Never knowingly undersolved
The preamble for PARADOX tells us: “In clue order, the second or fifth letters of single extra words in 15 clues give a PARADOX that is epitomised by one of the unclued entries. … Read more >>
It was no surprise to discover Phi’s latest offering on what is Phi-day after all. For me, this was a medium-difficulty Phi crossword which I worked my way through at a fairly even … Read more >>
I really enjoyed this puzzle, which turned out to be more straightforward than it looked at first, because the long answers went in almost immediately, from the enumerations. Parsing them was fun, though, … Read more >>
A fun-filled offering from my dear friend on Fridays, Bradman. Smooth surfaces in several clues alongside some ingenious word play.
A puzzle that at first seemed tough, and then seemed elementary, and ended up being pretty enjoyable, after all.
We don’t see this setter very often so it is something of a coincidence that I was standing in for someone who was away, as I am today, when his last puzzle appeared. … Read more >>
This was a tricky and sometimes frustrating solve, but with plenty of cleverness to enjoy along the, ahem, way. Quite a few answers were filled in from crossers + definition and parsed afterwards, 4ac was a new word and my last in. Favourites were 19ac/dn, 8dn and 21 dn.
Monday Prize Crossword/Nov 17 For some reason I didn’t find this Dante crossword as enjoyable as its predecessors. Hard going in the CD department and occassionally things that I found a bit debatable. … Read more >>
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of November 15, 2014 I found this puzzle fairly easy and very good. My top clues are 1a (TOUCH DOWN), 17a (ARMPITS), 19a (MUMBLED), 1d (TOPIC) and … Read more >>
It seems that Quixote is now doing the Wednesday crossword on the days (the last Wednesdays of the month) that Dac isn’t doing it, and there is no noticeable diminution of quality. Everything here is very clear and efficient and as with Dac I expect few to have much to say.
It’s a year since John died. For some years his brother, Stephen, has set a cryptic quiz and donated the proceeds to various charities. This year, and partly in John’s memory, the chosen charity is Medicin sans Frontieres.
Solvers who would like to sample a different version of the Graham wit are invited to download the puzzle and make a small donation here.
Well, this was a pleasant surprise! When I saw Araucaria’s name on the website I first assumed it must be another Guardian cock-up, but the puzzle itself proved (happily) otherwise. Another surprise was … Read more >>
A spectacular tribute puzzle from Io. This puzzle was accidentally omitted from the FT website on the day of publication. If you missed this one then I recommend having a go. download the PDF here.
A first solo Inquisitor offering from Ilver, but already known to us as one of the triumvirate Rasputin. Wordplay in twenty-seven clues gives rise to single extra letters, in order giving an … Read more >>
Nutmeg two days running, now there’s a turn-up for the books. To me this one seemed a little more inventive than yesterday’s Quiptic but not much harder. In fact, subjectively, they both appeared … Read more >>