An “efficient” puzzle from Magwitch this Friday. Served as a good warm-up for the rest of the day to follow. 🙂 Thanks Maggie – for the usual.
Turbolegs
Financial Times 15,021 by BRADMAN
A nice meaty challenge from Bradman today. Straightforward and for most part, cleanly clued – I have 2 clues which I did have a wee problem with. An enjoyable solve and a good start to the Friday morning.
Financial Times 15,015 by CHALMIE
An enjoyable, relatively straightforward puzzle from Chalmie, thanks to whom for a good Friday morning workout. I caught on to the theme pretty quickly and that lead me on a couple of wild goose chases where Chalmie had been devious in his misdirection. Overall, a fun puzzle and ideal for solvers moving beyond the beginners stage.
Financial Times 15,003 by MAGWITCH
Greetings from Copenhagen!! A pleasurable challenge from Magwitch today. Needed perseverance on a few clues to parse right but nothing to really bother. Thanks Magwitch for yet another treat !!
Financial Times 14,997 by GAFF
A really tricky one from Gaff that had me go from making steady progress to grinding to a halt five clues away from a complete solve. I tried to search for a Nina somewhere as is common with Gaff’s puzzles but without much success. All in all , a good work out – and a well-deserved thanks to Gaff for stretching me out today.
Financial Times 14,994 by ARMONIE
Many thanks Turbolegs for stepping into the breach – Gaufrid
Financial Times 14,991 by BRADMAN
A familiar face this Friday with the return of the Don. Genial puzzle, with only a couple of clues that bothered me due to the fact that I didnt know these words existed. Typical smooth straightforward cluing for most part. Thanks Bradman, for stress-free passage today.
Financial Times 14,985 by CHALMIE
Nearly forgot to get the blog out as today is a holiday in Singapore and I was going about my day in Saturday mode before it struck me late evening that I am not a time traveler. I really wish I had taken this on, on time so that I could have done justice to Chalmie. In my unnecessary haste to solve this quickly and put it up, I had to use google sooner than I would have liked to for some of the answers. I do think that this puzzle from Chalmie only goes to reinforce the opinion that he is one setter guaranteed to serve up a stunner of a crossword. Thanks a ton to him.
Financial Times 14,979 by WANDERER
A really intriguing challenge from Wanderer today. Cant put my finger on it but it was unlike any other FT puzzle this week. There is some kind of grid play (thematic?) happening with stand-alone clues making sense when joined and read vertically. A bit of local UK/London knowledge would have helped me today – I had to figure out related clues and then confirm on the web.
Financial Times 14,973 by ARTEXLEN
My first time blogging this setter. A solid challenge from Artexlen – one that was eventually solved after some intriguing trysts with word play. I would have liked to see some of the long-winded clues be more crisp. Speaking of which 4d was incredibly so – a 17 letter clue for a 14 letter solution! 🙂 Thanks Artexlen – it wasnt easy going but totally worth it !!
Financial Times 14,967 by MAGWITCH
Magwitch gives us company this Friday morning – with a challenge filled with straightforward elegant cluing as has come to be expected of her. Quite a lot easier compared to her earlier grids so an excellent opportunity for newbies at the FT to get familiar with the solving experience. Thanks Magwitch !
Financial Times 14,961 by MUDD
A gentle offering today from MUDD, which was easy going for most part except for a couple of words that seemed like an anamoly in an otherwise straightforward grid. Some clues bordered on being just a tad contrived but easily offset by the crispness of several others.
Financial Times 14,955 by CHALMIE
To B or not to B !! Chalmie serves up a delectable challenge which was equal parts difficult as it was innovative – one can never say “Been there, done that!” with any of his grids and so that made it an exciting solve. I had to resort to confirming several answers on the internet so that possibly took a bit of the aura away, and I am not sure about the accuracy of one clue. But truly this is one grid that Rowan Atkinson would have loved to solve.
Financial Times 14,943 by GOZO
A fun challenge from Gozo today, thanks to whom for serving up a real 20d ! 🙂 I got to the theme pretty quickly but then got held up by the NE quadrant, which to most others would have been quite workable. Thanks to Gaufrid for the prop up there.
Financial Times 14,937 by ALBERICH
A fantastic puzzle from Alberich which I got around to solving only pretty late in the day. But it was well worth the wait, with an eclectic mix of innovative cluing and precise wordplay. Thorough enjoyed this. Had to google to confirm a couple of responses but otherwise all good !!