Never knowingly undersolved
Enigmatist puzzles are rather few and far between these days, so this was a welcome return to the prize slot. On the whole, I didn’t find it quite so tortuous as his puzzles … Read more >>
The rota has given me a second Bannsider Saturday Prize puzzle in a row and, while not quite as intractable as Indy 8345, it was another tough mental workout…as one might expect. No particular themes … Read more >>
An extraordinarily small crossword from Phi today — just 22 clues — no easier than usual, but just as good. There were some hardly-known words and plenty of recourse to the dictionary, but even this … Read more >>
Some ingenious clues here Across 1 STRAIGHT MAN feed STRAIGHT (regular) MAN (soldier) 7 MAP plan A in MP (politician) 9 KNIGHT chessman – sounds like NIGHT (dark) 10 … Read more >>
This was somewhat different – could maybe be another compiler – devices such as subtractive anagram at 3d not seen here before – and 9d ….. Across 5 Strained … Read more >>
The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26034.
So this week’s fare comprises 12 unclued symmetrical placed entries around the perimeter and 6 clues without definitions (with the word play missing the letter that intersects the perimeter) – otherwise a straight crossword – so … Read more >>
I’m not used to being presented with unusual challenges by Thursday’s FT, but this nicely-worked puzzle from Gozo proved to be just that. All of the Across clues in the grid are foreign … Read more >>
A highly entertaining puzzle from Puck, which turned out to be not so daunting as it looked initially [apart from one piece of parsing which has me completely stumped]. Along with some easy … Read more >>
We invariably approach the Thursday Indy crossword with some trepidation, given its reputation for being the trickiest of the week. However, we found today’s offering from Nestor less challenging than some, but it … Read more >>
Monday Prize Crossword/Aug 12 A typical Dante crossword that was, of course, no match for the two FT puzzles that followed (Redshank, Loroso) as far as difficulty is concerned. Yet, it took me … Read more >>
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of August 10, 2013 I found this Mudd puzzle moderately easy and very good. My favourite clues are 10A (FACE CARD) and the brilliant 17D (FORTY-FIVE). ACROSS … Read more >>
Typically tough crossword from Monk, obscure words and devious constructions. There are still two solutions I cannot fathom, so any help appreciated. We have to sets of anagrams in this puzzle: BEAST, ABETS,BATES,BASTE … Read more >>
Some tough cluing here, I struggled after getting the long 19d solution almost immediately. Favourites were 11ac, 22ac, 16dn and the groan-worthy 8dn. edited, thanks to cholecyst and Eileen Across 1 TESTIS =”ball” … Read more >>
It’s Wednesday today, so time for my weekly dose of Dac. I thought I was going to race through this one, and indeed I did speed through the first two thirds; the final … Read more >>