Pronunciation pranks

Not exactly a crossword theme, but I just heard on an American series that the idea of soul-mates comes from Play Doh!   Further elaboration made it clear that the speaker was referring … Read more >>

Independent 7723 by Morph

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism 1 across was nicely topical and there was the usual inventiveness from Morph (12 across and 3 down were particularly neat), although I found … Read more >>

Beelzebub 1116

Splendid smorgasbord of diverse clues   ACROSS 1 Job with difficulty put on at end    POSTFIX POST FIX 6 Rebel leader beginning to trash bank when retreating    TYLER T RELY< 11 … Read more >>

Azed 2041 – a hard Trek

Azed has been producing some tricky puzzles lately, and this continues the trend (at least it did for me), with I think rather more obscure words and references than usual. I’ve had to … Read more >>

Guardian Prize Puzzle 25,370 by Araucaria

Araucaria in a solidly libertarian frame of mind for this puzzle.  Some people will complain, some won’t care, some won’t notice.  Personally, I’m in the ‘not care’ category, though I don’t think I would be so forgiving … Read more >>

Financial Times 13,746 / Bradman

The usual excellent puzzle from Bradman with eloquent clue surfaces and some deceptive use of punctuation (25a, 14d). I started from the right of the grid and worked my way to the bottom-left. … Read more >>

Guardian 25,375 / Paul

This is vintage Paul – some very clever cluing and lots to entertain and raise a smile. Enough said! Many thanks, Paul. Across 1   FEWEST: F[our] + E[ast] + WEST 9   DAMNATION: DAM … Read more >>