Pete Maclean

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of December 18 Another fine Mudd with, what was for me, a slightly difficult top-right corner. My favourite clues here are 13A (AFORESAID), 28A (NO FEAR) and … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of December 11 I am well aware that deadlines can change around the holidays but, until I came to write this blog at my usual time, I … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of December 4 A decent, slightly challenging puzzle from Cinephile this time. My top clue is 25A (KIBOSH). I also like 7D (DECOR) although its wordplay is … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of November 27 A merely excellent Cincinnus on this occasion. But with one clue whose working I do not understand (24A, TORSO). It is especially rare that … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of November 20 For once Cinephile uses a theme that does not make his whole puzzle rather easy once one has copped to it! In fact I … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of November 13 Let’s start with wild applause for the brilliant &lit. 20A (IDES). Then another ovation for, collectively, 28A (REPHRASED), 2D (SPIRITUAL), 7D (GRILL) and 18D … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of November 6 Now here is what I call a good Mudd, a puzzle that I can easily imagine took a lot of thought. It was somewhat … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of October 30 A very easy puzzle from Cinephile this time. Easy for me except that I had to look up the names of the main characters … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of October 23 This strikes me as a rather pedestrian puzzle. I particularly like 23A (ARC) and 16D (DOWNSTAIRS). Across 9. CASTOR OIL – O (old) in … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of October 16 A slightly more difficult than usual puzzle from Cincinnus with a typical offering of fine clues. My choice ones this time are 23A (AEROSMITH), … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of October 9 I found the top-left corner of this puzzle challenging. Clue 9A (RIPSNORTER) is a difficult one but uses a darned good cryptic definition. Mudd … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of October 2 This is the best Cinephile I remember in a while. The theme is one there is little you have to figure out about; perhaps … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of September 25 Another great one from Cincinnus. I would say that 17A, 19A, 24A, 1D and 4D are rather run-of-the-mill clues but the rest are typical … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of September 18 This puzzle took me longer than most. In particular, 24A (TOILET ROLL) and 6D (APOSTROPHE) stumped me for a while. At first I did … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of September 11 Here’s another clever Cincinnus puzzle. Some of the clues seem so easy (to construct, that is), even fairly obvious clues for the words in … Read more >>