A taxing puzzle by Morph which teased and entertained in equal measure. It is rare for a daily cryptic to put me through my paces quite as much as this one did, and I doubt that I am alone. I stumbled across some answers based mainly on the letters that were already in the grid and on the definitions, while their wordplay took me some time to unpick, e.g. at 21a. The entries at 1d, 25 and 28 were all new words for me, but I arrived at the answers thanks to the wordplay. My favourite clues were 17 for an inspired cryptic definition and 28 for its topicality. The trickiest part for me was the NE corner, the last clue solved being 8, where I didn’t spot the anagram for ages and was misled by the surface tense of the definition.
Incidentally, if anyone can explain the definition in 9, I would be grateful. My online version of the clue reads “Oddly absent campers on plots unlike”.

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Is there anyone out there who solves the Beelzebub and who would like to try their hand at blogging this puzzle? If so, please contact me at:
admin {at} fifteensquared {dot} net

A very nice seasonal offering from Dante/Rufus.  Favourite clues were 15 across and 5 down. Read the rest of this entry »

Thank you, Duncan for filling in so well for me during my brief sojourn in Sri Lanka for a Hashing event. Thankfully, I am done travelling for the rest of the year and my heart goes out to the many travellers stuck in European airports in the lead-up to Christmas.

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