This has given me some difficulties.
Independent 8,009 / Phi
It is Friday today so, in the absence of any special occasion calling for a commemorative puzzle, it must be a Phi-day! I took longer over this one than I do over the … Read more >>
Guardian 25,663 / Paul
I found this a bit of a struggle, but richly rewarding – Paul at his best and worthy of a Prize puzzle. There are some real gems here, in a cleverly-woven mini-theme – … Read more >>
Financial Times 14,031 by Orense
Straightforward and fair – ? over 26 across Across 1 STICK INSECTS (bugs) what flypaper does 10 OUTRAGE (offend) OUT (not in) RAGE (anger) 11 RISOTTO (Italian dish) SIR< (teacher … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1162
Satisfying cerebral exercise Across 2 First whiskey? Drap curiously put in porridge – odd STIRRUP DRAM (DRAP)* in STIR (porridge) RUM (odd) 9 Used axe cut centre, note HEED … Read more >>
Financial Times no.14,030 by REDSHANK
A puzzle of two halves, for me: north side, mostly a breeze; south side, mostly murder. But I got there in the end, and I enjoyed the journey – and I learned a … Read more >>
Guardian 25,662 – Chifonie
Typically straightforward clueing from Chifonie, with lots of charades and anagrams. The last couple in the bottom right corner held me up at the end because of unhelpful crossing letters, but otherwise it … Read more >>
Independent 8008 / Morph
I am not sure if I have blogged a puzzle by Morph before, but I really enjoyed this after a slow start. I got the theme word at 8 down … Read more >>
Financial Times Prize Crossword 14,021 by Crux
Sil’s away with no or limited access to the internet, so you’ve got me again – I doubt he’s gone to watch the football somehow, so I return with a Crux crossword, FT Monday crosswords … Read more >>
Financial Times 14,020 by Mudd
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of June 2, 2012 This Mudd presented me with a couple of challenges, especially in the bottom-left quadrant. For example, 24A (AFTERSHAVE) took me a while. My … Read more >>
Financial Times 14,029 by Loroso
My apologies for the late posting, by some strange human/computer malfunction that I have still not fathomed I managed to delete the entire blog just before posting and had to start again from … Read more >>
Independent 8007/Dac
Rather a hard Dac today, I thought. The clues are as always clever and pleasing, but in one or two cases they require an unusually long stretch before you see what is happening. … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1232: Bottoms Up! by Charybdis
Not so hard this week, but enjoyable for all that. And a deft handling of the thematic elements, so thanks to Charybdis for this puzzle. The entry at 25a & a jumbling … Read more >>
Financial Times no. 14, 028 by Armonie
Your regular blogger Scchua is away, so you’ve got me today folks as the occasional stand-in for my first FT blog. Never knowingly done an Armonie before but found this pretty straighforward. I’d not … Read more >>
Independent 8006 / Scorpion
Another themed offering from Scorpion today. We had difficulty on the first run-through of the clues and it wasn’t until we solved a couple of the themed entries that we managed to solve … Read more >>