Independent 10,600 by Phi
It’s Phiday again Another enjoyable Friday offering from Phi. We always expect that there is something going on in Phi puzzles, but although it looks as though there is a Nina of a … Read more >>
Independent 10,599 / Serpent
A puzzle by Serpent is always a treat, and today’s offering is no exception to that. This puzzle was a bundle of fun from start to finish. I found it less taxing than … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 1453: Four-letter words by Piccadilly
The 3rd of September’s easier clued EV’s is from Piccadilly. All clues are normal, but grid entry requires letter removal and insertion in the perimeter to spell out four-letter words which combine to … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 28,253 by Tramp
Tramp’s usual tricky excellence with some very neat surfaces including 14ac. I particularly liked 6ac, 10ac, 11ac, 20a, 26ac, 6dn, 7dn, 22dn, and especially 4dn. Many thanks to Tramp for the puzzle. … Read more >>
Financial Times 16,596 by FALCON
A pleasant puzzle from Falcon in this morning's FT This was a lovely puzzle to solve; not very difficult but with enough of a challenge to keep one entertained. There was no tough … Read more >>
Financial Times 16,586 by Alberich
Non-prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of September 19, 2020 A fine brew of easy, clever and difficult clues. I sailed through most of it then took a while to get 17 and … Read more >>
Financial Times 16,595 by GOZO
Another enjoyable puzzle from Gozo, no specialist knowledge required here. Thank you Gozo. This is an unusual puzzle for Gozo in that it is a plain puzzle: it has no special gird, theme, … Read more >>
Independent 10598 / Eccles
Eccles and Wednesday make a great combination for crossword solvers. Eccles doesn’t do themes and messages, but I detected a few political references in today’s clues and entries. Examples include … Read more >>
Guardian 28,252 Philistine
A very nice puzzle from Philistine: quite tricky in parts, but in a chewy kind of way that yielded to patient thought. A couple of references to fictional characters may have puzzled some. … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1665: Seize Them All by eXternal
eXternal is the setter this week. In fact, eXternal was one of the setting team of eXtent whose puzzle I blogged just 4 weeks ago. Looking through previous blogs of eXternal’s Inquisitors I … Read more >>
Financial Times 16,594 by PETO
Tricksy and enjoybale stuff from Peto today A slow start this morning. Some very cute definitions ('bank' at 1A a favourite) and not much was being given away in the parsing, either. But … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 28,251 by Pasquale
A tribute to a late cruciverbalist author in today’s Guardian. COLIN DEXTER, the creator of Inspector MORSE and his sidekick LEWIS, would have been 90 today, so Pasquale has taken the opportunity to … Read more >>
Independent 10,597 by Bluth
When Bluth’s first crossword appeared there was great excitement because Bluth is Dave Gorman, and the blog had what is I think a record number of posts (57). I don’t expect we’ll get … Read more >>
Quiptic 1,089 by Anto
Anto provides a slightly tricky Quiptic today. There are a couple of loose definitions, and some references that may be unfamiliar to non-Brits – I’ve tried to cover these in the notes. I’m … Read more >>
Independent 10,596 by Vigo
An enjoyable and conventional puzzle from Vigo which was generally at the easier end of the spectrum. I quite liked the misdirection in 1 across where most solvers would instantly assume two pints … Read more >>