Never knowingly undersolved
As always, I enjoyed solving and blogging this offering from Matilda. One or two devices that newer solvers might have been unfamiliar with, but learning new stuff is part of the enjoyment, no? … Read more >>
A little tricky for a Monday, and good fun – my favourites were 11ac, 24ac, 5dn, 20dn, and 21dn. Thanks to Vulcan for the puzzle. ACROSS 1 MEAN BUSINESS Perform decisively in shabby … Read more >>
The instruction “the wordplay in each clue leads to a solution where two letters require an elementary substitution before entry in the grid” may have been intended as cryptic , but I guessed … Read more >>
Maskarade’s traditional Bank Holiday weekend giant puzzle – but one of the less complicated versions. The preamble says: The wordplay of 29 clues lack a theme word to reach the required solution. These … Read more >>
A very enjoyable puzzle today – my favourites were 11ac, 17ac, 26ac, 21dn, and 22dn. Lots of thanks to Shed ACROSS 8 ZUCCHINI South African (half-cut) visits Sark etc, receiving cheers (also half-cut) … Read more >>
It’s a Brummie, so…
Puck at his mischievous best. After a first run through, I had two solutions across and two of the long down solutions, so I thought I was in for a hard slog, but … Read more >>
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28227. Paul doe it yet again: a creative and entertaining concoction, even if he sails a little too close to the wind for my comfort in one … Read more >>
An excellent Quiptic as always by Carpathian. This puzzle is full of surfaces that immediately conjure up a mental image, which of course is there to mislead the solver: “police got a criminal” … Read more >>
It’s Pan to help cheer up a rather chilly Bank Holiday, with a puzzle with a bit more bite to it than the Monday usual. (That isn’t a criticism.) I really enjoyed this … Read more >>
A rare appearance by Nutmeg in the “prize” slot this week. This is Nutmeg’s first appearance in the prize slot for over a year; I don’t remember blogging one of her puzzles before, … Read more >>
It’s Philistine to round off the weekday puzzles, in his customary playful and witty style. I found this a fairly straightforward puzzle – not Philistine at his hardest – with a mini-theme … Read more >>
A quicker solve than usual for a Qaos puzzle… …with a theme that helped me to write in some answers with more confidence – terms for members of the police: PEELER, SWEENEY TODD … Read more >>
A timely puzzle from Boatman, which I found rather easier than some of his offerings. The word “time” occurs in over half the clues: often it gives us a T, but sometimes it … Read more >>
Picaroon in his usual good form. As ever with a Picaroon puzzle, this was a witty and fun solve, I had ticks against many clues, including the elegant square in the centre, and … Read more >>