Cineraria

Born in 1963, I began with crosswords as a little boy by “helping” my grandfather with the puzzle in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. I have done American-style crosswords since I was a teenager, and I enjoy many other types of word puzzles, including cryptograms and acrostics. I cannot remember when I discovered cryptic crosswords. I used to do the Guardian puzzle every day, but being a lawyer by profession does not leave me a lot of time to indulge my deliberate yet desultory solving method. I have been doing the Guardian Prize every Friday and the Azed every Saturday since 2020, and the Genius every month since 2018 (typically succeeding, but admittedly with some DNFs). I was even gratified to be a Genius winner a few years ago. I have learned an awful lot from studying the post-mortems on fifteensquared. As for other interests, I have a large collection of origami books, and I like folding the most complicated models I can find.

Financial Times 17,240 by FLIMSY

Tue November 1, 2022 at 1:57 am by Cineraria

Today brings a pleasant solve with some nice surfaces from Flimsy.

Financial Times 17,234 by SLEUTH

Tue October 25, 2022 at 2:25 am by Cineraria

I needed to put on my deerstalker for this offering from Sleuth.

Financial Times 17,222 by NEO

Tue October 11, 2022 at 7:25 amTue October 11, 2022 at 2:35 am by Cineraria

Nothing too far from the ordinary in today’s outing, although I admit that I got stuck with about five clues to go before they finally yielded. Thanks to NEO.

Financial Times 17,216 by BOBCAT

Tue October 4, 2022 at 5:19 amTue October 4, 2022 at 4:10 am by Cineraria

A wide assortment of cryptic devices today, requiring some rather recondite explanations, including one that I cannot quite explain. All good fun, though.

Financial Times 17,210 by MOO

Tue September 27, 2022 at 4:16 pmTue September 27, 2022 at 4:19 am by Cineraria

Thanks to MOO. As ever, I look forward to the comments. Unless I missed some wordplay, this puzzle leaned heavily into cryptic definitions. ACROSS 1 GRANDPA Relative seen in August each year (7) … Read more >>

Financial Times 17,198 by FLIMSY

Tue September 13, 2022 at 5:48 pmTue September 13, 2022 at 2:24 am by Cineraria

I have found some of the recent FT offerings pretty challenging, so it was with some relief that I found the solutions going in readily on this puzzle, although a few required me … Read more >>

Financial Times 17,192 by BOBCAT

Tue September 6, 2022 at 4:12 amTue September 6, 2022 at 3:23 am by Cineraria

Well, I found this rather hard sledding, for some reason, with a variety of elaborate constructions on some clues, and a couple of inventive surprises, mentioned below, but overall an enjoyable challenge nonetheless. I am not sure that I quite explained 6D. Note the ninas TAILS and CLAWS down around the center column; is this a Bobcat trademark? (I am a newbie on the FT scene.) As always, I welcome comments and elucidations.

Financial Times 17,186 by JASON

Tue August 30, 2022 at 11:32 pmTue August 30, 2022 at 4:08 am by Cineraria

I found a few of these tricky. I look forward to the comments.

Financial Times 17,174 by FALCON

Tue August 16, 2022 at 8:20 pmTue August 16, 2022 at 12:09 pm by Cineraria

Thanks to FALCON for a solid puzzle.

Financial Times 17,168 by NEO

Tue August 9, 2022 at 9:38 pmTue August 9, 2022 at 3:46 am by Cineraria

This is my inaugural post for Fifteensquared. Proofreading this post, I realize that I have not settled upon a consistent annotation style. I hope that these nevertheless make sense, and I welcome any comments.