A fantastic puzzle from REDSHANK this Friday – needed some external help to augment my general knowledge but all in all, a thoroughly enjoyable solve. Much to like about this puzzle, including elegant surfaces and clever misdirections!
Year: 2018
Guardian Cryptic 27,530 by Puck
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27530.
Financial Times 15,868 by Mudd
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of May 26, 2018
Guardian 27,529 / Brummie
Brummie fills the Thursday slot today. I’m afraid I didn’t enjoy this puzzle nearly so much as the last one [with a theme of children’s television] from Brummie that I blogged. … Read more >>
Financial Times 15,878 by WANDERER
Today’s puzzle ca be found here.
Independent 9875 / Monk
It’s a while since I blogged a puzzle by Monk. There seemed to be a lot of slang or informal language references in this puzzle, in both the clues and … Read more >>
Financial Times 15,877 by JULIUS
It is always a treat to get to solve and blog a puzzle from Julius. Thank you Julius.
Guardian Cryptic 27,528 by Imogen
Some neat cluing and nice surfaces…
Independent 9,874 by Knut
I was panicking a bit to begin with, because on scanning the clues I couldn’t do any of them for a while. Then a few fell and it was all easy enough, a pleasant offering from Knut today. There were one or two small things I was a bit uncomfortable with, as indicated below, but on the whole it was good.
Definitions underlined, in maroon. Anagram indicators in italics.
Inquisitor 1544: Tina Turner (Not) by Serpent
We get an Inquisitor puzzle from Serpent about twice a year, sometimes quite hard, often quite fun. Preamble: Four symmetrically-placed across clues have standard wordplay and definitions. In each of the remaining … Read more >>
Financial Times 15876 Neo
Thanks to Neo. There are a few clues/solutions from/relating to Greek mythology, the Bible, and literature respectively. And some clues/solutions that could be connected to one another. Is something going on here? Definitions are … Read more >>
Independent 9873 / Hob
We were surprised to find that it was only 2 months ago that we last blogged a Hob puzzle. As usual an enjoyable solve although we found this one a little easier than … Read more >>
Guardian 27,527 – Picaroon
A very enjoyable puzzle from Picaroon that looked rather impenetrable at first, with its many cross-references. I was lucky to guess 19d early on, which led me to the gateway answer at 26,1,10, … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 968 / Hectence
I don’t think I’ve blogged a Quiptic before but I was happy to stand in today. This one fills the bill admirably, I think, with a good variety of clue types, all fairly … Read more >>
Independent 9872/Silvanus
We don’t see Silvanus that often in the Indy, so I was pleased to have the chance to blog one of his puzzles this morning. Took a bit of getting into, mind you. … Read more >>