January 2017 – Page 3 – Fifteensquared

Quiptic 897 by Provis

Mon January 23, 2017 at 1:53 pmMon January 23, 2017 at 8:17 am by newmarketsausage

Nice to encounter Provis in the Quiptic slot this morning.

Guardian 27,101 – Rufus

Mon January 23, 2017 at 7:51 am by Andrew

A typical Rufus, with lots of double and cryptic definitions – some of the later being rather weak, I think, including one that seems not cryptic at all. Quite a few anagrams in … Read more >>

Cyclops 590 – Savage Character

Thu January 26, 2017 at 8:44 amMon January 23, 2017 at 12:01 am by mc_rapper67

1A of this puzzle sums the last week or so up perfectly…’US era’s, er, done for – cheer up!‘ And then it goes on to give some mixed messages about the past, present and future … Read more >>

Azed 2327

Sun January 22, 2017 at 9:57 amSun January 22, 2017 at 12:05 am by Andrew

A medium-strength Azed, with a fairly high proportion of unfamilar words, in the wordplay as well as the answers. My solving pattern turned out to be more or less from top left to … Read more >>

Independent on Sunday 1404 Kairos

Sun January 22, 2017 at 1:39 amSun January 22, 2017 at 12:01 am by scchua

Thanks to Kairos for an enjoyable crossword (notwithstanding a little parsing problem). Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 1 Make a futile attempt to sell Shergar? (4,1,4,5) FLOG A DEAD HORSE : … Read more >>

Everyman 3666

Sun January 22, 2017 at 12:01 am by Pierre

Not the easiest Everyman I’ve ever solved or blogged. It’s all pretty sound, if a bit one-dimensional. Abbreviations cd cryptic definition dd double definition (xxxx)* anagram anagrind = … Read more >>

Independent 9446 / Monk

Sat January 21, 2017 at 8:16 am by Bertandjoyce

We haven’t seen a Monk puzzle in the Indy for quite some time – indeed we had the pleasure of blogging the most recent one last September. We didn’t find this quite as … Read more >>

Guardian Prize 27,094 by Puck

Sat January 21, 2017 at 6:43 amSat January 21, 2017 at 12:03 am by bridgesong

The puzzle marked an anniversary: the 50th anniversary of a gathering in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.

Enigmatic Variations No. 1260: Highlights by Xanthippe

Sat January 21, 2017 at 12:00 am by Shenanigans

This week’s preamble was fairly straightforward, with an extra word to be identified in every clue: Solvers must highlight, appropriately in two cases, five works by famous 17ac (58 cells in total). Each … Read more >>

Independent 9,445 / Phi

Fri January 20, 2017 at 11:27 am by RatkojaRiku

This is my first Friday blog of 2017, but no surprise to find that it is a Phi-day! I found this to be a medium difficulty puzzle, which I made steady progress through … Read more >>

Guardian 27,099 – Bonxie

Fri January 20, 2017 at 9:20 amFri January 20, 2017 at 8:47 am by Andrew

I made a slow start on this, but after a while had filled the bottom half. The top half took rather longer… For my taste there are rather too many inaccurate or ungrammatical … Read more >>

Financial Times 15,452 by BRADMAN

Fri January 20, 2017 at 5:22 am by Turbolegs

Typical Bradman fare this Friday. Thanks Bradman for a mostly straightforward challenge with just a few twists that pushed the finishing line out a bit.

Guardian Cryptic 27098 Boatman

Thu January 19, 2017 at 2:03 pmThu January 19, 2017 at 8:42 am by scchua

The mid-solving-period was a slog for me, as is always the case with Boatman’s puzzles and I. Somehow I can’t get on to his wavelength. All the same, I finished it eventually, and … Read more >>

Financial Times 15,451 by PETO

Sat January 21, 2017 at 11:06 amThu January 19, 2017 at 7:46 am by loonapick

I finished this, but not sure how…

Independent 9444 / Maize

Thu January 19, 2017 at 12:56 pmThu January 19, 2017 at 7:30 am by duncanshiell

Maize has given us an interesting puzzle On 6th January John commented that he was blogging an Independent puzzle by Phi with only 22 clues, probably the lowest number of … Read more >>