A themed puzzle for this week’s prize competition from Paul, possibly intended to draw attention to Crufts, which was on when this puzzle appeared.
Enigmatic Variations 1216: Border by Chalicea
Borders are a bit of a hot topic at the moment – with the EU struggling with the refugee crisis, Donald Trump threatening to build a wall to ‘keep the Mexicans out’, and … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 26835 Paul
Tricky in only a few places, so perhaps a little on the easy side for a Paul. Thanks to Paul. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 1 Punch things (7) CLOBBER : … Read more >>
Independent 9,181 / Phi
It is Friday today and thus time for my monthly lexical joust with Phi. I found this quite a tough puzzle by Phi standards, and although I completed it unaided, there was a … Read more >>
Financial Times 15,192 by BRADMAN
Its Friday, Its Bradman, Its a pleasant challenge on the FT today.
Financial Times 15,191 by CHALMIE
Another themed one – my second this week
Independent 9180 / Nestor
It’s been a while since I blogged a puzzle by Nestor and I expected something quite difficult. I thought this fitted my expectations. The grid screamed Nina with all the … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 26,834 by Arachne
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26834.
Financial Times 15,182 – Falcon
Monday Prize Crossword / Mar 7, 2016
Falcon crosswords keep on coming nowadays.
It looks that he’s slowly taking over from Crux as a Monday regular.
Financial Times 15,181 by Magwitch
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of March 5, 2016
Independent 9179/Dac
My apologies to everyone; this is very late. I had computer problems and, having done the blog once but failed to post it, started all over again and used the old system, which … Read more >>
Financial Times 15,190 by MONK
I made a flying start on this one but eventually ground to a halt in the bottom-right corner. Got there in the end though! Thanks Monk.
Guardian 26,833 / Boatman
Boatman is not on my long list of top favourite setters and early spotting of the theme did not cause my heart to leap. As often, detailed knowledge of the theme was not … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1428: Small-coal by Phi
A long & seemingly complicated preamble for this puzzle from Phi, his second of the year. (No offence was intended when I omitted to count the ones he set prior to the renaming … Read more >>
Financial Times 15189 Gaff – Ageless!
This initially daunted me until I caught on to the theme. Still, the last themed answer escaped me, together with its cross-checker, until only just now (cue – I think he’s got it!) … Read more >>