Never knowingly undersolved
mc_rapper67 Phew…this was enough to drive a man to drink…(well, this man, anyway)…fiendish preamble, tricky devices and tough clues – with maybe a modicum of encouragement in the definition part of 35A – ‘…this can be resolved‘. … Read more >>
It’s Saturday, it’s my turn to blog…and it is yet another Bannsider! Not that I’m complaining – excellent clueing, as usual, although I would say this was possibly at the ‘easier’ end of … Read more >>
There are several devices going on in LOSS – answers altered before entry; extra letters in wordplay; clashing across and down entries; and lines to be drawn in the completed grid. All probably … Read more >>
This is the fourth Bannsider puzzle that the ‘once-every-five-weeks’ schedule has sent my way and, as usual, it presented a stiff but enjoyable challenge… …and, unless I am mistaken, not just a pangram, but … Read more >>
A short preamble instructs solvers to consider ‘SENTRY DUTIES’ in ‘thematically treating’ 12 answers before entry, to create new words. So far so good. But then we are told: ‘How the remaining answers … Read more >>
A nice ‘straightforward’ puzzle here from Monk, with no obvious thematic links or complications, but some lovely surface readings, especially the two long across clues. I originally found myself wondering if this was ‘difficult’ enough … Read more >>
A cryptic title, hinting maybe at Columbo, with his dour demeanour and down-at-heel dress sense? The preamble tells us to find a horizontally-symmetrical four word quotation, and twelve answers needing some sort of adjustment … Read more >>
Nothing fancy (that I could see, anyway) from Anax here, in terms of thematics, ninas, etc. – which is quite rare in a Saturday prize Indy, recently. Just a nice, enjoyable cryptic workout. There … Read more >>
Food for thought this week, with SARNIES on the menu from Syd Lexis. Not much else to chew on for starters – with an unnumbered and only partially-barred grid…but at least Across and Down … Read more >>
What delights does Warbler have in store for us with A TRIP OUT? A magical mystery tour? A druggy ‘trip’? Or maybe a wildlife safari – is that ‘OUT’ an anagrind, with TAPIR as A … Read more >>
What the Hell?! I know it is a Nimrod, but I didn’t expect the Spanish Inquisition!… A veritable tour-de-force from a master of the dark arts of cruciverbalism…a multi-layered thematic (and anniversarial?) puzzle to fry the mind, … Read more >>
In a blaze of publicity, celebration, and razz-a-ma-tazz, the likes of which have not been seen since the Y2K celebrations of 1999/2000, the EV series has reached its own millennial milestone…congratulations to all … Read more >>
A pleasant puzzle to round the year off – with a number of clue readings and answers nodding respectfully to the date, and a lovely clue at 18D, which I am considering adopting … Read more >>
A shorter (and less complicated!) preamble than some recent EVs – each clue giving an extra letter, which would spell out an instruction to apply to all answers before entry. I was lucky enough … Read more >>
Six pairs of linked clues, all with a common reference to ’20 in 5’…we’re off into thematic territory – and there is something here that rings a bell… The logical thing to do … Read more >>