Never knowingly undersolved
A well-crafted Sindy puzzle from Poins. One or two that were tricky to parse, but all clearly clued. Abbreviations cd cryptic definition dd double definition (xxxx)* anagram anagrind = anagram … Read more >>
With only a handful of entries during my first pass through the clues I thought I was going to be in for a bit of a slog and so it proved – but … Read more >>
Well, what can I say about this one? Phi has made his theme fairly obvious (unless I’ve missed something more devious). A rapid solve for me, with the NE quadrant being completed quickly … Read more >>
Scorpion has provided today’s lexical challenge. It has been a while since it has fallen to me to solve/blog one of his puzzles. Scorpion has chosen to mark a special achievement with this … Read more >>
Another puzzle from Dac today with the usual high quality surfaces in the clues Unusually for Dac there was something hinting at a theme today. Either that or Dac has … Read more >>
A pleasant and accessible crossword from Hob. Apart from one or two little things that I don’t quite understand, all seems to be fairly straightforward.
Definitions underlined and in maroon.
I had a couple of minor quibbles on this but overall it was nice puzzle with a reasonable range of clues from fairly easy starters to more demanding fare.
Slightly harder than the average IoS, I think. Thanks to Hypnos. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 1 Economise with small car mostly (4) SLIM : S(abbrev. for “small”) + “limo”(short for … Read more >>
A good tough Saturday workout from Tyrus this week. There’s a fairly overt theme there, with plenty of references to the press, newspapers etc. Which I suppose could be seen as fairly ironic, … Read more >>
In customary fashion, Phi brings this week’s suite of mid-week puzzles to an end. This was one of those puzzles where you see that there is one exceedingly long entry – 01/11/20 – … Read more >>
Nestor has given us a good puzzle today I got off to a good start in this but gradually slowed down with NAVARINO (22 across), INKS (17 down) and TRANSMUTER … Read more >>
The usual very satisfactory crossword from Quixote, despite my misgivings about 22dn. Just as Phi does a crossword for the BBC Music Magazine and so his clues often have musical references, so Quixote is the crossword editor of The Church Times and he tends to use ecclesiastical ideas more often than the average. And it wouldn’t be a Quixote without at least one rare word, possibly two: here they are at 1dn and 20dn.
Another new setter in the Indy or an existing one using a new pseudonym? In view of the overall style, and some of the definitions/wordplay, I don’t think it is the latter. I could … Read more >>
Always good to see Raich giving us a puzzle. There was much to enjoy here, although I must say that I found a few of the surfaces a bit clunky by this setter’s … Read more >>
Sorry this is late, I’m still forgetting that the IoS is no longer a prize puzzle and is now blogged on the day of publication.
I found this tricky until I got into Kairos’s mindset and stopped looking for the obvious definitions. Very nice puzzle, though I have to admit to a little cheating at the end to get the blog out quickly. Thank you Kairos.
There is an unusual Nina in the grid – see Kairos’s comment – number 6.