Month: May 2026

Guardian Quiptic 1,381/Anto

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Apologies for the slightly later than usual blog, down mainly to the fact that it took me a longer than usual time to solve this Quiptic from Anto. Which might be an indication that its difficulty level is not quite appropriate for the slot. Those on the early steps of their cryptic crossword journey will no doubt be best placed to tell us below.

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Independent on Sunday 1,889/Filbert

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Being a regular blogger for the Independent on Sunday puzzle means I get to tussle with Filbert often. And it is a tussle: as usual, this took me two goes. But it’s always satisfying to complete because this compiler’s work is invariably marked by impeccable setting and fine surfaces.

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Azed No. 2,779

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A medium-difficulty crossword from Azed. There seemed to me to be lots of answers where the parsing involves an anagram, but now I count them it’s not so excessive (25%).

My guess is that anyone who does these crosswords will have a copy of Chambers to hand and so won’t need everything to be spelled out. In the parsing I have confined myself to explaining when the wordplay is not immediately clear.

Definitions in crimson, underlined. Anagrams indicated *(like this) or (like this)*

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Private Eye ( Cyclops / 829 ) Betrays Tory Party

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1 down is topical given that as I type this counting is still going on for the local elections.  Lots of talk about swinging and most, like Jenrick, swinging to the right as if they are on an out of control anticlockwise merry-go-round.  So many defective, sorry defecting, ex-Cons like him.  I’ll say no more here – it’s all too depressing.
Anyway another great crossword from our one-eyed friend.  I notice he will soon be starring in Christopher Nolan’s new blockbuster epic: “The Odyssey” trailer

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