Financial Times 14,703 – Dante

Monday Prize Crossword/Aug 18 Familiar territory for a Monday. While Dante kept the number of cryptic definitions to a minimum, our beloved setter did his best to conceal a couple of definitions in such a … Read more >>

Financial Times 14,707 by BRADMAN

An excellent challenge from Bradman this Friday with just the right mix of mind-benders and quick wins. I did have to re-calibrate my estimate on the finishing time during the course of the solve.  This was largely due to the fact that the 5 anagrams in the crossword got me going quickly and after that progress became a lot slower=. I still needed help with parsing 24ac and 3d. My pick of the lot was 10ac.

Overall, a delectable treat from a trusted setter.

FF: 8, DD: 7

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Financial Times 14,706 / Orense

The first appearance by Orense for three months gives us a straightforward puzzle with nothing contentious or particularly difficult. My first pass through the clues left only a handful of empty lights to … Read more >>

Financial Times 14,697 – Crux

Monday Prize Crossword/Aug 11 The usual not too spicy quality fare from Crux but, imho, once more let down by some weak cryptic definitions. So both ‘thanks’ and ‘sorry’ to the setter. Definitions are underlined … Read more >>

Financial Times 14,701 by GAFF

A sharp intake of breath preceded the whitening of the knuckles, as I gripped the arms of my chair in sheer trepidation at seeing the name of the setter today. And so it happened, the tussle with my nemesis Gaff. And at the end of it all, I can (barely) stand up and aver that I fought like a man, relentless in the face of a barrage of one inscrutable clue after another.

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Financial Times 14,691 – Dante

Monday Prize Crossword/Aug 4 A familiar Monday solve. Only a couple of the cryptic definitions in the mid-east held me up (but not for too long). 23ac was a new word to me, … Read more >>