smiffy

A prodigious amount of thematic material has been skilfully shoe-horned into this commemorative puzzle.  This appears to be Gaff’s debut (oh go on then, inaugural!) appearance in the FT although I wouldn’t completely … Read more >>

This was an abundance of plain-sailing – if anything, the main risk was of skirting too close to The Doldrums in places – and my annotations are correspondingly skimpy, so please holler if … Read more >>

A quick-quick-slow kind of puzzle today.  Plenty of easy or familiar items on the menu to binge on early, before finishing off with a smattering of sublimely tricky or unhelpfully-defined answers. Across 1 CONTEMPT … Read more >>

A playful miscellany of items today, as we veer from Playtex push-ups to perma-tan puns, by way of Pertwee portrayals.  Apologies for the somewhat tardy post – my web connectivity has not been … Read more >>

Something for all levels of solvers in today’s outing.  In fact, I suspect that this might be a good educational/confidence booster for relatively newbie solvers.  A couple of gentle anagrams, a twinset of … Read more >>

Much like a Spurs game in the Champions League, seeing Alberich’s name appear above the grid is always a mouth-watering prospect.  And somehow, just like ‘Arry’s boys, the subsequent entertainment levels rarely fall … Read more >>

Plenty of high-calibre material in here.  Loroso’s eclectic style almost defies pigeon-holing; in many ways traditional yet ever-innovative; occasionally fiendish with wordplay but usually complemented or vindicated by the most natural of surface … Read more >>

We are informed that “This is Viking’s final crossword”, and it’s a swan song that’s reassuringly familiar in style and humour to the other aspects of his generous legacy.  Several of the best … Read more >>

I think this could well be Hamilton’s first foray into the “supersized-anagram-plus-friends” type of theme.  Fortunately the down clues are quite generous, and provided plenty of early checking letters for the main thematic … Read more >>

A few too many double definitions and homophones for my taste today.  Nothing particularly bad, but such a surfeit runs the risk of diluting the overall experience. So, to borrow a much-favoured and … Read more >>

Not a desperately tricky puzzle on the whole, but an enjoyable romp.  I ground to a complete standstill on my final grid entry (27A), but finally had a flash of inspiration just when … Read more >>

A technically solid puzzle, but about as easy (and, in parts, uninspired) as the FT gets.  In fact I solved all bar two of the Acrosses straight off the bat, which had the … Read more >>

I found this a lot trickier than is typical the case from Styx, but I’m not sure that my brain is firing on all cylinders today so it could just be a reflection … Read more >>

Hamilton’s puzzles are growing on me; he seems to be developing more of a personality of his own with each and every appearance.  Stylistically there are a few Libertarian peccadillos, but I get … Read more >>

Something of a geographic safari today, with a trinity of African countries/cities cropping up in the wordplay and answers (oh, and not forgetting Simon Le Bon’s favourite North American river too).  I have … Read more >>