FT

A typically enjoyable and thought-provoking number from Monk.  I didn’t spot a trademark Nina, but I suppose that the four (4,5,4) answers that transect the grid symmetrically are, in themselves, a thematic touch. … Read more >>

Solving time: 11 minutes Apologies for the late posting but those nice folks on the FT website didn’t put today’s (or yesterday’s) puzzles up until late tonight.  A very easy puzzle with too … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of June 23, 2007 A tiny bit of a theme here: beheading for crimes against the state. For me this puzzle proved a little easier than most … Read more >>

IO was another new name to me until I checked the Setters page here and found that he is also Nimrod and Enigmatist, which explained a lot. Unusual to see a preamble in … Read more >>

Even though his name is Mudd here – it’s Paul in the Guardian. I definitely solved this more quickly than the typical Paul – so maybe there is something to the theory that … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of June 16, 2007 Across 1. ENGLANDER – *(GREENLAND) 6. TORCH – double definition. 9. STAID – homophone 10. NOTEPAPER – reverse(ETON) + PAPER. Very clever! 11. … Read more >>

At first glance this looked liked it could be one of those lesser-spotted species, a totally athematic Cinephile puzzle. But it turned out that there was actually a healthy dose of climate change … Read more >>

Another FT, another new name for me. I really enjoyed this one – lots of excellent clues and just the right amount of difficulty. Across 1 (PUT ONE’S HAND)* – nice anagram and … Read more >>

An enjoyable puzzle and just about the right degree of difficulty for a Friday, I felt.   A pretty eclectic spectrum of clues, including everything from a couple of pre-historic chestnuts (e.g. the ETON/NOTE … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of June 9, 2007 Across 1. PAWNSHOP – PA*(SHOWN)P. I had to look up “uncle” in a dictionary to learn that it has a slang meaning of … Read more >>

Good fun, and reasonably easy although 15A and 4D held me up a bit for reasons explained below. I didn’t realise the FT had so many setters on their team; as well as … Read more >>

This turned out to be more of a challenge than I anticpated at first; plain sailing initially, but then got becalmed on the last few clues. At the time of solving, I wasn’t … Read more >>

Adamant seems to be a faithful adherent of the FT’s general style and tone, and this was solid enough fare . A couple of answers (2d, 28a) were new (for me at least) … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of June 2, 2007 This puzzle struck me as a classic Cincinnus, fairly easy but very elegant. Across 1. APPENDIX. Figure it out; it’s lovely. 5, 26. … Read more >>

Pretty tough. I haven’t got a convincing answer for 14D, I can’t work out the wordplay for the long clue and I needed Google to get 15D. Across 1 S.E,WAGE – overseas solvers … Read more >>