Never knowingly undersolved
Across 1. ANTENATAL CLINIC – cryptic def. issue=children 9. TH(e)ROW,IN 10. NUT,CASE 11. ELITE (hidden) 12. DEODORANT (too darned)* – good surface. 13. ETRUSCANS (runes cast)* 15. C,HAIR – ‘Hair’ is a musical … Read more >>
I think Quixote commented on this site some time ago that the aim was to keep the puzzle fairly easy, but that he would put a more difficult one in from time to … Read more >>
A challenging puzzle in parts with some superb charade clues that inventively stitch together the component parts and at the same time have very good surfaces. One word was new to me and … Read more >>
Sorry for the lateness of this blog; I thought I was due to do Friday’s this week, and only realised that it was my turn when the puzzle hadn’t been blogged. Upon checking … Read more >>
Spent longer than usual since there were quite a few clues for which I understood either the wordplay or the definition but not both. One or two is par for the course – … Read more >>
Are you impressed with Cincinnus? I am more and more mightily impressed with Cincinnus. I find my view of various compilers being deepened and refined by the task of blogging their puzzles. What … Read more >>
A broad palette of cryptic devices at play in this puzzle, with some (e.g 14,24,25) depending as much on lateral thinking as orthodox solving mechanisms. I did think that 21 was a little … Read more >>
One of the advantages of moving the blog to its own domain is that I’m able to get much more information about who’s reading us. It’s amazing the stuff you can find out: … Read more >>
Across 1 IT in A,GATES – I wasted some time thinking that “a software giant” was A,MS (Microsoft) rather than A,(Bill) GATES. 9 ISLA – “I’ll”,A 12/13 ITCHY AND SCRATCHY – I’d like … Read more >>
Sorry for the delay – I had a veterinary emergency when I came home from work today. The cat had managed to develop an arterial thromboembolism (some sort of blood clot in the … Read more >>
I always enjoy crosswords from Virgilius and this was no exception. I can’t see a theme which is unusual for Virgilius but maybe I haven’t looked long enough! Across 1 GREATA GARBO – (RAGE … Read more >>
An enjoyable and rather unusual crossword in that I solved it quite fast from definitions and seeing what fit rather than immediately understanding all the clues. Do not understand 4 down though. (Thanks, … Read more >>
Rufus at his best. Took about 15 minutes, with fewer cryptic definitions than usual, but his skill in that department evident in the ordinary definitions – well concealed, with a high proportion using … Read more >>
Avian theme. 14D (CHAFFINCH) was my way in. I solved this twice. The second time took as long virtually as the first since I’d forgotten most of the birds already. Across 1 PART,RIDGE … Read more >>
Solving time: 20 minutes Another enjoyable puzzle from the Mr Dependable of the crossword world. Plenty of terrific clues to keep the mind taxed with 11 across a particular favourite, along with 5 … Read more >>