Never knowingly undersolved
I thought this was going to be a nightmare. There I was, blogging shortly after midnight and hoping for a fairly easy one so that I wouldn’t have to stay up all night, … Read more >>
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 >>
This was a standard Monday offering from Rufus which took longer to blog than it took to solve. However, The Guardian offers puzzles to suit a wide range of solvers during the week. … Read more >>
*=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 >>
Some convoluted wordplays, and numerous liberties make this quite different from most other Quiptics, although I found that the answers came readily. Perhaps it should be regarded as an introduction to Araucarian style.
Nothing here to stop an Eye solver polishing this off with several chuckles and no doubtful edges, i.e. no need to reach for Chambers this time. Which is just as well, because I … Read more >>
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 >>
An easy Sunday puzzle that is quite entertaining. I wish I had more time to savour the clues but this is not my usual leisurely day. This will probably be my last blog … Read more >>
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 >>
A fine offering from Everyman, abounding in smooth surfaces, a good variety of clue types and no outlandishly convoluted wordplays.
Ifor is a relatively new setter whose recent puzzles I have enjoyed. His latest Listener (4137: Frightened Catherine), was fairly tricky, and his last EV (956: Ego Problem) was quite amusing! There were … Read more >>
Crosophile is a new name to me – a search of the 15×15 site shows he has a few weekday Independent and Independent on Sunday cryptics under his belt, but I think this is … Read more >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>