A jolly enough Tuesday offering, with the odd flash of wit to brighten our day.
Month: May 2019
Independent 10,166 by Crosophile
It’s Tuesday and so I was expecting a stinker. Not so it seems: here is a very pleasant crossword apparently of medium difficulty. Most of the clues can be explained with fairly straightforward parsing. My only slight criticism was the grid, which had two faults in my opinion: two of those dreaded answers where 2 out of 5 letters are checked; and after getting only a few answers one was doing two or more separate crosswords.
Definitions underlined, in maroon. Anagram indicators in italics.
Guardian Cryptic 27,820 by Vlad
Fun to solve and tricky to parse and blog. Favourites 13ac, 14ac, 18dn, as well as 27ac/8dn/17dn. Thanks to Vlad.
Guardian Quiptic 1,017 / Matilda
The scheduled blogger is unwell and unable to post today so here is an analysis of the clues. I will leave it to others to provide a commentary. . Across 1 Deposit a … Read more >>
Independent 10165 by Filbert
An absorbing puzzle with some difficult clues.
Guardian 27,819 – Chifonie
A typical Chifone, with straightforward clueing and lots of charades. Very suitable for those who like their Monday puzzles on the easy side. Thanks to Chifonie. Across … Read more >>
Financial Times 16,165 by CRUX
CRUX kicks things off this week…
Cyclops 650 – Difficult Island
Some traditional establishment targets, some smutty references…it is a Cyclops, it does what it says on the tin… The surface readings at 8A and 11A don’t bear too much thinking, and 10A is … Read more >>
Azed 2447
Looking back, there seems to be a high proportion of obscure or unfamiliar words in this one, but despite this I didn’t find it too hard, helped by the usual flawless clueing. Thanks … Read more >>
Everyman 3,786/5 May
The new setter of the Everyman series kindly dropped into last week’s blog to introduce him/herself and indicate that there would be from now on one setter of the weekly puzzle that we … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1524 Poins
Thanks to Poins for an enjoyable puzzle. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 1 Against stopping revolutionary comrade’s vehicular procession (9) MOTORCADE : TO(in contact with/against, as in “the gun was put … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 1380: Vacation by Harribobs
Hi everyone. I’d never solved a Harribobs puzzle before, but had heard the name and was expecting great things. The preamble reads: Across clues, down clues, and answers all have references to … Read more >>
Independent 10,164 by Whynot
As far as we can tell, this is Whynot’s first puzzle to be published in the Indy – and an excellent introductory offering it is!
Guardian Prize 27,812 by Brendan
A themed puzzle with a twist from Brendan this week.
Independent 10,163 / Phi
Phi rounds off this week’s set of mid-week puzzles. I found this one to be at the harder end of the Phi and Indy spectrum. I struggled to unpick the wordplay of a … Read more >>