Never knowingly undersolved
I’m always glad to see Qaos’ name on a puzzle – and it’s been a while since we had one of his. The nagging issue, when blogging, is that there’s always a theme … Read more >>
Harpo rounds off the week’s puzzles with an enjoyable challenge. I found this quite tough going but very satisfying to (almost) finish, with some splendid anagrams, ingenious and meticulous cluing and witty surfaces … Read more >>
A slow solve until the longer solutions started going in. My favourites were 22ac, 3dn, and 19/12/9.
I found this rather gentler than some recent puzzles from this setter, but still good fun. Thanks to Tramp. Across 1 WISHFUL THINKING Is fling with hunk at work having unrealistic desires? … Read more >>
Today's setter is Philistine.
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29357.
Quiptics on a Sunday now. I am a creature of habit, and this has completely discombobulated me. Good job it’s a sound as a pound Carpathian for me to blog. Abbreviations cd cryptic … Read more >>
This for the second Guardian Quick Cryptic Crossword published on Saturday 13 April, a new weekly 11 x 11 crossword aimed at helping beginners – blog explaining it here.
It can be found here: https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/quick-cryptic/2
I cannot recall seeing Carpathian in the Prize slot before, although she is a familiar presence in the Quiptic. Apart from a couple of less familiar terms, this offering struck me as relatively straightforward.
It’s Easter, so we were expecting a Maskarade special and we weren’t disappointed.
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29355.
Looking back on my previous blogs of Jack’s puzzles, I see that I have twice said, ‘A fairly tricky but enjoyable and rewarding challenge, meticulously clued, with excellent surfaces, from Jack’, which once … Read more >>
Some clever surfaces and tricky parsing – my favourites were 6ac, 22ac, 9dn, 16dn, and 18dn. Thanks to Pangakupu for the puzzle
Picaroon regains his missing O after last week for a typically enjoyable puzzle that I found mostly quite straightforward, though with a couple of less-familiar words to keep the brain cells working. Thanks … Read more >>
Profuse apologies for the late blog.