Never knowingly undersolved
Usual delightful variety to extend the vocabulary – 5d is one such. Once flew with 24a – there was a fly buzzing on the plane and we were served lukewarm, brown lemonade. … Read more >>
I blogged the Hypnos Sunday puzzle last month and enjoyed it, and I enjoyed this one too; but I found it just as tricky, especially the NE corner. I need help with one, … Read more >>
A typical Everyman – nothing too elaborate, well-constructed and varied clues, with the odd bit of general knowledge thrown in, which should be gettable even if you are not the general who knows it.
I was a little apprehensive when I saw that the blogging cycle had delivered me a jigsaw puzzle, because these tend to need a lot of “cold-solving” of clues before any progress can … Read more >>
This was magnificent. A great theme, well executed. Many thanks to… well, to whom, exactly? There seems to be a fair amount going on – unclued entries, additional words and subsidiary indications, and … Read more >>
For me, this was the most enjoyable Prize puzzle for ages. Some clues kept me guessing, as they should, in a Prize, but they were all quite clear in the end, after a … Read more >>
What the Hell?! I know it is a Nimrod, but I didn’t expect the Spanish Inquisition!… A veritable tour-de-force from a master of the dark arts of cruciverbalism…a multi-layered thematic (and anniversarial?) puzzle to fry the mind, … Read more >>
An intelligent and varied offering from the Don. Struggled to find the cryptic nature of 16down unless it’s tongue-in-cheek? ACROSS 1 SALMAGUNDY anagram of SLUDGY A MAN a 17th century … Read more >>
I had considered indicating the definition part of each clue, but had not done so, because (a) I’m basically lazy, and (b) I detail the wordplay, and whatever is left over is generally the definition. If there is anything unusual about the definition, I will add a note to that effect (particularly for a Quiptic or Everyman, which are generally geared to the less experienced solver). However , the discussion of the last few days seems to indicate a desire for a more explicit indication, so I am happy to oblige: definitions are underlined (which, as we shall see, is not always a trivial matter).
A fairly tricky themed puzzle for our first weekday blog. It seems only a short time ago that we were lurkers. We used to complete the Indy late in the evening and by … Read more >>
When I saw the rather strange grid, with six 15-letter words and only 22 answers, it immediately seemed that something was afoot, but I can’t see anything. Perhaps there is indeed something there, … Read more >>
I don’t think I’ve encountered many Aardvarks before in my Thursday slot; in any event, there was nothing here to drive me to echo Edmund Blackadder’s furious exclamation: “If I ever meet an … Read more >>
This was an interesting puzzle, thanks Paul. It was challenging and hard to get into because the gateway clue to the theme, was tricky – complex wordplay and an unusual definition. Definitions are … Read more >>
Monday Prize Crossword/Jan 30 It is not very often that Mudd appears on a Monday, but there he was. There were several nice clues with matching surfaces (1ac, 15ac, 26ac and 1d, to … Read more >>
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of January 28, 2012 Here is another impeccable and highly enjoyable puzzle from Cincinnus. My top-ratings go to 25A (FLEECE), 28A (ATHERTON), 7D (STOMA), 16D (KILLER BEE) … Read more >>