Never knowingly undersolved
Great fun from Serpent today who had us wrapped up in his devious coils quite a few times during the solve. We blogged three Serpent puzzles in a row in December and January … Read more >>
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of February 17, 2018
Dac occupies this Wednesday’s compiling slot – back where he belongs, one might say! I found this to be an enjoyable puzzle, not that challenging, which was just perfect for me on a … Read more >>
A very enjoyable puzzle from Alberich. Understated rather than flashy, but none the worse for that. Thank you Alberich.
My apologies for the blog being a little later than usual this morning but I had to dig the puzzle out of a snowdrift.
It’s hard to find anything new to say about Paul: I can only express my admiration for his ability to come up with high-quaity puzzles with such regularity. This was a typical example, … Read more >>
This was another Serpentine puzzle. I had the pleasure of sorting out and blogging “Mirror Image” in June. This one was less artistic, but equally devious. A carte blanche with blanks in it … Read more >>
The puzzle can be solved online here.
Raich seems to be appearing regularly again midweek. I solved this one fairly steadily working down the grid. When I completed the grid, the top and bottom row of unchecked … Read more >>
Rather testing for a Tuesday, I thought…
A mostly fairly gentle puzzle with a few clues that were made more difficult by having more obscure answers.
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27442.
An enjoyable Monday morning offering from CRUX. We learned a few things, which is always a bonus.
It’s fairly well-known that I don’t have a high opinion of Anto as a setter, so here’s a brief blog in order that you can decide what you think. … Read more >>
The Observer crossword / Feb 18, 2018
Last week, Pierre started his Everyman blog with the lines “Everyman is such a good choice of cryptic for those new to them, or for those learning the ropes. Always carefully constructed and at a level of difficulty that should encourage people to have a go“. I am not sure whether I fully agree with that. To me, the setter, the really excellent Colin Gumbrell, offers a bit more than just that, making his puzzles a joy for more experienced solvers too. And for bloggers! 🙂
Poins in the pulpit this Sunday, with a pleasing puzzle that took a bit of teasing out. It took me a while to pin this one down (and there’s one … Read more >>