Enigmatic Variations 998: Nativity by Oxymoron
Only ten weeks since the last Oxymoron EV (988, Pairs), but I, for one, am not complaining. One letter or (in five cases) word to be removed from each clue, and they would … Read more >>
Month: January 2012
Guardian 25,520 / Paul
An enjoyable prize puzzle from Paul, which seemed mostly straightforward except for some general knowledge I was lacking with regard to the theme… … which was Mexican people and things. I don’t quite … Read more >>
Independent 7866 by Eimi (Saturday Prize Puzzle 31 December 2011)
A pleasant puzzle to round the year off – with a number of clue readings and answers nodding respectfully to the date, and a lovely clue at 18D, which I am considering adopting … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 100003 Round Number by Nutmeg (Online 25/12/2011)
Well a crossword published on Christmas day and what a preamble! There are three conflicts to resolve symbolically (historic events). There are historic events to highlight in the completed grid There are 3 … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,894 / Redshank
The last time I blogged a Redshank crossword, its theme took me a long time to decipher. This was easy enough to work out with 5a being one of the first answers in. … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 25525 Tramp
Sorry for the later posting (long lunch). This was an enjoyable offering from Tramp (as we have come to expect from him). Well clued and neat surfaces. Thanks Tramp. Definitions are underlined in … Read more >>
Independent 7871 by Phi
It’s that Friday feeling, Phi returns. Can’t spot any Ninas or themes – ghost or otherwise but I was wrong last time I said that about a Phi puzzle. This seemed quite easy … Read more >>
Financial Times no.13,893 by GOZO
A real wrong ‘un (or, if you prefer, curveball) from Gozo here. I think this is the first FT puzzle I’ve blogged that comes with special instructions; the theme may well have a … Read more >>
Independent 7,870 / Monk
I looked through my past blogs this morning to see if I had blogged a Monk before, and to my surprise, since Monk has featured on my crosswording landscape for a very long … Read more >>
Guardian 25,524 / Puck
After the delightful Arachne yesterday, another welcome post-Christmas present to off-set the foul weather, in this quite challenging and entertaining puzzle from Puck. The characteristically witty and ingenious cluing provided a number of … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,886 / Dante – Prize Puzzle – 27 December 2011
I don’t blog Financial Times crosswords very often, so I haven’t encountered Dante before. As I solved the puzzle, I thought the cluing style was familiar with very smooth surfaces, lots of double … Read more >>
Guardian Christmas Prize No 25,514 by Araucaria
It was my privilege this year to solve and blog this puzzle whose theme was hinted at in the introduction: “Many of the clues are of a kind and may not be further … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,885 – Christmas Crossword by Gozo
When this puzzle eventually became available on-line on Boxing Day I thought “Oh good. I enjoy alphabetical jigsaws” so I proceeded to convert the pdf into a format where the font size was … Read more >>
Independent 7,869/Dac
A new year, but the same old Dac. Which of course means consistently elegant clueing and lovely surfaces. Here’s to another 51 of these before the year’s out! He’s got one over on … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,892 by Monk
A good crossword with quite a wide variation in the difficulty of the clues. Thank you Monk. I got most of the solutions quite easily, but then took a long time to get to solve … Read more >>