Independent 10,547 by Nimrod
The puzzle can be found here. Hello and Happy Yorkshire Day! I hope you are well. In my last Indy blog I said the crossword kept me occupied for rather longer than … Read more >>
Year: 2020
Enigmatic Variations No. 1444: A Waste of Time by Gaston
Hi all, I hope this blog finds you well. Having left the puzzle until far later than is wise, I was very relieved and grateful to find an EV which I could manage … Read more >>
Guardian Prize 28,195 by Paul
Two solutions ending in “loo”, yet no toilet references in their clues! In his invitation to his Zoom session (I didn’t participate) which coincided with the publication of this puzzle, Paul raised the … Read more >>
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 >>
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 >>