Vlad provides a toughie this morning.
Guardian
Guardian Quiptic 1059 Carpathian
Thanks to Carpathian for a neat and enjoyable Quiptic. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 1 Confront air conditioning price (6) ACCOST : AC(abbrev. for “air conditioning”) + COST(the price to pay … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 28,070 by Anto
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28070. Anto has graduated from an occasional Quiptic, which were not well received. Here he or she has some interesting ideas for clues; there were a couple … Read more >>
Guardian Genius 200 – Kite
Spoiler alert: harsh words ahead.
Guardian Prize 28,063 / Puck
‘Special instructions’ [in this case, ‘Wordplay in 15 clues lacks something crucial in one form or another’] usually make me wince slightly – and especially when I’m blogging! As it happened, I fortunately … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 28,068 by Picaroon
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28068. An excellent puzzle from the devious Picaroon. For an uncomfortably long time I was staring at the grid with only four or five lights filled, but … Read more >>
Guardian 28,067 / Paul
My apologies for the late blog: when the theme penny did finally drop, it entailed a bit of research! Paul sets today’s challenge – and a challenge it was! I woke up at … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 28,066 by Brummie
Solved this from the outside in, with the longer clues going quite quickly one after another. Favourites were 16ac, 2dn, 4dn, 9dn, and 23dn. Thanks to Brummie.
Guardian 28,065 – Nutmeg
The rather strange grid, combined with four long multi-light answers, leads to an unusually small number of across clues Good fun as always from Nutmeg, though, so thanks to her. … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 1,058/Hectence
Hectence is a long-standing setter of the Quiptic and can always be relied on to produce an easy-end puzzle that fits the bill for those new to cryptics. This was a pleasing and … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 28,064 by Vulcan
A gentle Monday offering from Vulcan.
Guardian 28,057 / Picaroon
Well, we found this very tough, but I think it’s all fair – Picaroon employs misdirection very well in this puzzle, and the grid is very clever… We might have found this easier … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 28062 Qaos
Thanks Qaos for the enjoyable workout. Definitions are underlined in the clues. (Apologies for the late blog, but I had to fetch my car from the workshop.) … and there is a theme … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 28,061 by Crucible
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28061. The SW corner took me longer than the rest of the puzzle together, with the obscure AVIZANDUM (and its equally opaque wordplay) as last in. there … Read more >>
Guardian 28,060 / Philistine
It’s Philistine’s turn to provide our entertainment today – and he does it in characteristic style. Lots of clever clues, as usual from this setter – my favourites were 14ac and 6,9 – … Read more >>