Never knowingly undersolved
We found this quite a tricky puzzle; it took a few sittings to complete. Some really excellent clues here, though… … e.g I especially liked 22a (DISMAY), 24a (ROYAL OPERA HOUSE) and (with … Read more >>
A lovely treat to end the weekday series – a Puck puzzle! Lots of well-constructed clues with sparklingly witty surfaces, as ever from this setter. Spurred by the references to the PM, I’ve … Read more >>
A superb challenge from JULIUS , which did much to enliven my day. Several refreshingly innovative clues resulted in many a-ha moments both in solving and parsing. Thanks JULIUS!
It’s very rare that we don’t enjoy a Phi-day puzzle at the end of the week and this was no exception. We are convinced that there must be a theme as there … Read more >>
A diamond of a puzzle; brilliant, and very hard.
Enigmatist is always challenging, and this took me ages to finish, with the theme indicated in the Special Instructions…
Wiglaf is occupying the Thursday slot this week, and it is a while since it has fallen to me to blog one of his puzzles. That said, I found this one probably easier … Read more >>
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of August 26, 2017
The puzzle has not appeared on the FT’s website today. Here is a basic explanation of the solutions. Thank you to Aardvark and to Stephen for posting a scan of the printed version … Read more >>
A good commuter’s puzzle from Eccles today Well, what I mean is that it’s a puzzle that many solvers will be able to finish in under an hour. There aren’t … Read more >>
Typically straightforward clueing from Chifonie, though two names might be unfamiliar to some. As I said about Pan’s puzzle last week, pleasant enough but not very exciting. Thanks to Chifonie. … Read more >>
The rubric read: Thirty-two clues contain a letter that must be removed before solving. In clue order, these letters indicate (i) a modification that should be applied to the answers to nine normal … Read more >>
Pretty straightforward, although a couple of sneaky ones in the S.E. corner slowed the old gallop for a bit…
One of Morph’s occasional and very welcome contributions, not that it was easy. It took me at any rate a long time.
The only — very mild — criticism is that ER appears twice, in 10ac as ‘royal’, and in 8dn as ‘ruler’.
Definitions in maroon, underlined.