Enigmatic Variations 861 — Hellish Rate by Samuel
Quite a tough EV from Samuel, certainly somewhat tougher, for me, than his Listener puzzles I have solved. Although I had plenty of extra letters and I could make out FRIEDRICH I still … Read more >>
Colin Blackburn
Inquisitor 120 — 1 Across by Schadenfreude
Despite some initial misgivings this turned out to be a straightforward puzzle from Schadenfreude. Quite a few answers seemed to fit and a couple were too short but their first and last letters … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 858 — Twenty-two by MynoT
Lots of jumbles make me nervous. What’s more all the down answers, and there are lots of them, are jumbled. And…there are only six across clues, the remaining entries make up 21 thematic … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 855 — The Rule by Salamanca
A lovely simple puzzle from Salamanca. Clear, straightforward cluing with no misprints or extra words made solving this fairly easy; certainly easier than some of Salamanca’s Listener puzzles. The only devices to throw … Read more >>
What future for the Guardian crossword
This news may interest current solvers. Guardian development They don’t mention the crossword specifically but I imagine clues will have to be published as separate tweets. Hopefully they’ll tweet a url to a … Read more >>
Inquisitor 116 — Well Chuffed by Salamander
A very enjoyable journey from Salamander I was well chuffed with it! The theme turned out to the the SETTLE-CARLISLE LINE, a beautiful and dramatic railway line linking the two towns and travelling … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 852 — Growth by Rustic
I might be being unduly unfair but I was dissatisfied with this puzzle overall. On the plus side the idea was neat and simple and many of the clues were good and relatively … Read more >>
Inquisitor 112 Bottoms Up by Loda
Even more minimal blog as I’m on holiday. I’ve not commented on the clues but as usual Loda’s clues were very good, except 13 where there is either a mistake or I’m missing … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 849 Dawn by Oxymoron
Minimal blog crammed in between a busy work week and a holiday. That also means I’ll be unable to comment on comments so mistakes and omissions will go uncorrected. I struggled initially as … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 846 Three Fours by Jophu
Jophu is another new setter to me so I didn’t know what to expect with this one. The clues were normal and, as it turned out, fairly straightforward. There were some very easy … Read more >>
Inquisitor 108 SKYLIGHT by Phi
An excellent puzzle from Phi as usual. The title immediately suggested something either astronomical or related to atmospheric physics. I considered rainbows and halos but eventually, after getting some letters in 44, saw … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 842 Genius by Flashy-hat
I’d not come across Flashy-hat before in any of the usual outlets so I wasn’t sure whether to expect heavy meal to keep me eating over the holiday or a light starter before … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 839 — Two Words by Piccadilly
A very brief introduction today. This was an excellent puzzle with a tough twist at the end. Oddly my other blog today, IQ100, is also about the puzzle name. Here variations of ENIGMATIC … Read more >>
Inquisitor 100 — I ASK YOU! by Schadenfreude
Schadenfreude usually fills me with a mild dread. He can produce some very tough puzzles in the Listener series and so I was expecting a tougher than usual Inquisitor. The title, at the … Read more >>
Azed 1903
A relatively easy Azed for me this time around. That means I did it easily in one evening after dinner, I suspect Peter B could have polished this one off within 30 minutes. … Read more >>