Never knowingly undersolved
A strange mixture of clues from Boatman today – some very obvious from either defintion or wordplay, some a lot trickier, an outrageous lift-and-separate that I’m not at all keen on but I’m … Read more >>
It has fallen to Morph to occupy the Thursday compiling slot this week and to me to occupy the associated blogging slot. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, which provided a moderate-to-difficult challenge and … Read more >>
Monday Prize Crossword/Jul 7 When this crossword was published, it was the 7th of July. The day Le Tour missed my house by less than 100 metres, also an event that was over before I could even … Read more >>
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of July 5, 2014 I found this a thoroughly decent puzzle. My favourite clue is 29a (PREGNANT) and I also like 23a (AIR MARSHAL) and 6d (UZBEKISTAN). … Read more >>
For the second time I have been unable to complete an Io puzzle. Any help with the remaining two solutions would be greatly appreciated.
Well its Paul so we expect a bit of rudeness and lots of playful word play.
It’s Wednesday – it’s Dac This puzzle is a good puzzle for the less experienced solver. I think solvers with long experience of Dac will have found this towards the … Read more >>
Ferret is a fairly regular setter in the Inquisitor series these days. The puzzle had a preamble that stated "Some cells contain more than one letter, making four objects appear … Read more >>
When I saw that Phi was appearing on a Tuesday I expected a crossword in his slightly harder mode than usual, which we sometimes see in other places. But no, it seems his regular Friday crossword has simply been shunted to Tuesday.
Why this has happened is anyone’s guess. I won’t even think about what it might be. It’s probably the anniversary of some group’s first no. 1 or something.
As always almost everything seems to be immaculate, with the usual crop of excellent clues. The only problem is my failing to see a Nina. But that’s usual, especially with Phi.
Definitions underlined.
This was a puzzle of two parts. Some answers went in straight after reading the clues and for others I had to spend time parsing the wordplay after getting the answers. Thanks to NEO for the welcome workout.
The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26312. I found this a pleasing mid-level puzzle notable for its cryptic definitions, which are backed up by wordpaly. Across 7,16down. Dramatist can’t reintegrate plays (7,8) TERENCE … Read more >>
The third outing in the Quiptic slot for Provis, whose identity remains a closely guarded secret.
*=anagram [] = removed e.g. char[m]=char ()=abbreviation e.g. A(mpere)=a <=reversed Hom. = homophone The usual entertaining fare from Punk with some inventive cluing devices. As a beer fan, I quite liked 16. 24/8 … Read more >>
Another fairly typical Monday 5dn of nifty anagrams and double and cryptic [some more than others] definitions, with, characteristically, some nautical terms for good measure. Thank you, Rufus, for a pleasant start to … Read more >>
Another week whereby about two thirds went in unaided, and then the rest put up quite the struggle. I believe I have at least managed to parse everything this week. There are some … Read more >>