challenge from Buccaneer . . .

Financial Times 17,384 by JASON

Tue April 11, 2023 at 2:38 am by Cineraria

A fine Tuesday challenge.

Financial Times 17,370 by PETO

Tue March 28, 2023 at 4:50 amTue March 28, 2023 at 4:00 am by Cineraria

On my first pass at today’s offering from Peto, I was baffled by about half the clues, . . .

Financial Times 17,363 by AARDVARK

Tue March 21, 2023 at 8:31 pmTue March 21, 2023 at 4:30 am by Cineraria

Maybe I am just tired tonight, but I really struggled with this puzzle, and consequently, did not enjoy it very much. From an objective assessment, I cannot fault the clues, many of which really are inventive. Please let me know if I missed any nuances.

Financial Times 17,357 by GOZO

Tue March 14, 2023 at 3:09 am by Cineraria

A fun theme puzzle from Gozo today.

Azed No. 2,646 ‘Cherchez la Femme’ – Competition Puzzle

Tue March 14, 2023 at 12:08 am by Cineraria

This is the first ‘Cherchez la Femme’ since Azed 2,515 on August 22, 2020, which was one of the first few Azed puzzles that I ever attempted, and the first Azed “special” that I completed, so it is a particular treat for this to have come up on my turn at the blog.

Financial Times 17,338 by MUDD

Tue February 21, 2023 at 2:52 am by Cineraria

I did not spot anything too tricky from Mudd today . . .

Financial Times 17,332 by AARDVARK

Tue February 14, 2023 at 4:16 am by Cineraria

I have been laid up with a cold the past few days, but I think I pierced the fog sufficiently to explain today’s very diverting Aardvark.