Posted by shuchi on 13th January 2012
It’s pretty unusual for Aardvark to make a Friday appearance and it made for a pleasant change. A gentle, enjoyable crossword with clever misdirections and natural clue surfaces.
Posted in FT | 5 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 6th January 2012
The last time I blogged a Redshank crossword, its theme took me a long time to decipher. This was easy enough to work out with 5a being one of the first answers in. This puzzle had one of those themes in which, once you know the trick, you get all the answers from the definition alone without having to unravel the wordplay. That letdown apart, I found this a pleasant puzzle with some cheeky/amusing techniques (e.g. 19a, 27a).
Posted in FT | 5 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 30th December 2011
From mathematics to religion to slang, Bradman draws from a breadth of topics to craft his clues today. I’m happy to have this puzzle to blog as my last post of 2011. Happy New Year, everyone.
Posted in FT | 6 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 23rd December 2011
I had a fun time solving this puzzle. The grid has four nearly independent mini-grids and I worked through them starting from the top-left, going anti-clockwise, with 10a as my last answer in. Especially enjoyed 25a, 18d.
Posted in FT | 7 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 16th December 2011
A puzzle of two halves for me. The bottom filled in fast while the top remained blank, till 7a gave me a breakthrough after looking up the French word for ‘queen’.
Posted in FT | 10 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 9th December 2011
“Twelve clues lack a common definition”, said the opening line to the puzzle, but even after I was 50% through I hadn’t figured out what the definition was. Some clues (23a, 26d) did look more definition-less than others, which was some help. 3d, with all its checking letters, gave the first break into the themed answers, thereafter the others came one by one. A challenging and very enjoyable workout.
Posted in FT | 9 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 2nd December 2011
A simple and neat, if somewhat bland, fare today. I liked solving this on the whole but missed having some high points to savour.
Posted in FT | 6 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 18th November 2011
I found a lot to admire in this puzzle and a few clues to struggle with. The bottom-right corner was hard to piece together with 20a and 20d eluding me till the very end. I specially enjoyed the two long Down clues, the deceptive definitions in 10a and 24a, the wordplay in 9a and the usual great clue surfaces from Bradman.
Posted in FT | 8 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 11th November 2011
A gentle puzzle with Falcon’s elegant clues and references to a variety of knowledge domains. Smooth anagrams, natural surfaces, nothing too taxing.
Posted in FT | 2 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 4th November 2011
I generally have mixed feelings about Hamilton’s puzzles and this was no different. I like the conversational surface of some clues like 21A, 15D, 19D but wasn’t too happy with a few others (details below).
Posted in FT | 18 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 21st October 2011
I enjoyed the light, elegant touch of Falcon in this offering. Straightforward except the bottom-right for me due to a couple of unfamiliar words, which I’m happy to have learnt.
Posted in FT | 7 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 14th October 2011
A simple solve with a variety of clue types. I especially enjoyed 10a and 5d. Flimsy is extremely skilled at crafting smooth and natural clue surfaces. The not-so-nice parts: there is an error in 22a I think and the indicator in 1a seems to be taking a liberty.
Posted in FT | 10 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 23rd September 2011
Many delightful solving moments today. The puzzle opened with the line “Definitions in all across clues have something in common”, which was easy enough to decipher.
Posted in FT | 10 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 16th September 2011
A quick solve today. There were a few touches of wit (1d, 2d) but I am rather underwhelmed by the crossword overall. 1a seems to have an error and a couple of other clues look questionable.
Posted in FT | 2 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 9th September 2011
Entertaining crossword from Bradman with a “fishy” flavour and some deft anagrams. 1a, 25a, 2d, 4d, 6d amused me especially.
Posted in FT | 7 Comments »