FT

Prize Puzzle from the Monday February 28 Financial Times Falcon’s clues today were all cleanly written; many had particularly clever or smooth surfaces (11 across, 13 across), but some were a bit odd (28 … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of February 26 Two weeks ago someone asked me how long it took me to solve the puzzle. I had not kept track and had little idea … Read more >>

A fine crossword from Cinephile, complete with his usual ‘bending of the rules’ that will delight some and no doubt infuriate others.  I didn’t find that the special instructions were important to solving this … Read more >>

Some pleasingly tricky clues here, in particular 7 down and 16 down.  I didn’t otherwise find much to comment on, except I wonder how our nonnative English speakers fared with the somewhat obscure slang … Read more >>

A puzzle with moments of ease as well as perplexities, which dissolve happily when the penny drops. A few words learnt today thanks to 14a and 20d. A wide range of knowledge domains … Read more >>

This one of those puzzles that appeared quite daunting at first pass, but ended up being  plainer sailing than initially feared.  Mr/Mrs/Ms Phssthpok can usually be relied upon to inject more than their … Read more >>

Financial Times Prize Puzzle of 21 February A typically creative and clever puzzle from Mudd.  I liked the way the surface sense of the words making up the wordplay fit in with the … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of February 19 Cincinnus spoils us with two of his typically wondrous anagrams this time, 21A (TURNSTONES) and 3D (SAN MARINO). I also applaud 8A (REMAINS), 11A … Read more >>

Gozo again proves himself to be a master of the grid, all the across solutions are Shakespeare characters, and they combine to make some great anagrams. Unfortunately, inventive as the format is, the crossword … Read more >>

A delight from Neo.  What impressed me today was how Neo managed to devise such misleading wordplay and fit it so neatly into the surface reading of the clue. Across 1 ALHAMBRA H[earts] … Read more >>

The usual Alberich brilliance with great clue surfaces. No single clear favourite today but a lot of all-round goodness. The easy long entries at 3d, 6d got me off to a quick start … Read more >>

 Smiffy is away on business today and so is unable to be with us. I said on Tuesday (Indy 7598) that the cinema is not my forte and now I have to blog … Read more >>

Prize Puzzle of Monday 14 February Many clever clues from Crux, including one which is too clever for me:  26 down.  Among my favourites were those with well disguised definitions: 9 across and 6 … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of February 12 As most of you may know, John Graham (a.k.a. Cinephile) recently had his 90th birthday. I found this puzzle of his fairly tricky. I … Read more >>

Not a difficult crossword, but a lovely one.  Elegant and witty with some nice & Lits.  I especially liked 27 and 28 across, 8 and 16 down, though one could easily pick others for a mention too.  There are … Read more >>