Agentzero

An American and a New Yorker, I learned to solve cryptic crosswords by working my way through Emily Cox's and Henry Rathvon's monthly puzzles in the Atlantic. Good cryptics are scarce in America, so eventually a growing appetite drove me to attempt the puzzles in the British broadsheets. I initially found them bewildering, but persistence, recourse to the learned bloggers and commenters on this website, and a stint working in London (which taught me such useful things as the meaning of "leg before wicket") helped immensely. Nonetheless, I am still invariably thrown by homophones that depend on the non-pronunciation of the letter "r". I am a regular solver of the daily and Saturday FT and Guardian puzzles, but completing an Azed puzzle is still very much in the realm of aspiration for me.

Financial Times 13,636 / Jason

March 8, 2011 at 2:48 am by Agentzero

Some pleasingly tricky clues here, in particular 7 down and 16 down. I didn’t otherwise find much to comment on, except I wonder how our nonnative English speakers fared with the somewhat obscure slang … Read more >>

Financial Times 13,623 / Mudd

March 3, 2011 at 12:10 am by Agentzero

Financial Times Prize Puzzle of 21 February A typically creative and clever puzzle from Mudd. I liked the way the surface sense of the words making up the wordplay fit in with the … Read more >>

Financial Times 13,630 / Neo

March 1, 2011 at 4:07 am by Agentzero

A delight from Neo. What impressed me today was how Neo managed to devise such misleading wordplay and fit it so neatly into the surface reading of the clue. Across 1 ALHAMBRA H[earts] … Read more >>

Financial Times 13,617 / Crux

February 24, 2011 at 9:08 amFebruary 24, 2011 at 12:15 am by Agentzero

Prize Puzzle of Monday 14 February Many clever clues from Crux, including one which is too clever for me: 26 down. Among my favourites were those with well disguised definitions: 9 across and 6 … Read more >>

Financial Times 13,624 / Dante

February 22, 2011 at 2:17 am by Agentzero

Dante, turfed out of his Monday spot this week, turns up on Tuesday. As usual, there are some excellent cd’s (30 across, 1 down). But I thought the best clues today were the double definition clues, which are … Read more >>

Financial Times 13,611 / Dante

February 17, 2011 at 3:40 amFebruary 17, 2011 at 12:10 am by Agentzero

Prize puzzle from the FT of Monday 7 February Another Monday, another Dante. As usual, there are some clever cd’s (4 down, 8 down stand out for me) and dd’s (I particularly liked … Read more >>

Financial Times 13,605 / Falcon

February 10, 2011 at 3:47 amFebruary 10, 2011 at 12:10 am by Agentzero

Prize Puzzle from Monday January 31 This was not difficult at all, except that it required a bit deeper cultural knowledge than usual. Andrew Motion is well known and frequently appears in crosswords; the … Read more >>

Financial Times 13,612 / Jason

February 8, 2011 at 6:00 pmFebruary 8, 2011 at 5:31 am by Agentzero

There were a number of extremely good clues in this puzzle, but also a few that seemed imprecise to me. The gems, I thought, were 13, 20 and 26 across. Across 1 KNUCKLE … Read more >>

Financial Times 13,599 / Dante

February 3, 2011 at 12:10 am by Agentzero

Dante is back in his accustomed spot this week. A somewhat heavy reliance on anagrams; I count nine (excluding clues where an anagram is only part of the wordplay). The best of these, … Read more >>

Financial Times 13,606 / Armonie

February 1, 2011 at 3:39 am by Agentzero

A quick, clean Tuesday puzzle from Armonie. No especial comments, except that I thought the anagram fodder was cleverly blended into the clue in 10 across. Other favourites today were 27 across and … Read more >>

Financial Times 13,593 / Crux

January 27, 2011 at 12:10 am by Agentzero

The FT gave us a pleasant change from Dante this week. Please don’t take that the wrong way — I am a fan of the cd master. But some variety in this space … Read more >>

Financial Times 13,600 / Neo

January 25, 2011 at 4:00 amJanuary 25, 2011 at 2:49 am by Agentzero

I was happy to see Neo in the Tuesday FT again. As always, there is plenty here to entertain the solver. Across 1 CROSS-REFER d&cd A cross-reference that refers to a cross. 7 … Read more >>

Financial Times 13,587 / Dante

January 20, 2011 at 12:05 am by Agentzero

My first prize puzzle blog — I hope someone reads it! Dante is a regular in this space, and he provides his usual collection of dd’s and cd’s. There were two excellent examples … Read more >>

Financial Times 13,594 / Jason

January 18, 2011 at 3:37 am by Agentzero

Nothing too difficult today, but some clever constructions and no complaints. 13 across and 1 down were particular favourites. Across 1 AGENDA AGE (become old) + *(AND) 4 ATLANTIS N[ote] + IT reversed … Read more >>

Financial Times 13,588 / Orense

January 11, 2011 at 4:50 am by Agentzero

An enjoyable puzzle with some surprising twists and turns. 21 down was the last to fall, but there were plenty of clues with micely misleading wordplay. In particular, I liked the way the … Read more >>