Inquisitor

Preamble: Three unclued entries have been adversely affected by a plethora of thematic answers which have caused so much confusion that their own clues have become muddled, each giving the wordplay for one … Read more >>

This blog of the Boxing Day puzzle will come out after New Year, but here’s wishing you all a Great New Year of Inquisitorial fun. If it is anything like the year just past … Read more >>

Seasons greetings to all from a very blustery and wet Yorkshire, and many thanks for all the messages of concern as to our well-being! On the south side of York Jane and I … Read more >>

Schadenfreude provided a good challenge for Christmas       The preamble was not too long and fairly understandable even on the first read through.  It told us that "The perimeter clues and … Read more >>

A carte blanche grid, so no bars and no numbers, but at least the clues have length indications and are in normal order. However, two entries are unclued, and there are a few … Read more >>

Preamble: Clues to the perimeter entries are normal, but their answers must be modified before entry in ways suggested by an instruction that will appear in the grid when the central square is … Read more >>

Another Schadenfreude offering this week. Usually quite difficult and this was no exception, not helped by slightly misleading (to me, Hi, anyway) rubric, which read: After filling the grid, solvers must obey the … Read more >>

This seems to be the first puzzle by Artix in the Inquisitor series so I didn’t know what to expect.       The preamble was quite long.  It told us that seven … Read more >>

Seen Wan here a couple of times before, most recently on the Pennine Way (“Pub Crawl”). First noted the asymmetric grid … more often a positive indicator of a puzzle than a negative … Read more >>

Preamble: Five across answers of a kind are entered as anagrams, representing a thematic process: wordplay in these clues leads to original answer, definition to grid entry. From 12 down clues, a letter … Read more >>

Possibly the best Inquisitor puzzle ever? Certainly one of my favourites! Thanks to Charybdis for hours of fun. Difficulty level was just right for me, and the denouement, just stunning! It made me … Read more >>

Samuel is a prolific setter of barred crosswords (with a few blocked ones thrown in for good measure).  He is also the editor of the Enigmatic Variations barred series in the Sunday Telegraph. … Read more >>

We’ve seen Radler about once a year since his debut in 2013 (theme: QUARKs).   Preamble: Eight clues lead to answers that are the wrong size: they must be used to fill the … Read more >>

Preamble: Fourteen solutions must be thematically adjusted before entry. Solvers must highlight a statement expressing a character’s confidence that the adjustment would be performed for him, and his name. Only real words appear … Read more >>

Shark’s last offering in the series was number 1370, yielding a picture of a hand, which I much enjoyed, so I had high hopes for this one. I remember that we found the clues … Read more >>