A fantastic puzzle from Alberich which I got around to solving only pretty late in the day. But it was well worth the wait, with an eclectic mix of innovative cluing and precise wordplay. Thorough enjoyed this. Had to google to confirm a couple of responses but otherwise all good !!
Guardian 26,578 / Screw
Another tough but entertaining work-out from Screw. Looking back at the preamble to my blog of his last puzzle, I see that I mentioned how the parsing came rather later in some cases … Read more >>
Independent 8924 / Phi
Phi-day again, and the usual well-crafted puzzle. We always look for a theme or nina in Phi’s puzzles, but initially we couldn’t see either in this one. However, Phi is playing … Read more >>
Independent 8,923 / Klingsor
Klingsor has provided us with our cruciverbal workout this Thursday. I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle, finding it medium-to-hard on the difficulty scale and definitely a puzzle that I had to chip away at, … Read more >>
Guardian 26,577 by Qaos
Lots of nice clues and surfaces…
Financial Times 14,936 by WANDERER
A pleasant opening to the day. Thanks, Wanderer
Financial Times 14,927 – Falcon
Monday Prize Crossword/May 11, 2015
A friendly Falcon crossword, surely very much welcomed by those who miss the Everyman old style. It can be found here , just in case.
Financial Times 14,926 by Mudd
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of May 9, 2015 Another fine Mudd this time, one that proved just a little more challenging than average for me with a couple of terms I … Read more >>
Financial Times 14,935 by MAGWITCH
A good old fashioned crossword from Magwitch. Sometimes setters seem to be falling over themselves to be novel and inventive (which of course is a good thing) but I also like getting the some quality plain puzzles to solve and blog too. I feel they get a bit overlooked. Thank you Magwitch.
Guardian 26,576 – Paul
I usually don’t have too much trouble with Paul’s puzzles these days, but I found this one hard to get started on, and then hard to finish. Looking back, there’s nothing particularly obscure, … Read more >>
Independent 8922 / Dac
Dac’s strength lies in his very subtle misdirection through the surface reading of his clues. The wordplay in Dac’s clues is very rarely complex although there were a couple of … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1385: ICE by Schadenfreude
The sight of the name Schadenfreude tends to strike fear into the mind of a blogger when he or she first sees it as the setter of puzzle to be blogged, but there is … Read more >>
Independent 8,921 by Anax
Anax usually appears on Saturdays in the Independent, or so it seems, but he has put in a welcome weekday appearance today. This is the usual excellent production (I would say that wouldn’t I, since he may well be at the S&B later today; but of course it’s true). It wasn’t at all easy, but Anax seldom is; I think I’ve just about understood everything, but there are one or two slightly dodgy parsings which I trust will be explained properly by someone.
Definitions underlined.
Guardian 26,575 / Pasquale
As is usually the case with Pasquale, in his various guises, some less than familiar (at least for me) words in the grid which needed dictionary confirmation after working out the wordplay. Across … Read more >>
Financial Times 14,934 by SAYANG
A real mixed bag from Sayang.