Financial Times 13,544 / Phssthpok

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No shortage of cleverness here!  Some of these clues needed a second (or third) look before I could be sure I had parsed them correctly.  My clear favourite is 17 down: natural surface, … Read more >>

Guardian Quiptic 574 / Arachne

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No problems with today’s offering from Arachne.  My favourite clue was 9 across. All definitions given are from Chambers 11th Edition or the Oxford Dictionary of English. Most of the standard abbreviations used … Read more >>

Independent 7514 by Mordred

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*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism Enjoyable puzzle by Mordred of middling difficulty. It was probably a better puzzle for more experienced solvers because it had a few old staples … Read more >>

Azed 2006 — ‘Spoonerisms’

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Azed’s last competition puzzle was (of course, 2000) a special and I’d been expecting a little run of plains, but his specials, although they always take a bit longer than usual, are well … Read more >>

Financial Times 13,541 / Alberich

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Alberich challenges and entertains, and altogether gives us a very satisfying puzzle. A trademark of this setter is the seamless joint between definition and wordplay, and you can relish many examples of it … Read more >>

Guardian 25,166 / Gordius

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A pretty typical Gordius puzzle, I think – plenty of nice clues, but with a few liberties that rather bothered me along the way. Across 1. SEVENTEEN EVENT = “What happens” in SEEN … Read more >>

Independent 7511 by Eimi.

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Eimi takes the stage today, and some suspicious minds might look at the date and think Armistice  Day. They’d be wrong as this appears to be a vanilla crossword, even if bits do … Read more >>

Guardian 25,165 / Brendan

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After three days of relatively undemanding puzzles,  I wasn’t sure what to expect today but was very pleased to see Brendan’s name on this one.  As usual, I had the momentary dread of … Read more >>