Financial Times 16,543 by BRADMAN
A slugfest with the Don’s challenge today. Thanks BRADMAN! Had to get help from the interwebs to confirm a couple of guesses. FF: 8 DD: 9 ACROSS 1 GASKET Request put in to … Read more >>
Month: July 2020
Independent 10,546 / Phi
It is Phi-day once again, bringing this latest set of mid-week puzzles to an end. I found this to be an enjoyable, medium-difficulty puzzle through which I made fairly swift progress. I would … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 28,200 by Paul
Another in a string of tricky puzzles over the past few days. Lots of fun, my favourites were 11ac, 15ac, 23ac, 26ac, and 18dn. Thanks to Paul …there’s an obvious fish theme in … Read more >>
Financial Times 16,542 by PETO
Today's FT puzzle comes from Peto. On my first pass through the across clues, I didn't get any of the top half (except for an unparsed guess at 11ac), but the bottom half … Read more >>
Independent 10545 / Morph
Morph provides today’s challenge Morph is a useful name for a setter, as it can be used as an anagram indicator as well as a reference to the setter as … Read more >>
Guardian 28,199 – Tramp
Phew, that was hard, made harder by the rather unfriendly grid, though the split answer at 1,13 and the cross-reference between 6 and 17 helped a bit. I wasn’t sure of some parsings … Read more >>
Financial Times 16,532 by Mudd
Non-prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of July 18, 2020 My first-in was 12ac (OCHRE), my last 1ac (CATMINT) and I spent more time than usual over the rest. My favourite is 4dn … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 28,198 by Vlad
A typically tough Vlad puzzle that will wake up your little grey cells. This was a fine puzzle, as long as your politics are not too right wing, as there are digs at … Read more >>
Financial Times 16,541 by ARTEXLEN
I found this quite tough. One of those puzzles where the clues seemed obvious only after I had found the answer. Thank you Artexlen for the challenge. I will be out most of … Read more >>
Independent 10,544 by Filbert
Poor old Filbert has had me now three times in a row. In past blogs I have been very enthusiastic about his crosswords, They are hard going, but they always seem to have … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1656: Non-PC by Nudnix
Nudnix – a setter new to me. Preamble: The theme involves two events – one possibly apocryphal – that happened on two (unrelated) visits. In the first, 1dn travelled East to 20; … Read more >>
Financial Times 16540 Falcon
Thanks to Falcon for an enjoyable one. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 1 Onlooker at the side of stall, extremely eager (9) BYSTANDER : BY(at the side of/next to) + STAND(a … Read more >>
Independent 10,543 by Radian
It’s been three months of lockdown since we last blogged a Radian puzzle, so we looked forward to this……. … and we found it a little easier than we had expected, but no … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 28,197 by Qaos
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28197. A not too difficult offering from Qaos, with, as usual, a theme: musical instruments. There are a few borderline cases – SIREN (yes, there are various … Read more >>
Financial Times 16,539 by SLORMGORM
Nice to see a Slormgorm this morning. A pleasant and fairly easy Monday solve. Thanks to Slormgorm! ACROSS 1. Load of drugs taken in party by guru (6) DOSAGE DO (party) by SAGE … Read more >>