I thought the puzzle today was on the tougher end of the Bradman spectrum. Nevertheless, it was an entertaining puzzle with a healthy mix of straight fixes, flirtatiously cryptic and the odd seemingly inscrutable clue. I did have a couple of quibbles which I have highlighted in the solve. Overall, a pleasant experience and a much deserved thanks to the Don.
Guardian 26,793 – Qaos
Lots of fun from Qaos today
Financial Times 15,149 by MAGWITCH
A straightforward offering from Magwitch.
Guardian 26,792 – Paul
A few of today’s clues seem to have escaped from the Quiptic, but there were a couple of others whose parsing took a while to sort out. Lots of references to dances of … Read more >>
Independent 9,138 / Morph
This was my first Morph in quite a while, so I was keen to get my teeth into it. Morph’s puzzles are always a special treat and this one was no exception. That … Read more >>
Financial Times 15,140 – Dante
Monday Prize Crossword / Jan 18, 2016
Now that was initially a shocker. A grid that didn’t fit the enumerations of the clues. I tried to find a suitable grid but what I meanwhile didn’t see was that the clues were exactly the same as in the previous Dante (15,140 – 4 Jan 2016)). Fortunately, the FT changed the clues appropriately within a day, avoiding another Carte Rosee …..
Financial Times 15,139 by Goliath
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of January 16, 2016 Despite a number of unusual clues, I managed to solve this rather quickly so I must be getting well used to Goliath by … Read more >>
Financial Times 15,148 by GOZO
I found this very tricky, there is still one clue that I cannot solve. Nevertheless this was very enjoyable to solve and blog and I knew (or had at least heard of) all the themed entries except one, which came as a somthing surprise to me. Thank you Gozo.
Guardian 26,791 / Bonxie
Bonxie only appears occasionally (four times last year) and so, with all the other puzzles I have solved in the interim, I could not remember his style and what to expect. I found … Read more >>
Independent 9137 / Quixote
It’s the last Wednesday of the month so Dac’s regular slot is filled by Quixote. This was a puzzle without any serious obscurities. A bit of general knowledge was required … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1421: Domain Name by Ferret
This is Ferret’s tenth appearance as an Inquisitor setter. The preamble was fairly short and stated "A name concealed in the grid, is 7 of the domain at 3. With the help of … Read more >>
Financial Times 15,147 / Neo
This puzzle didn’t arrive on the FT’s website until around 2pm (I’d only been waiting 8 hours for it to appear!) so it is a good job that Neo has been gentle with … Read more >>
Independent 9,136 by Scorpion
Despite my misgivings over the spelling of the answer to 24ac (yes I know. Language does move on and we can’t just go along with what people said some while ago. But a pity that this moving on is dictated by someone in television making a mistake) this is a very pleasant crossword, accessible, with good clues — the one that I don’t understand will I trust be explained by someone.
Definitions underlined.
Guardian Cryptic 26,790 by Puck
The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26790.
Guardian 26,789 / Rufus
Once again, Rufus fulfils his brief to ease us into the crossword week. As always with Rufus, there are some clever anagrams, with lovely surfaces [1, 15, 22 and 26ac]. There are fewer … Read more >>