I found this to be a tough nut to crack from Wanderer. Progress was slow and steady .. and I still couldnt nail a couple of clues in the end without some help.
Independent 8661 / Tees
Well what a ‘tease’ we have had this week. We wondered what was going on when Phi disappeared from his normal Phiday slot and appeared on TEESday instead – sorry TUESday!! There is … Read more >>
Guardian 26,315 by Picaroon
Not easy, even with the (excellent) long clues falling quite early on, and a lot to like. I could mention almost every clue – lots of deceptive surfaces and definitions, and clever little tricks. Top three favourites: 27ac, 4dn and possibly 20dn…
Financial Times no.14,676 by Peto
I found this a mixed bag of the easy-peasy, the puzzling, the hackneyed and the really rather clever. With a couple of movie-stars thrown in. Good stuff.
Guardian 26,314 – Boatman
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 >>
Independent 8,660 / Morph
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 >>
Financial Times 14,667 – Dante
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 >>
Financial Times 14,666 by Mudd
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 >>
Financial Times 14,675 by IO
For the second time I have been unable to complete an Io puzzle. Any help with the remaining two solutions would be greatly appreciated.
Guardian 26,313 by Paul
Well its Paul so we expect a bit of rudeness and lots of playful word play.
Independent 8659 / Dac
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 >>
Inquisitor 1341: Circling the Square by Ferret
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 >>
Independent 8,658 by Phi
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.
Financial Times 14,674 NEO
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.
Guardian Cryptic N° 26,312 by Pasquale
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 >>