A themed offering from GAFF
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 >>
Guardian Cryptic 26,832 by Screw
Very tricky in places, with several clues that I couldn’t parse until well after starting to blog. Favourites were 2dn, 3dn, 4dn and 20dn.
Christmas crossword solution
I have just been reminded that I didn’t post the solution, which I promised to do. Here it is… and sorry for the untimely reminder of Christmas.
Independent 9178 / Hob
Well, Hob puzzles seem to be a bit like buses for us – we waited for nearly a year and then two come along within a few weeks of each other. As we … Read more >>
Independent 9177 by Anax
I don’t often attempt Anax puzzles because I find them a little too time-consuming and usually end up with three or four clues that I can’t complete. However, as I was blogging this … Read more >>
Guardian 26,831 – Rufus
Only two “pure” cryptic definitions from Rufus today, but a couple of double defs that only just count as double. Quite a few anagrams too, which helped to make this a very quick … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 852/Moley
I enjoyed this Quiptic from Moley. One or two double definitions that didn’t quite hit the spot for me, but otherwise an excellent puzzle for those just getting used to the world of … Read more >>
Cyclops 568: AB de Villiers bats like a genius…
… and FRUIT BATS, of course, like a banana. After already being late with this, I could not find my solved copy, so had to solve it again this morning. Fortunately, that didn’t … Read more >>
Everyman 3,622
Another Sunday another Everyman for you all.
Beelzebub 1357
With around half the grid filled during my first pass through the clues I thought I was going to be in for a quick solve but in the end that was not the … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1,359 by Hypnos
Not too many problems this week. Just a high quality Sunday cryptic with one or two nice moments of education, such as at 7 down. Across 1 PRIORITY Appeal in religious foundation is … Read more >>
Azed 2283
This puzzle was published on the first Sunday of the month so it’s an Azed competition puzzle, but it’s a plain one I didn’t find anything particularly difficult in what … Read more >>