An enjoyable and quick solve with a few trickier clues and nice surfaces. Favourites were 22ac, 27ac, 8dn, and 16dn. Thanks to Vulcan.
Guardian
Guardian Prize 27,657 / Imogen
It’s not often that we find Imogen in the Prize slot, so I suspected there must be a reason, especially since we were given some Special Instructions: ‘One historic figure and 10 possible … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 27,662 by Enigmatist
Very tough, even once the grid filled up – several unfamiliar expressions and a lot of tricky parsing. Favourites 1ac, 21ac, and 18dn. Thanks to Enigmatist.
Guardian 27,661 – Picaroon
This one needed a bit of research…
Guardian Cryptic 27,660 by Paul
Don’t try to tackle this one before you’ve had a strong cup of coffee.
Guardian Cryptic 27,659 by Tramp
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27659.
Guardian 27,658 / Chifonie
As Andrew said a couple of weeks ago, there seems to be an emerging pattern of Vulcan and Chifonie alternating in the Monday slot. A generally straightforward puzzle [I have one or two … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 990/Carpathian
A carefully constructed Quiptic which hits the spot. I’d like to think that there’s a newer solver out there today for whom this has been the first completion without help. We all remember … Read more >>
Guardian Genius 184 by Paul
Paul often lets his quirkiness run free when he is let loose in the (almost-)anything-goes Wild-Wild West frontier of the Genius… …and he doesn’t disappoint here! The preamble states that: “2 11 by 21 … Read more >>
Guardian 27,651 / Paul
Great fun from Paul, as usual, though I found this quite tricky to finish: 18, 11 and 3, 7 – both very nice clues! – held me up for a long time, thanks … Read more >>
Guardian 27,656 / Nutmeg
Another beautifully-crafted puzzle from Nutmeg to round off a generally good week. As usual, there are lots of witty, elegant clues – I’ll pick out 12, 14, 16 and 27ac and 4 and … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 27,655 by Puck
Tough and rewarding, with a few that needed parsing after the fact. Favourites were 1ac, 3dn, 4dn, 7dn, and 15dn. Thanks to Puck
Guardian 27,654 – Paul
A bit of a surprise to see Paul’s name today, as he usually appears later in the week. I found this quite hard to get going on, and not much easier to finish, … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 27,653 by Qaos
A themed offering from Qaos this fine Tuesday morning.
Quiptic 989 by Anto
Anto’s turn in the quiptic slot this week, complete with his new name.
Edit: The setter’s name has now been corrected to Anto on the Guardian site. It had previously been ‘Anton’