Inquisitor

There aren’t many things more satisfying than that moment when solvers of the Inquisitor or The Listener experience when the device the setter has used to complicate the puzzle reveals itself.  A light-bulb … Read more >>

I tore this one out of the paper, took it on holiday, and over-confidently left it until the day we were coming home. It turned out to be very tough – if our flight … Read more >>

As far as Inquisitors go, this puzzle by a compiler I have never come across before was relatively easy. Many of the clues were of a standard that would not be out of … Read more >>

Solving time: about 90 mins A fairly standard challenge here: find extra words in four across and four down clues which allow what’s presumably a quotation to be identified, and clashes between across … Read more >>

Sorry for the delay in getting this blog ready, but I struggled with this puzzle, because I couldn’t work out the device required to fill the grid.  As usual when I seek inspiration, … Read more >>

This was a real fun puzzle, I thought. Solving time: 3 hrs 45 mins The preamble said (with words in capitals the unclued answers that appeared in the grid). 36 (SEXIST) 18 (LANGUAGE) … Read more >>

Note: This was actually posted early in January 2010.   Whilst compiling an index to the Inquisitor blogs, I noticed that there was an early one missing from May-07. So here’s a highly … Read more >>

Solving time: 36 minutes A simple but original gimmick and fairly easy clues to non-theme words combined to make this a quick but still entertaining solve. Experience of Azed’s Spoonerism puzzles also helped … Read more >>

For reasons I still don’t quite know, this puzzle took me ages to solve. When I look back on it now, it appears to be fairly straightforward as far as themed puzzles go. … Read more >>

Solving time: an hour or so Approached with trepidation, having downed a convivial pint or two with Ploy at Sloggers and Betters 2, but also having missed the final step in his “Travelling … Read more >>

I thought this was an excellent puzzle from Dysart who debuted in the Listener last year and has since appeared twice in the Indy, this being the second one, and also very recently … Read more >>

Solving time: c. 80 mins A fairly gentle puzzle this one – thematic clues just lead to phrases of words associated with the school subjects mentioned. Enumerations for these indicated which phrases had … Read more >>

Solvers’ hint #1: Check the date before tackling a crossword – sometimes it makes the theme blindingly obvious very quickly.Bloggers’ hint #1: If you take your crossword folder on a plane, complete with … Read more >>

Solving time: 43 minutes – and should have been faster One of those puzzles where the setting achievement seems considerably greater than the solving one. The unclued entries that must be “expanded to … Read more >>

Just in time for Easter, Nutmeg provided us with a crossword about that most ubiquitous of nannies, Mary Poppins although more exactly, it was based on one word used in that movie. Generally, … Read more >>