Financial Times 13,122 / Phssthpok
Pretty straightforward, although 25 across still puzzles me. Across 1 UNRECOGNISABLE *(LOG CABIN ENSURE) 10 HAWKS dd 11 COVER SLIP From COVERS LIP (what a moustache does). A cover slip is the bit … Read more >>
Never knowingly undersolved
Pretty straightforward, although 25 across still puzzles me. Across 1 UNRECOGNISABLE *(LOG CABIN ENSURE) 10 HAWKS dd 11 COVER SLIP From COVERS LIP (what a moustache does). A cover slip is the bit … Read more >>
Phew! I think that was about as difficult a crossword as I’ve ever done. After nearly an hour less than half of it was completed, so I resigned myself to the full panoply … Read more >>
dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade ha = hidden answer *(fodder) = anagram For the second week in a row, … Read more >>
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def Doing the Monday blog, I seem to get a disproportionate number of tough puzzles and this was no exception. There was an ice-skating related NINA … Read more >>
A nice monday puzzle to start off the week. Across 1. OWN GOAL. OWN + GOAL. Own can mean ‘own up’. 5. ILLICIT. IL + LI + C + IT. Lots of roman … Read more >>
Solving this went in waves. A smattering of easy clues were entered quickly (e.g. Louvre, Political Asylum) and I thought it would be an easy solve. Then I came to a halt and … Read more >>
This was, I think, the hardest Genius puzzle since the Guardian site became freely available. I only managed to solve just over a third of the clues in the first session and then … Read more >>
Definitely a bit harder to get going this week. The double definitions seemed to often require very specific knowlege for the second definition, and the two word clues (except 4dn which was my … Read more >>
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. Quite tough going for me this week, and there’s a couple I’m not sure about, as is usually the case! Across 1 PUDDING-TIME – PUDDING … Read more >>
Something of a treat for me today, to blog an Araucaria prize puzzle [entertaining, as ever] in Rightback’s absence. I can’t even dream of approaching his prodigious solving time – but then I … Read more >>
An interesting solve. Having got the first 3 down answers immediately, I was convinced that there was probably going to be a perimeter message reading ‘HAVE….’. It wasn’t until I got WOODSTOCK and … Read more >>
When I see a Bradman puzzle I brace myself for a toughie. This started off smoothly enough on the left but the right half was slow to fall. A few new words for … Read more >>
Nineteen normal clues, with the rest needing one or two added or subtracted letters; that sounded a bit tricky. It proved to be a tougher puzzle than most EVs recently. The NE corner … Read more >>
Not having a lot of time this morning I was happy that this was rather straightforward. A few clues held me back, 17ac in particular. Also not entirely sure about 22ac. Across 9 … Read more >>
When I see the word ‘Cinema’ in a crossword title I tend to go Ugh! as I am not film literate. However, as is often the case with barred cryptics, the title turned … Read more >>