Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of May 19, 2018
Year: 2018
Financial Times 15,871 by GOZO
A themed puzzle from Gozo as usual, always a pleasure to solve and blog. Thank you Gozo.
Guardian 27,522 / Boatman
I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that Boatman has given us a puzzle on the theme of procreation and the family. We have the familiar mix of straightforward and rather more … Read more >>
Independent 9868 / Dac
The last time we had the pleasure of blogging a Dac puzzle was last July so we were very pleased to see his name above the puzzle this week. As expected, an … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1543: Barcode by Xanthippe
Barcode by Xanthippe Clues are given in normal order and solvers must complete the grid, which has no symmetry and contains 4 barred off empty cells. Two entries are clued by wordplay only … Read more >>
Independent 9,867 / Tees
The Indy regular Tees has provided today’s puzzle for our delectation. I found this to be a medium-difficulty puzzle where I was able to complete the grid unaided but needed to dig around … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 27,521 by Picaroon
A fun and tricky solve with a lot of parsing still to do at the end.
Financial Times 15,870 / Falcon
All very straightforward, as one would expect from this setter, but if anything needs further explanation please just ask. . . Across 1 Understand leader of faction, in briefly (6) FATHOM – F[action] … Read more >>
Captcha
Due to the number of times during recent months that a valid entry has been rejected, I have disabled the Captcha plugin, so you will no longer need to complete a Captcha when … Read more >>
Financial Times 15,869 by CRUX
A bank holiday Monday offering from Crux
Guardian Quiptic 967/Anto
A request to step in as holiday cover for a fellow blogger, willingly agreed to. Then it turns out to be Anto. Ah well, other forms of Bank Holiday entertainment are available. … Read more >>
Guardian 27,520 – Pasquale
Pasquale’s first appearance in the post-Rufus Monday slot finds him in very benign mood: after a single pass through the clues I had only a handful of gaps. Nevertheless the clear and accurate … Read more >>
Independent 9,866 – Vigo
A crossword that I liked very much, full of silky smooth clues.
Cyclops 625 – Right-Wing Press Clutch at Straws
A hint of a nod to the Royal Wedding, with ‘Harry’ and ‘Markle’ both making an appearance in the clues…is Cyclops getting a bit soft in his (presumably/relatively) old age?… …and some American … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1,474 by Hypnos
Good stuff from Hypnos once again. Largely raced through this one, though the grid didn’t help a great deal, being one of those that’s quite thoroughly divided into four discrete areas. There were … Read more >>