Traveling on work and a full day meant I got to this Mudd challenge a lot later than I would have liked to – so apologies for the late post. I found this to be a tough challenge to begin with but gradually picked up steam along the way. Outclassed on a few clues that required googling to confirm or supplement the parsings. Some deviousness exhibited by Mudd – enough to leave me seeking a helping hand on the deconstruction for a couple as well.
Year: 2015
Guardian 26,548 / Qaos
I had decided to have a go at doing my own blog today [renewed thanks to Gaufrid for last week] – broken wrist notwithstanding [it was with falling over, actually 😉 ] knowing … Read more >>
Independent 8,894 / Phi
Independent 8,894 / Phi Phi’s latest offering awaited solvers this Friday morning, as one might have expected. I thought that this was a medium difficulty Phi puzzle, far from a walk in the … Read more >>
Independent 8893 / Nestor
Nestor is an irregular contributor to the Independent weekday series. He is more often seen at weekends. This was a puzzle I returned to a few times before I cracked … Read more >>
Financial Times 14,906 by SLEUTH
An enjoyable crossword, so first, thanks to Sleuth. We had almost finished doing the blog when there was a power cut and we feared we’d have to re-enter the lot. We should have known better. Our thanks to PeeDee for yet another great feature of the utility.
Guardian 26,547 by Paul
Enjoyed this, getting stuck several times after a quick start. Particularly liked 21ac, 25ac, and 8dn. Thanks, Paul.
Financial Times 14,897 – Dante
Monday Prize Crossword / Apr 6, 2015
Just as I thought the FT doesn’t see daylight on Easter Monday, there was a Monday Prize Crossword which only appeared at the very end of the day on the newspaper’s website. I don’t like stereotyping but this Dante puzzle was indeed full of cryptic and double definitions – no less than 8 of the latter!
Financial Times 14,896 by Mudd
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of April 4, 2015 I made my way well through this puzzle until I got stumped by 16d (SLAPHEAD). My clue of the week is 25a (EMBARGO) … Read more >>
Financial Times 14,905 / Redshank
Not for the first time, two rogue black squares have crept into the grid and messed up the numbering. However, once this was spotted progress could be made. An enjoyable challenge from Redshank … Read more >>
Independent 8,892 by Dac
The usual thing: every clue has a silky-smooth surface that never compromises the parsing. I thought this was on the hard side for a Dac and it took me some while to understand one or two, particularly 23ac, which I almost gave up on, but my parsing is I think what he intended, although perhaps it is on the edge compared with Dac’s usual.
Guardian 26,546 – Pasquale
This started off seeming quite a gentle ride by Pasquale standards, but I got a bit held up on the left-hand side by what I think is a rather unsatisfactory clue for 1d. … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1380: Serpent Is as Serpent Does by Serpent
Serpent slithers into view – venomous? We’ll see. Preamble: Solvers must determine how to enter the answers to across clues, listed in alphabetical order of their (equal-length) answers. Taken in clue order, … Read more >>
Guardian 26,545 by Nutmeg
A bright sunny morning brings Nutmeg, who can be quite a tricksy setter to unravel.
Independent 8891 / Crosophile
Crosophile appears once a month but doesn’t have a regular slot in the week, unlike other some other compilers. His last puzzle which we also blogged, seemed to divide opinion but we don’t … Read more >>
Financial Times 14904 Neo
(Work in progress: Please click here for this same blog but with a picture quiz added. Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.)Â A Neo on … Read more >>