Inquisitor 1222: JOINER by Hypnos
Reasonable start this week, but a tricky finish. We were asked to identify a “joiner” from “components” deduced from the unclued entries, and from misprinted letters in 15 clues. There were also blank … Read more >>
Financial Times 13969 Armonie
A straightforward start to the FT week again (and no glitches too), so thanks to Armonie for an enjoyable crossword. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Each picture at the bottom has an … Read more >>
Independent 7946 / Eimi
This was a different puzzle from many Independent daily crosswords. For a start there were 36 clues, significantly more than is usual in a daily blocked crossword. I thought also … Read more >>
Guardian 25,600 – Arachne
The Spider Woman spun a very tricky web of intrigue and mystery today in a challenging puzzle with quite a fair number of unfamiliar words; but, as usual, very fair and entertaining. Thank … Read more >>
Independent 7945 by Quixote
I find Quixote pretty much the easiest of the Indy setters and I found this puzzle very easy indeed even by his standards, solving in what for me was a very fast time … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 646 / Arachne
I must remember to do the lottery on Saturday, as this must be my lucky week – my second Arachne Quiptic in succession! Perhaps a little harder than some Quiptics, but the smile … Read more >>
Guardian 25,599 – Rufus
Maybe I just wasn’t on the right wavelength today, but I found this a lot harder than usual for Rufus. Most of the clues I had trouble with are double or cryptic definitions, … Read more >>
Cyclops 465: The canine testicles
The usual fun from Cyclops, who has managed as ever to work all sorts of salacious references into wordplay for simple and innocent words. Clue of the fortnight, though, has to be 17a, … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1153: Poins. Heart to heart
An entertaining puzzle from Poins, with a mini-theme of HEART (24d). Apologies for late and swiftly posted blog, and for any mistakes I have overlooked. Across 1 BALSA Model makers use it with … Read more >>
Everyman No. 3416 (25th March)
Lorraine: Good morning to you all, Unusually I did not do this weeks puzzle on Sunday but did it during the week. Lots of lovely clue’s this week, ‘bootless’ had me stuck for a … Read more >>
Guardian Genius 105 / Crucible
The Genius puzzle could be described as one of the blocked crossword world’s entry into the more challenging type of crossword arena championed by the likes of The Inquisitor, Enigmatic Variations and The … Read more >>
Azed 2077
The usual thing from Azed: utterly sound clueing and lots of wading through Chambers in search of words you have never heard of, which is quite fun, once you’re used to it. As … Read more >>
Guardian 25,592 / Araucaria
(Sorry to the lateness of this post – I meant to do it yesterday evening but it slipped my mind, I’m afraid.) This was an enjoyable puzzle, although we found it quite tough … Read more >>
Independent 7938 Tyrus (Sat 24-Mar-2012)
I had a bit of ‘blogger’s blindness’ on this one. I found it a struggle, harder than most Tyrus puzzles I’ve tackled before – hard to get started and hard to make … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 1010 Lego by Chalicea
Lego – now that’s something you can never get tired of playing with! A nice short and sweet preamble with extra letters in the down clues giving an instruction to solvers. All relatively … Read more >>