Not a difficult solve, but not an easy blog, with various quibbles. The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26087.
Financial Times 14,443 – Crux
Monday Prize Crossword/Oct 14 Enjoyable crossword by Crux who, for me, is in the same league as Falcon/Everyman. That said, while I particularly like Crux’s surfaces I must also admit that Falcon is … Read more >>
Financial Times 14,442 by Mudd
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of October 12, 2013 I spent a fair time finishing off this puzzle. The right half seemed easy while the left half harboured some tricky clues, notably … Read more >>
The Sheffield Tap, Saturday 26th October
Two points for those of you who are coming to the John Henderson Big Birthday Bash Part 1: 1. There will be people there who know each other via websites etc, but have … Read more >>
Guardian 26,086 / Paul
Paul continues the good crossword week with another fine puzzle, full of smiles and ‘aha’ moments and some really neat cluing – I really enjoyed it. Many thanks, Paul. Across 1 Step down … Read more >>
Financial Times 14,451 / Cinephile
This must have been my quickest ever solve of a Cinephile puzzle, with three quarters of the grid being filled during my first pass through the clues and the rest during the second. … Read more >>
Independent 8432 / Dac
It’s really difficult to know what to say in the preamble for Dac’s puzzles. They always have smooth surfaces and well-constructed clues but there is rarely anything ‘out of the ordinary’ that demands … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1303: Persuasion by Phi
Preamble: Starting at an unchecked square in the top row, the clockwise perimeter contains a 7-word non-English phrase. Unchecked letters, including corners, rearrange to give I SUB A HAIRCUT. Four clues omit a shared thematic definition. The other 34 clues include a … Read more >>
Independent 8,431 / Donk
When you notice that a puzzle has been set by Donk, you know you have a treat in store, both as a solver and as a blogger. Today’s puzzle was no exception. This … Read more >>
Financial Times 14450 Neo
Initially fearing a tough one from Neo, I was saved by the long answers, which I got before the shorter ones. He’s given the puzzle a literary flavour. Thanks Neo for an enjoyable … Read more >>
Guardian 26,085 by Puck
Tough, but not as impossible as it seemed on the first run through. Had to use Google to parse 23dn. Some very nice cluing, my favourites were 10ac, 19/20ac and 6dn. Across 9 … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 727 Pan
What one would expect of a Quiptic, maybe slightly easier than most. Thanks to Pan. Definitions are underlined in the clues. [[The pictures at the bottom have unidentified links to the puzzle. Please … Read more >>
Independent 8,430 by Quixote
A wild and wet morning here brings Quixote for our fortnightly monday entertainment. Quite a quick solve and blog today except possibly 17a where I feel I’m missing something possibly to do with … Read more >>
Guardian 26,084 – Brendan
Brendan is becoming quite a regular as an occasional stand-in for Rufus in the Monday slot, which is fine by me. This is a suitably accessible puzzle, with quite a few anagrams and … Read more >>
AZED No 2,158
In this puzzle, which features a 13 by 11 grid, Azed gives us 3 long answers both across and down. The puzzle also includes a larger than usual number of 4 letter words, … Read more >>