A stylish end to the year.
Month: December 2019
The New Year Approaches
Well, we’ve come to the end of another year and so it is time for me to thank the Fifteensquared blogging team for the time and effort they have put in during the … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1626: Civil Engineering by Eclogue
A puzzle by Eclogue kept us entertained over Christmas The preamble stated that "Four clues each contain an extra word which should be removed prior to solving. These four words … Read more >>
Independent 10363 / Skinny
Skinny debuts in the daily Independent today. There have been Skinny puzzles in the Independent on Sunday before now but not in the daily version. There’s a definite theme to … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 28,017 by Tramp
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28017. At least there is one very simple clue, in 9A, but most of the rest took a fair amount of thought. There are a couple of … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 1,050/Carpathian
Apologies for the late blog, but blame the Grauniad, not me. A fine end to the Quiptic year, with a puzzle from Carpathian that does exactly what it says on the tin. For … Read more >>
Financial Times 16,361 by ARMONIE
As ever, Armonie delivers a very enjoyable puzzle this morning.
Guardian 28,016 / Vulcan
Back to typical straightforward Monday fare today – thanks, Vulcan. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 7 Game one would want to exclude? (8) DRAUGHTS Cryptic definition, alluding to draught excluder 9 … Read more >>
Independent 10,362 by Gila
A solid if unspectacular puzzle with just one Brexit reference to see us into the New Year.
Guardian Quiptic 1,050 – placeholder
This morning’s Guardian Quiptic has not yet appeared on the paper’s website (although the cryptic has). I will be on the case with the blog when it does show its face. Pierre
Everyman 3,819
The Observer crossword from Dec 22, 2019. ‘A festive treat’ from Everyman (see 4d and 9d, and more). Whether it was a real treat, that’s a matter of taste. We (my solving partner … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1,557/Kairos
The last IoS offering of 2019 brings us a themed crossword – unusual for this slot, but an entertaining puzzle from Kairos, which required a bit of headscratching in a couple of places. … Read more >>
Independent 10361 by Tyrus (Sat 28-Dec 2019)
Very tricky stuff from Tyrus today. It is no secret that it has a theme – the answer to 23D/8 is referenced in many clues and forms the definition for several. I could … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 1413 Not on the Level by Kcit
Alphabetically ordered across clues, normal downs apart from one and then an unknown twist, which affects one of the downs and some of the acrosses. The down that needed amendment is 4dn – … Read more >>