Never knowingly undersolved
The issue that was causing problems when using HTML tags in comments has now been resolved so please ignore my original post (see below) and continue to use them if/when required. ************* Original … Read more >>
*=anagram [] = removed e.g. char[m]=char ()=abbreviation e.g. A(mpere)=a Hom. = homophone I’ve not come across Commoner much, although the name sounds familiar (maybe I’m confusing it with Everyman). This was a mostly … Read more >>
(Please click here for this same blog but with a picture quiz added. Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.) A fairly easy Quiptic. Thanks to … Read more >>
(Please post comments on ONLY the picture quiz hereinbelow. To post comments on the crossword puzzle, please click here.) A fairly easy Quiptic. Thanks to Moley. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across … Read more >>
Plenty of double and cryptic defs as usual from Rufus. My favourites were 10ac, 2dn, 17dn and 20dn.
I’ve never been a great fan of DLM (definition and letter-mixture) puzzles: I tend to find them very hard to get started on, but once even a couple of answers are in it … Read more >>
The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3541.
Always a pleasure to get a Raich puzzle to solve and blog. Only a couple that held me up here, and those were down to my muppetry rather than the quality of the … Read more >>
A treat for me this week Oxymoron – a favourite compiler of mine for many a year. Always a challenge but always fair. 28 clues need 2 or 3 letters to be removed … Read more >>
Now this, from one of my favourite setters, is what I call a Prize puzzle – and I’m not talking about the much-disputed difficulty level. For me, there’s a ‘special’ feel about this: … Read more >>
I made some notes when I solved this: First pass of the clues – 10 minutes – 1 answered (18D – 2nd to last clue read) One. That’s all. It’s Nimrod. Oh dear. … Read more >>
Phi’s usual excellent offering. Most of these clues can be simply parsed, although they were not all that simple to get in the first place.
The radio this morning said that it was Debussy’s birthday, and knowing Phi’s musical leanings I half expected some reference to this, but I can see none. The checkers at the top and bottom might suggest something, but apparently no. My impression is that Phi started off with intentions for them but gave up and produced a ‘normal’ crossword instead. Probably there is something there, although Phi told us recently that his crosswords often contained no Nina.
An excellent challenge from Bradman this Friday with just the right mix of mind-benders and quick wins. I did have to re-calibrate my estimate on the finishing time during the course of the solve. This was largely due to the fact that the 5 anagrams in the crossword got me going quickly and after that progress became a lot slower=. I still needed help with parsing 24ac and 3d. My pick of the lot was 10ac.
Overall, a delectable treat from a trusted setter.
FF: 8, DD: 7
Found this trickier towards the end, with the NW holding me up for quite a while – 11ac and 5dn both new to me, and 4ac only remembered vaguely. No complaints with the cluing, which was excellent throughout. My favourites were 10ac, 14dn and 19dn.
The first appearance by Orense for three months gives us a straightforward puzzle with nothing contentious or particularly difficult. My first pass through the clues left only a handful of empty lights to … Read more >>