Welcome back to Hotspur: we last met in 2013 when we explored James Murray’s ‘Web of Words’. This theme looks rather different …
Chalicea
String by The Ace of Hearts
Another circular puzzle from The Ace of Hearts. Nudge to oneself – the editors have said in the past that they prefer a circular puzzle to have some sort of circular theme.
Listener 4919: Puzzle Smash by Smidgers
“These areas act as the nine boxes of a Sudoku…” We were warned…
Listener 4918: Common Assault by Awinger
May the Fourth is more likely to have seen celebrations of Star Wars than the Centenary of the General Strike (4 to 12 May 1926) – so Awinger’s theme may not have been immediately obvious.
Listener 4917, C by Gnomish
We have had two previous fairly complex Listener crosswords from Gnomish and the preamble of this one looks as though we are in for a third.
Listener 4916: What to Send by Charybdis
Congratulations to Charybdis on a 20th Listener puzzle, spread over nearly 30 years! Themes over such a period of time reach far and wide. Last time had us looking up The Merchant of Venice. What this time, and indeed What to Send?
Listener 4915 Hark the Herald by Opsimath
Ah, what a pleasure to find a puzzle by Opsimath. We know that his puzzles are generally among the more approachable, with relatively generous clues to a large vocabulary of words and something original in the endgame.
Listener 4914: Figures of Fun by Serpent
Serpent’s second Listener – his first was 4408 Child’s Play – but his 16th in Dave Hennings’ database, dating back 11 years. The themes range widely (4408 was based on ‘Snakes and Ladders’ but the last EV was about Roman Emperors) – so what will we have this time?
Listener 4193 British Summer Time by Artix
Artix: there’s a murmur of pleasure as who will ever forget some of his masterpieces, especially his very first solo Listener crossword ‘One Shot at a Time’ when we constructed a golf course
Listener 4912 What on Earth by Vagans
This is Vagans’ fourth crossword in the Listener series. Previous ones have challenged us with eggcorns and ancient English letters as well as a list of seven churches in Asia.
Listener 4911: Ish by Twin
It’s the Listener dinner weekend puzzle and traditionally it’s an easy ride – but here’s the maestro Twin who can make amazingly complex constructions. So will it be sink or swim for us?
Listener 4910 Knock, Knock by Karla
Dave Hennings’ Crossword Database tells us that this will be Karla’s sixth Listener crossword. He challenges and entertains us too in the Magpie, EV and IQ series.
Listener 4909 Fragments by Cranberry
Dave Hennings’ crossword data-base tells me that we have already met Cranberry ten times in EV and Inquisitor crosswords but it seems that this is his (her or their) first Listener crossword.
Listener 4908 Dilemma by Oyler
Dilemma is a purely numerical puzzle, very neatly constructed
Listener 4908 Dilemma by Oyler, blog by Oyler
Were you swithering with the jeopardy of dilemma? Blog by Oyler