Inquisitor

A nice easy preamble for a change. We’re told that six entries are clued without definition and all the other clues generate an extra letter. The extra letters generate a “line”, which identifies … Read more >>

I started this blog before having solved the puzzle element of this week’s offering by Ikela, so we’ll start with the clued elements. The rubric told us that wordplay in all but six … Read more >>

Ifor is a new compiler for the Inquisitor but he has had four crosswords published in The Magpie and one published in the Telegraph Enigmatic Variations series, all in the last two years.  I … Read more >>

With hindsight, quite a tame one from Phi.  A number of answers, with a common feature, are entered in an unusual manner, implying a numerical value for a letter of the alphabet. With … Read more >>

Ah, Schadenfreude, probably my favourite Inquisitor compiler!  I tend to find the clues seem very hard on first or second reading but on third or fourth (or fifth, etc.) reading, they start to reveal all. We’re told … Read more >>

Stunning puzzle with lots of elements from Lato. First the rubric: long and complex but, once understood, entirly fair and correct. We had eight clues with two consecutive redundant words which clued “pairs”. … Read more >>

The preamble stated that the first words of a traditional verse are spelled out by single extra letters generated by the wordplay in each down clue, in order.  The perimeter (clockwise, in which … Read more >>

What a great puzzle. If it wasn’t so cold, I’d take my hat off to Charybdis! The preamble is very confusing. Firstly we’re told that a 5-letter thematic character has to be found in … Read more >>

I’m stepping into the shoes of Peter B for this blog as he has work-related problems that prevent him from spending time on this activity. Being retired I don’t, thank goodness! Most of … Read more >>

At first glance the rubric seemed pretty complicated, involving words entered normally, as anagrams and in unlocated places in the grid. A quick look at the “Unlocated” clues gave me AIT for the first … Read more >>

The preamble told us that clashes in the grid must be resolved (producing some non-words in the process) to display the name of a man of note for whom 2010 is an anniversary, … Read more >>

Midnight Saturday, guests have all gone home or gone to bed … time to pour a whisky and have a look at the crossword.  Ten unclued thematic entries (5 pairs); first letters of … Read more >>

This puzzle contained a device I’d never seen before, which, at first glance looked like it was going to prove troublesome. In the end, however, it was fairly easy-going. Each entry had to rebound off … Read more >>

Solving time: about 30 mins, except for Googling to confirm the theme. This was an easy Inquisitor puzzle, with vocabulary that wasn’t too obscure. There were four themewords clued by wordplay only, each … Read more >>

I found this pretty tricky and it took several hours over three days to complete. Some interesting words, two of which (ZARI and NIKAB) are only in the latest version of Chambers.  Google helped … Read more >>