A plain puzzle for the December competition, although no doubt the Christmas special will be rather more complex.
Everyman 3,557 (7 December 2014)
The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3557.
Independent on Sunday 1294/Commoner
A sound Sunday puzzle from Commoner in the usual IoS style. Abbreviations cd cryptic definition dd double definition (xxxx)* anagram anagrind = anagram indicator [x] letter(s) missing definitions are … Read more >>
Independent 8,782 by Nimrod (Saturday Prize Puzzle, 06/12/14)
One doesn’t necessarily expect a stroll in the park with Nimrod, so I was very pleased to finish this one, albeit without fully understanding quite how everything worked. Hopefully I’ve figured it all … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 1150 The Fairy Godmother by Samuel
Ten clues are film titles which can be transformed with the addition of a single word. The across clues have an additional letter in the wordplay which spells out another film title with … Read more >>
Guardian Prize 26,436 / Paul
An enjoyable puzzle from Paul, with some typical Pauline clues – and this time I’m not talking risqué. I found it pretty straightforward, apart from the parsing of 16dn, which took about as … Read more >>
Independent 8,787 by Phi
As usual with Phi I was a little slow to get started as few answers seemed to be obvious, but once going it all seemed clear enough. And then I came to a long halt with the last three, 21ac, 19dn and 22dn, which wouldn’t budge. The somewhat unusual sense of ‘clipped’ is my excuse; although it isn’t perhaps all that unusual, being the first item in the second Chambers definition.
In the end it was the usual very pleasant Phi experience. Lots of single-letter abbreviations here: is this a theme? (l = league, d = depth, f = farthing, n = note, E = European, r = runs, h = hard, n = name, m = millions, o = old, s = son, again n = note, and perhaps others I’ve missed.)
The unches at the top and the bottom spell out two words which no doubt send us to some series of books that escape my experience.
Definitions underlined.
Guardian 26,441 – Qaos
Despite a few very obvious clues (e.g. 11a, 19d) I found this a bit of a struggle, though I got there in the end, with 12d (unknown to me) being the last in … Read more >>
Financial Times 14,803 by BRADMAN
It is Friday, and it is Bradman at the FT so no surprises there. The Don serves up another delectable offering with an excellent mix of smooth surfaces and ingenious constructions. Quite an enjoyable solve with the SE quadrant nearly being a showstopper for me. There are a couple of clues though which I have a minor quibble about but nothing significant.
Financial Times no.14,802 by Sleuth
A masterclass from Sleuth in setting a fairly easy puzzle that is nevertheless a pleasure to solve.
Independent 8786/Hob
I find myself blogging – for reasons too embarrassing to elucidate in public – in the Thursday slot. Which is usually hard, and is indeed hard today. Since I am out of my … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 26440 Paul
(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.) An enjoyable puzzle that wasn’t much of … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 26440 with Picture Quiz
(Please post comments on ONLY the picture quiz hereinbelow. To post comments on the crossword puzzle, please click here.) An enjoyable puzzle that wasn’t much of a problem, thanks to Paul. Definitions are underlined … Read more >>
Financial Times 14,801 by AARDVARK
A fine crossword from Aardvark. Not a hard puzzle, but one that I would have finished much more quickly if there had not been so many obvious paths to the solution that turned into dead ends. I’m sure he does it on purpose! Thanks Aardvark.
Independent 8,785 / Dac
As expected, Dac’s latest puzzle was waiting for me this Wednesday morning. At first, I thought that I was going to zip through this crossword, having solved a lot of clues in the … Read more >>