Found this quite tricky in parts, and very enjoyable – favourite was 13dn.
Year: 2015
S & B Cambridge – puzzle by Alchemi
OK, one more then! Especially for the event, Alchemi (Independent/FT) wrote a celebratory crossword titled ‘Happy Birthday’. The PDF can be found here: Alchemi @ Cambridge . It is also possible to solve this puzzle interactively by clicking here. Which is, by the way, a good excuse for visiting Alchemi’s excellent Alchemiland website!
Guardian Quiptic 807 Provis
Thanks to Provis. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 1 Exclude man with a head scarf (7) BANDANA : BAN(to exclude) + DAN(a man’s name) plus(with) A. 5 It is found in skull contents … Read more >>
Independent 8908 by eXternal
*=anagram [] = removed e.g. char[m]=char ()=abbreviation e.g. A(mpere)=a Hom. = homophone A well constructed and on the whole precisely clued puzzle, 4 being the only one you might slightly question because of … Read more >>
Guardian 26,562 / Chifonie
Rufus gets a Bank Holiday break and Chifonie steps in from the bench, with a typically straightforward but elegant and well-constructed puzzle. Thanks to Chifonie. Across 1. … Read more >>
S & B Cambridge – alphabetical by Neil
Following puzzles by Ballard, Mitz, Dalibor and Neil, the latter’s second puzzle – an alphabetical – will be the final Cambridge blog. For those who still want to give it a go, click here: Neil 2 @ Cambridge .
Beelzebub 1,312
Was it my imagination or was this week’s Beelzebub a little different in style to usual? I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it seemed that more, shall we say, informal … Read more >>
Azed 2238
After my run of specials, it’s almost a relief to have “just” a Plain Azed to blog. I didn’t get off too lightly, though: I did about three-quarters of this quite quickly and … Read more >>
Guardian Genius 142 by Crucible
The preamble for Genius 142, when you can work your way through the hotch-potch of ‘temporary’ (?) workarounds the Grauniad have built around this ‘non-standard’ puzzle which has been there for 10-plus years, … Read more >>
Everyman 3,577
The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3577.
Independent on Sunday 1314/Kairos
Top puzzle, this one, imho. There’s one I can’t parse, though. Kairos has got the knack of what most folk expect from the IoS crossword. Nothing too obscure; good variety of … Read more >>
S & B Cambridge – puzzle by Neil
One more blog from last Saturday’s S&B: Neil @ Cambridge. A crossword that’s themed but not around the Cambridge event.
Independent 8,901 by Nimrod (Saturday Prize Puzzle, 25/04/15)
As I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, Nimrod is something of a long-term nemesis of mine, having regularly made my life difficult back when I was blogging the Independent dailies. These days I do … Read more >>
Guardian Prize 26,555 / Picaroon
Quite a few people in Cambridge last Saturday had done this puzzle on the way to the S and B and were remarking on how enjoyable it was. I deliberately left it at … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 1170 Fallen by Nudd
How careless of the type setter – 17 clues have words from their definition in the next clue. Five clues both lose and gain a word. The initial letters of the misplaced words … Read more >>