A relatively gentle Monday puzzle which was full of well-designed and sound clues.
Month: April 2021
Financial Times 16,751 by ZAMORCA
An enjoyable pangram.
Guardian Quiptic 1,116/Philistine
A pleasant surprise to see Philistine as the setter when I opened the puzzle this morning. Well-established, and well-liked, as a compiler of Guardian cryptics, but I don’t recall seeing him in the … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1,623 by Methuselah
I filled the grid quickly by looking at the definitions, but parsing the wordplay took a lot longer! Thank you Methuselah.
Everyman 3,885
I’ve blogged only four of these crosswords so far and think they’re improving. Initially there seemed to be a few rough edges, but now everything works well and I hardly make any criticisms here. People tend to point out long clues that rhyme or are in some way alliterative, but I often don’t notice these and a quick glance doesn’t show me anything in this crossword. What I do notice is that there is always so far as I can see a mention of Everyman somewhere in the clues; and I have noticed what has been mentioned, the obligatory first letters clue.
Definitions in crimson, underlined. Indicators (anagrams, hidden, first letters, etc) in italics.
Genius 213
Qaos provides the March Genius challenge The preamble told us that the letters in 16 squares are not allowed for in the wordplay of the clues involved. Taken as a … Read more >>
Azed 2546
Azed provides a plain puzzle this week I found this be a typical Azed puzzle with the usual meticulously clued entries. I didn’t realise that PROXIMO meant next month. Presumably … Read more >>
Independent 10,756 by Sheena
The puzzle is available here. Hello everyone. Today we welcome another new setter* to the Indy, Sheena, who has brought us a themed offering with a generous sprinkling of interlinked clues. *Edit … Read more >>
Guardian Prize 28,404 by Picaroon
I found this very entertaining. Thank you Picaroon.
Guardian Cryptic 28,409 by Qaos
I really enjoyed this – especially 1ac, 12ac, 17dn, 19dn, and 24dn.
Independent 10755 / Phi
As usual, the Friday puzzle is set by Phi. There are a few culinary entries in the grid – VIAND, CAFE, GASTROPUB and CUISINE for example, but I don’t think … Read more >>
Independent 10,754 by Filbert
Filbert has given us a tricky puzzle, in more than one way . . .
Guardian 28,408 – Anto
Anto’s clueing has improved a lot since his early days on the Quiptic, but I’m still not his greatest fan. This puzzle was mostly fine, though I have a few quibbles, some of … Read more >>
Financial Times 16,749 by BRADMAN
Bradman steps up to the crease this morning.
Enigmatic Variations No. 1479: Transmutations by Wan
As far as I can tell, this is Wan’s first EV since 2013 (although there have been a few IQs in between), so welcome back! Chambers has various chemical, nuclear-physical, biological and alchemical definitions for TRANSMUTATIONS…let us see what ‘trans’pires…