A tough solve, and a lot of parsing slowly worked out while blogging. Favourites were 9ac, 10ac, and 18dn. Thanks to Vlad for the challenge
Day: 4 December 2025
Independent 12,217 by Skinny
Skinny provides our Thursday challenge this week.
Financial Times 18,230 by JASON
Jason is this morning's setter.
Spectator 2730: Herrlines by Doc
The closing date for this Spectator was earlier than usual, so we are publishing the blog earlier as well
Enigmatic Variations No.1722 – Observer by Hedge-Sparrow
“Eleven single-letter clashes mark points where a camouflaged OBSERVER infiltrates the grid, passing over wild forest glens. In the initially filled grid, her usual equipment (10) must be used to expose ten symmetrically positioned thematic characters, no longer safe in cave, sadly. All entries in the initially filled and final grids are real terms. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”