Never knowingly undersolved
A fairly typic Vlad experience for me today, where I got off to a good start with some (relatively) easy clues, but then slowed down and took a while to finish off. Even … Read more >>
Unfortunately, we didn’t really enjoy this offering from Phi today. When this happens, regardless of the setter, we both try and analyse why – perhaps today it was the fact that some of … Read more >>
Another brain twister from Wanderer! No clue that could be termed obvious yet upon solving seemed like they should have been easier than they appeared to be. Exactly what a good crossword clue should be. I have 1 clue that I am not sure I have solved fully …
This was my first experience of solving, let alone blogging, a puzzle by S.Park, although a quick trawl through the site reveals that this is the third Indy puzzle published under this pseudonym. … Read more >>
My first Screw (blogging-wise), and the last bit had me almost 23down. Thanks to Screw for a hard but enjoyable one. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 1 Absolute idiot on top of … Read more >>
A very good puzzle let down by repetition.
Monday Prize Crossword / Sep 26, 2016
A Monday without Rufus, and no Dante either!
Time for a pleasant and easy Falcon.
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of September 24, 2016
Something of a challenge form Julius. There is plenty to go at in here, a few straightforward clues but mostly downright deviousness. Vey enjoyable, thanks Julius.
It’s Wednesday, it’s D.. – no it’s not, it’s Serpent with what I thought was quite a tough puzzle I found this one of the most difficult Independent puzzles that … Read more >>
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27007.
This was a challenge and a half! The preamble gave some hint of the challenge to come when it told us that: All but seven clues contain a redundant letter. … Read more >>
A steady solve this morning, with some lovely surfaces from Jason.
It seems that Eimi wants to make a point to all us pedants who endlessly carp on about less than 50% checking: more than 57% of the answers are of this type, which is clearly of no concern to him.
Two other things struck me about this offering from Eimi: the apparently large number of full anagrams (seven I think), and what Brian Greer once referred to in his excellent crossword articles in the Times of the late 90s as something whose exact name I can’t remember, but it was typically apposite and referred to anagrams which hit you in the face and can be nothing but anagrams (‘Paint Lucy’, ‘Canopus’, ‘Dench loafs’). Which is not to say that I found it easy: as you’d expect Eimi has included various references to a world that is less well-known to me than to him, and occasionally some rather good clues (I’d have liked the RSC one if it had been printed properly).
In my blog of the last Imogen puzzle a month ago, I commented that it was rather less of a challenge than usual and that some of the clues were rather bland. Not … Read more >>