Better late than never.
Guardian 26,844 / Bonxie
I have to admit that, due to the site problems I found when I got up this morning, I didn’t actually solve this one, instead reverting to the ‘reveal all’ option due to … Read more >>
Independent 9190 / Vigo
Vigo is an occasional contributor to the Independent daily series. I last blogged a Vigo puzzle in August last year. Vigo gives us our money’s worth today with 36 clues … Read more >>
Software Problem
Update 8.05pm: I have hopefully resolved the problem (eventually!). A WordPress plugin updated itself at 0100 this morning and this resulted in various issues with the WordPress core, including the loss of formatting … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 854/Pan
Pan has slipped in one or two tricky ones here, but I still think it’s a good Quiptic. It’s all there if you go looking for it and the cluing is clear. … Read more >>
Independent Online 9189/Punk
History will perhaps record that the first Independent cryptic of the paper’s digital-only age was set by Punk and blogged by Pierre. I just hope that I’ve done it justice, because it was … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 26,843 by Crucible
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26843.
Private Eye/Cyclops 569 Instant Academy
A mid range Eye puzzle. Nothing terribly hard, nothing terribly easy, but some lovely smutty surface readings to the clues as usual. Across 1 SAVE Head of Tesco abandons staff cut back (4) … Read more >>
Everyman 3,624
Am I more stupid than normal…?
Independent on Sunday 1361 / Quixote
It’s been quite some time since we’ve seen Quixote on a Sunday. In fact it’s almost five years to the day because his last IoS was No. 1102 on 27th March 2011. The … Read more >>
AZED 2,285 – Give & Take
Hard! Normally I manage to finish AZED with just a paper copy of Chambers for aid. It may take more than one sitting but I get there in a reasonable amount of time. Not this week. I gave up trying to solve unaided early on and even using electronic aids I really struggled. At times I was basically cheating as I was trawling the web for information and using all sorts of word-search programs to try and make progress. Towards the end things got a little easier as the number of checking letters allowed me to revert to a more straightforward approach. Thank you AZED for a great challenge.
Inquisitor – The Good News
From today’s final print edition:
“Fantastic news: the Inquisitor will have a new slot in the i newspaper every Saturday.”
Independent 9182 by Donk (?LAST EVER? Saturday Prize Puzzle – RIP – 19 March 2016)
I have in my hand a piece of paper…and unfortunately this is the last time I will be able to say that about a newsprint copy of an Indy Prize Cryptic (;+<) (My understanding … Read more >>
Guardian 26,836 / Picaroon
A fun puzzle from Picaroon, and not very taxing My favourite clue was 11a AN IDEAL HUSBAND, I think. Across 1. How poet’s day starts, absorbing French from novel (6) MODERN MORN = … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 1217: Quantitative Easing by Jaques
This week we had an alphabetical jigsaw from Jaques. I have to confess that they’re not my favourite, although I’ve had my fair share to blog at Listen With Others. They generally involve … Read more >>