Financial Times 14,214 by Orense

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Straightforward and enjoyable         Across 1 MORASS confused situation OR (men) in MASS (service) 4 EMISSARY government agent E (Spain) MISS (young lady) A R[ac]Y 10 SEPTEMBER 30 days (PEST)* … Read more >>

Guardian 25,848 – Tramp

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What a treat to have a Tramp puzzle to blog on this chilly morning. I took a while to get started, not helped by putting in a plausible but wrong answer for 7d, … Read more >>

Independent 8194 / Phi

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This was an entertaining puzzle from Phi  including some of his regular geographic allusions.       Phi is a compiler based in Wellington, New Zealand and often includes flora and fauna native … Read more >>

Independent 8193/Rorschach

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A crossword today from Rorschach that I at any rate found particularly hard, not helped by its thrice vanishing into the ether so that I had to restart.  Some of the clues are … Read more >>

Guardian 25,847 – Gordius

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Found this trickier than usual from Gordius, but very enjoyable. Favourite clues 12ac, 26ac and 1dn. Across 1 MONGREL =”unrefined types” hidden in “aMONG RELatively” 5 KAISER =”emperor” KA (Ford model) + IS … Read more >>

Financial Times no.14,214 by Loroso

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Goodness, I had a struggle with this. Loroso’s extensive vocabulary (or, perhaps, my limited vocabulary), a few misleading indicators (sandwiches, pockets) and a general brain-failure on my part combined to make this one … Read more >>

Financial Times 14,204 – Crux

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Monday Prize Crossword/Jan 7 A Crux puzzle which – rather unusual for this setter – had quite a few cross references. An overall enjoyable solve, but not one of Crux’s very best. Ah … Read more >>

Financial Times 14,212 by IO

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Quite tricky but with a couple of easy starters to get me going, thanks IO. I really messed this up, first by mistakenly writing the solution to 4dn in the grid at 10dn, … Read more >>

Guardian Cryptic N° 25,846 by Paul

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The crossword may be found at http://www.guardian.co.uk/crosswords/cryptic/25846 for as long as it is archived. I had quite a struggle with Paul’s wit and ingenuity in this one. It was not made any the … Read more >>

Financial Times 14211 Armonie

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A very slightly harder Armonie today, but good.  Thanks Armonie.  I noted the number of repeated words in the clues: “beer”(1a/12a), “girl”(14a/21a), “speed”(11a/22a), “knight”(2d/4d), “number”(7d/8d), “nothing”(11a/28a), and wondered if it was deliberate?  If … Read more >>