Financial Times 13,679 / Neo
Suppose I should have seen the theme coming. I thought Neo did well to stretch the thematic material as far as he did – even if it may be a little too innuendo-laden … Read more >>
Independent 7,654 / Mordred
This is my first attempt at blogging a Mordred crossword and I have to say that it has been a real struggle, first to solve and above all to blog. I fear that … Read more >>
Guardian 25,308 / Tramp
I am pretty sure this is the first appearance of a Tramp cryptic crossword. I remembered seeing his name on a Genius puzzle earlier in the year and, after some research on this … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,671 / Dante
Monday Prize Crossword from 18 April 2011 Not as many cd’s and dd’s as we have been accustomed to seeing in a Dante puzzle. Of these, I liked 11 across the best. Across … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,670 by Cincinnus
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of April 16 This week Cincinnus gives us three homophones (!) and some typically fine double definitions. My favourite clues here are 11A (RILKE), 24A (GREER), 1D … Read more >>
Independent 7,653/Crosophile
My first time blogging a Crosophile puzzle, and a very nice one it was too. There was nothing too tricky here, but plenty of excellent cryptic defs and elegant surfaces. I particularly liked … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,678 Set by Gozo
A good crossword today from Gozo, harder than it looks at first sight. We have a geography lesson from Gozo: countries, states, riviers and cities – large and small. I enjoyed the juxtaposition of … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1173: Not Fare by Lato
This puzzle had a preamble that I had to read a few times before I really understood it, and even then the whole thing didn’t make complete sense until I had completed the … Read more >>
Guardian 25,307 – Brendan
It’s been a while since I blogged a Brendan puzzle, so it was a delight to get this – one where every across clue includes the word “queen”, used in various ways, including … Read more >>
Independent 7652/Anax
Poor old Anax keeps on getting me at the moment. This wasn’t nearly so hard as his offering last week; the theme, which became clear when the long clue at 16ac was solved, … Read more >>
Financial Times 13677 Armonie
This was quite a smooth solve, except for 7A which held me up for a bit. In fact the “spare” time from the faster completion, was spent in embellishing (maybe too much, in … Read more >>
Guardian 25306 Gordius … TO LET
Two weeks ago, I apologised for using Dr Livingstone, I presume? in the headline. I further added Green Eggs and Ham,the title of Dr Zeuss’s classic as an example of something totally unrelated. … Read more >>
Quiptic 597/Nutmeg
Called off the bench by Gaufrid as substitute blogger. I suspect the difficulty is that the Guardian website is still showing last week’s puzzle. Anyway, if anyone does access the crossword, then this … Read more >>
Independent 7651 / Nestor
A generally straightforward puzzle though I needed on-line assistance to work out part of the parsing in 6dn and 14ac had me completely beaten but I think I have now worked out the … Read more >>
Guardian 25,305 / Rufus
As I am double booked with another commitment early this morning, I was a bit worried that Easter Monday was going to produce a Guardian humdinger with a double grid and a complex … Read more >>