It took me a little casting about to find an easy entry into this puzzle, but once started, it fell into place handily.
Independent on Sunday 1178/Nitsy
I don’t recall having seen Nitsy in the Indy for quite some time, but this was a welcome reappearance, with a puzzle that was reasonably accessible but thoughtfully constructed and with some nice … Read more >>
Independent 8088 (Prize 15-Sep-2012) Bannsider
Bannsider has raided his “special list”. You know the one… … The one he compiles when leafing through Chambers and comes across something outrageous, preferably in a sub-entry so it’s especially hard to spot. … Read more >>
Guardian Prize25,742 / Puck
From the Guardian Alan Connor’s ‘Meet the Setter’ interview with Puck: ‘What do you think goes through a solver’s mind when she [sic] sees that it’s a Puck puzzle?’ ‘I can only guess … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No.1035 – Last One To Join by Kruger
First of all, let’s have a rant. The editing was shoddy. Again. There was a missing bar in the grid (making 47ac appear to have 7 letters), ‘for’ was written as ‘fo’ in 7dn, while ‘or’ replaced ‘of’ in 30ac. Only the 7ac mistake was innocuous. I’m sure that the puzzles could be proof read by some enthusiastic amateur if there’s no one willing to do the job properly at the newspaper. At the very least, they could be fixed in the online version. But I digress…
Financial Times 14,115 by Gaff
This was very 24 across All dwarves from The Hobbit marked with + Across 1 HAY BALING (making stacks) Y (unknown) BALI+ in HAG (witch) 6 SCOOP dd 9 … Read more >>
Independent 8093/Phi
The usual good crossword from Phi. I am bewildered by 22dn but no doubt it will be explained. As usual I can’t see any Nina, although my search usually doesn’t go far beyond … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1176
Cracking challenge Across 3 Promising mischief beside Luxembourg border IMPLEDGING (promising) IMP (mischief) L (Luxembourg) EDGING (border) 9 Head away from frightening light AIRY (light) [h]AIRY (frightening) 10 Subdued question … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic N° 25,747 by Pasquale
A couple of words new to me, clearly clued.
Guardian Cryptic 25746 Crucible
This took a bit of time to get into, the key being 10. After getting some of the others, I finally got it via 2 and 16across. The pace quickened after that, and it turned out to be quite an enjoyable solve. Thanks to Crucible. (Apologies for the slight delay in posting – I had to interrupt the writing of the blog for a doctor’s appointment.)
Financial Times no.14,114 by BRADMAN
A nice mix (unless you’re anagramphobic) from the boy from Bowral this morning. I learned a couple of words, sniggered admiringly once or twice, and have a question that perhaps a Whovian could … Read more >>
Independent 8092 / Anax
It’s our turn to blog a Thursday puzzle so we were expecting to have some fun, especially when we saw that it was Anax! It had everything that you may expect from one … Read more >>
Financial Times 14,105 – Dante
Monday Prize Crossword/Sep 10 Pleasant Dante crossword that didn’t cause me too much trouble (although I had to make my brains work to fully understand 26ac). Smooth as ever, even if there were … Read more >>
Financial Times 14,104 by Mudd
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of September 8, 2012 What a stonker of a devious geographical clue is 20A (PALERMO) — loved it! Other fine clues here include 10A (MEASURE), 31A (SLOPPY) … Read more >>
Financial Times 14,113 by Cinephile
A mixed bag from Cinephile today, some really great clues and some that seem a little lazy. This crossword shares the Barrett-Browning theme with the August bank holiday special produced by Cinephile for the … Read more >>