A reunion with the Don this Friday. A very pleasant challenge with some clues that were just out of reach (annoyingly so) as a direct solve. I had to resort to looking up Google for confirming the parsing for a couple of clues.
Independent 8852 / Phi
Well, it’s Phiday again, and he seems to be getting tougher these days. Last week’s offering seemed more tricky than usual, and this one also took us longer than expected. Although Phi denies … Read more >>
Financial Times no.14,865 by Redshank
Always a pleasure to see Redshank’s name at the top of a grid.
Independent 8,851 / Klingsor
It has been a long time since it has fallen to me to blog a puzzle by Klingsor, so I was keen to get my teeth into this one this morning. This particular … Read more >>
Guardian 26,505 by Chifonie
THe puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26505.
Financial Times 14,856 – Dante
Monday Prize Crossword/Feb 16, 2015
While still in the aftermath of moving house, I did find the time to solve (and blog) this Dante puzzle. I think it was a typical one, wasn’t it?
Financial Times 14,855 by Goliath
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of February 14, 2015 I found this puzzle much easier than the last Goliath. And I enjoyed it more too. My clue of the week is 6d … Read more >>
Financial Times 14,864 by MONK
A middle-difficulty puzzle from Monk, clues are absolutely watertight as usual. Thanks Monk for another top-quality puzzle.
Guardian 26,504 / Brummie
I enjoyed solving this one. As one who delights in witty, story-telling surfaces, I’ve sometimes despaired of some of Brummie’s but there are some really interesting pictures conjured up by some of these! … Read more >>
Independent 8850 / Quixote
Quixote has given us a puzzle today with some good anagrams. I don’t think is the best puzzle that Quixote has ever produced, but it proved a entertaining challenge with … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1373: Rules of Engagement by Ifor
There was a fairly lengthy preamble to this weeks puzzle by Ifor. It stated "six clues whose answers share a general definition consist only of wordplay. These answers must be thematically changed to … Read more >>
Independent 8,849 by Knut
Knut made his debut only the other day. Now he appears again, and much of this continues the good start he made. There is a lot I don’t understand; my temptation is to say that some of the clues are a bit weak or unsound, but I don’t dare to because it’s far more likely that I’m missing things.
It’s a very strange grid — perfectly OK and no solecisms with the checking. Was this, together with the large number of clues, done in order to fit in some theme? If it was then I can’t see it.
Definitions underlined.
Financial Times 14,863 / Jason
Whilst solving this one I felt that some of the definitions and/or parts of wordplay were a bit of a stretch but this didn’t prevent a speedy completion. However, there is still one clue … Read more >>
Guardian 26,503 by Nutmeg
Lots of fun today from Nutmeg, with plenty of misdirection – favourites were 24ac, 26ac, and 3/25dn.
Guardian 26,502 – Rufus
Eleven cryptic definitions out of 26 clues? I think that must be a record, even for a Rufus puzzle; and some of them are rather weak, or otherwise satisfactory, as noted below. So, … Read more >>