Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of November 18, 2017
Financial Times 15,719 by JULIUS
Thank you Julius for another fine puzzle to solve and blog. A couple of bits I don’t fully understand but no doubt they will be explained in due course.
Independent 9713 / Dac
We have a typically elegant Dac crossword today You know what you are going to get with Dac. Clues with very good surfaces, unambiguous parsing and entries that come from … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 27,367 by Brendan
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27367.
Inquisitor 1517: CONTROL + ALT + DELETE by Ifor
Ifor is an innovative and challenging setter, so it was good to see his name attached to this puzzle The preamble told us that "Across clues and entries are normal … Read more >>
Independent 9,712 by Knut
I enjoyed this. Not too desperately difficult but there were some tricky bits. For example I only just realised about 26ac and was searching vainly on Google for some song that she performed.
Guardian 27,366 / Pasquale
A fairly typical puzzle from Pasquale, with the customary unfamiliar or half-forgotten word or two thrown in to challenge us – but all, as ever, meticulously clued and therefore ultimately solvable. Thank you, … Read more >>
Financial Times 15,718 by CRUX
Enjoyable puzzle. Nothing vicious, but always interesting with some very nice surfaces.
Guardian Quiptic 941/Hectence
One of the longest-standing Quiptic setters, Hectence, is on the oche this morning, with a puzzle I much enjoyed. Since it’s promoted as being for ‘beginners and those in a hurry’, for the … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 27,365 by Rufus
Thanks Rufus – I especially liked 18ac, 25ac, 4dn, and 19dn.
Independent 9711/Eccles
Eccles made his debut in the Indy just over a year ago, but it’s the first time I’ve had the chance to blog one of his puzzles. I enjoyed it very much, especially … Read more >>
Cyclops 612 – Water-bed Geriatric
It may just be a product of my febrile (50-year-old) teenage imagination, but this puzzle seems to be a bit of a homage to the late Hugh Hefner… There is a WATER BED … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1448 Peter
Thanks to Peter, for a puzzle that posed just a little difficulty. Definitions are underlined in the clues. P.S. I will be away when this is posted, so the blog won’t be corrected for … Read more >>
Everyman 3710/19 November
A puzzle from Everyman with his usual sprinkling of multi-part clues. Some less than pleasing surface readings (if those are important to you) but otherwise, as usual, all sound and tractable. … Read more >>
AZED 2,371
I bought a Chambers Dictionary app for my phone last week so I could solve puzzles in the coffee shop without having to cart the Big Red Book around. So I tried using it for Azed this week. It was clearly more efficient than using the paper copy but made me realize how much of the pleasure of solving Azed is not just in the words I look up but in all those other words I come across on the way. I spend as much time off on tangents as I do solving the puzzle. An efficient app that takes me directly to the entry in question free of distractions sounds good in principle but I don’t think I will be using it as first choice in future. Thanks to Azed for a super puzzle, as always.