Independent 7321, Sat 3 April – Merlin
One of those grids that tells you there must be a theme – more black squares round the edge than usual, and a pair of black zigzags in the middle. It took a … Read more >>
Month: April 2010
Financial Times 13,355 / Falcon
A wide spread of domains covered today – books, film, food, places, famous people. Harder than Falcon’s usual; fine clueing as always. Across 1 BRUTUS BRUT (very dry, used of wine) US. The … Read more >>
Independent 7326/Phi
A typically pleasant Phi offering. Rather a strange grid, which suggests to me that there is some Nina. But as usual I’m asking for help. Actually Phi may just be saving himself work. … Read more >>
Guardian 24,980 – Audreus
It’s been a good while since I last tackled an Audreus. Sped through without too much difficulty. Edits thanks to Brian and Gaufrid Across 8 DINOSAUR (around is)* 9 OPENER double def: “First … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,354 / Armonie
Not a particularly tricky (or satisfying) puzzle today. My main gripe being the inundation of mundane [Word A] + [Word B] = [Answer] constructions. I can’t recall ever seeing another puzzle that contained … Read more >>
Independent 7325 by Radian
Obvious from looking at the clues that this was a golf-based puzzle, timed to coincide with the start of the US Masters. Made a lot of quick early progress but then it got … Read more >>
Guardian 24,979 / Araucaria
Annoyingly, I had to write this post without any internet access or reference books, so there are lots of guesses here that normally I would be able to quickly confirm. I may not … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1051 by Quixote 4th April 2010
This was much more straightforward than last week and included one mention of the date (Easter Sunday). The grid suggested the possibility of a perimeter nina, but we couldn’t find anything. Perhaps rereading … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,346 – Mudd
Monday Prize Crossword on 29 March 2010 What a pleasant surprise to have Mudd in this Monday slot. For the uninitiated, Mudd is John Halpern, said to be a libertarian setter who also … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,345 by Cincinnus
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of March 27 Cincinnus has some very artfully fashioned clues here: 1A, 21A, 24A, 6D and 17D. Across 1. OPERATIC – ERA (long time) in OPTIC (viewer) … Read more >>
Independent 7,324 by Dac
Apologies for a bit of a late posting due to illness. As a result the post is a little rushed and mistakes may well have crept in. This seemed fairly tough in places … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,353 / Sleuth
Nothing too difficult today so a very quick, though pleasant, solve. Only two clues required dictionary assistance to confirm the wordplay (the container in 10ac) or the answer (16dn) but both were entered … Read more >>
Guardian 24,978 / Paul
If there had been no name on this puzzle, I think it would not have taken regular solvers long to supply one. All the Pauline hallmarks are here: cheeky surfaces and / or … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1119 “T” by Nutmeg
I found this difficult to start, but easy to finish (the opposite of my last blog!). I spent hours finding my first three down answers and was feeling pretty despondent until I found that … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,352 / Phssthpok
I thought this puzzle was very creative. Several of the definitions were particularly well-hidden or clever, e.g., 14 down. Across 1 SWASHBUCKLER S (“first: steam”) WASH (clean) BUCKLE (fold) R (“second: iron”). Having … Read more >>