HolyGhost

A debut in the Inquisitor for Hieroglyph, but apparently he’s set puzzles in The Independent and elsewhere.   Preamble (paraphrase): There are two sorts of clue apart from the ordinary ones: in one … Read more >>

A 10×15 grid for this week’s offering from Gila. (So the two side by side grids with the solution to #1390 fitted neatly underneath.)   Preamble: Mistakes appear in twenty-three clues in the … Read more >>

A new setter this week. “Hello, …”   Preamble: The definition parts of thirty-one clues contain a superfluous letter which should be removed before solving. Read in clue order, the three discrete groups … Read more >>

One week she’s the Listener setter, next Chalicea‘s providing the Inquisitor puzzle.   Preamble: Groups of cells (49 in all), identified by corrections to misprints in the definition parts of 26 clues read … Read more >>

Serpent slithers into view – venomous? We’ll see.   Preamble: Solvers must determine how to enter the answers to across clues, listed in alphabetical order of their (equal-length) answers. Taken in clue order, … Read more >>

Fond memories of Dysart puzzles – usually pretty tough but highly enjoyable & satisfying.   Preamble: Five characters involved in a 6 18 are hidden in the grid. Their target is invisible, but … Read more >>

Haven’t seen a puzzle from Nudd in quite a while – none in 2014.   Preamble: Wordplay in thirty-six clues serves up an extra letter to be taken away before entry. These letters … Read more >>

Nutmeg‘s “Any other Name” came equal fourth in 2014, and her puzzles rank among my personal favourites.   A small grid: 11×11. One letter must be omitted from the first eight across answers, … Read more >>

A carte blanche grid, so no bars and no numbers. And the clues have neither numbers nor length indications, nor are they in normal order or in alphabetical order of answers. Thanks, Phi. … Read more >>

A first solo Inquisitor offering from Ilver, but already known to us as one of the triumvirate Rasputin.   Wordplay in twenty-seven clues gives rise to single extra letters, in order giving an … Read more >>

Schadenfreude is back again.   I paraphrase: “Each of 18 clues has a redundant word with one letter in common with its answer. These letters define the phrase to be entered in empty … Read more >>

The editor refers to the “IQ debutant Jago“, but, assuming there’s only one setter that goes by that name, he’s produced well over 20 puzzles in the last 40 years for The Listener … Read more >>

I reckon we’ve had the tough one for this quintet, so this puzzle from Shark should be easy or moderate – but there are no guarantees.   “A thematic reference appears in 8 … Read more >>

Wordplay in 13 clues leads to the answer minus one letter (unchecked). Wordplay for the others leads to the entry plus one letter – these give part of a quotation. The full quotation … Read more >>