Never knowingly undersolved
An intriguing preamble: As ‘instructed’ by the grid, solvers must make a choice in the case of eleven clashes; and a further ten clues omit a letter in the subsidiary indications – these … Read more >>
It is Friday today, so we have Phi’s latest puzzle to contend with. This puzzle has something of a musical theme to it and was trickier in terms of its vocabulary for me … Read more >>
Clever stuff – 6 down still a mystery Across 8 CARAFE some wine RA[c] (service mostly) in CAFÉ (restaurant) 9 STOPOVER break for driver ST (road) OP (work) OVER … Read more >>
Typical Araucaria fare today, with familiar ploys which will tickle or exasperate, depending on your predilections. Needless to say, I loved it. Across 1 Call boy’s takeover HIJACK HI [call ] + JACK … Read more >>
Excellent as usual Across 1 Chance instant, mostly noticed by touch HAPTIC HAP (chance) TIC[K] (instant mostly) 5 Crazy officer brought into plan MADCAP DC (officer – detective constable) … Read more >>
Sorry I’m so late. I awoke with a headache and – on seeing that it was once again a Hamilton Thursday – an agonised groan. For some odd reason I always find Hamilton … Read more >>
It’s exactly a month since I last blogged a Picaroon puzzle. No technical problems this time, and fewer obscurities (last time we had NGULTRUM and EIGENVECTOR among others), but I still found it … Read more >>
Morph puzzles appear in the Independent about once a month and are very welcome. At one point I thought this might be a pangram, but we seem to be 2 … Read more >>
Monday Prize Crossword/Mar 11 It is a well-known fact that Mr Halpern likes to save his best work for The Guardian (as Paul). But if perhaps a tad (or two) less adventurous, this … Read more >>
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of March 9th, 2013 Cinephile marks the 30th anniversary of his first puzzle in the FT. Of course, as most readers will know, John Graham has been … Read more >>
Gaff is not a regular on Wednesdays so it was nice to have a change fronm the usual suspects. Easy or difficult? I found this easy to get the ansers but in some … Read more >>
As happens on many Wednesdays, we have a neat and perfectly-formed object. You wouldn’t think that such excellent surfaces were possible from the simple material used. Across 1 HO AXER 4 ROASTING — … Read more >>
The puzzle may be found at http://www.guardian.co.uk/crosswords/cryptic/25900. The first question is: who is the setter? The crossword front page announces Arachne, but the puzzle itself gives the byline to Philistine. I cannot be … Read more >>
A first time out for Anax in the Inquisitor series. Twelve answers, each clued without a definition, are of a kind. Their characters fall into two groups (as indicated in their clues); … Read more >>
Arachne and I are hosting a get-together at the Vine Inn, 42-46 Kennedy St, Manchester, M2 4BQ, from 12.00 on Saturday 4 May. This is a final call to all fellow travellers to … Read more >>