Mister Sting

There’s a lot going on in the preamble: a partial quotation, CLASHes ‘contributing to’ a further CLASH, those involved in the CLASH and – just for good measure – a final CLASH to … Read more >>

With this sort of DIY grid puzzle, it all depends how easy cold-solving is. So how easy is this going to be? And what’s the puzzle actually called? In fact, in addition to … Read more >>

I do like Samuel. I can’t remember exactly which past EVs were his, but his name is associated in my mind with a sort of pleasant, hazy, possibly-toughish-in-parts-but-fair feeling. Perhaps I’m post-rationalising, because … Read more >>

This was magnificent. A great theme, well executed. Many thanks to… well, to whom, exactly? There seems to be a fair amount going on – unclued entries, additional words and subsidiary indications, and … Read more >>

‘All Change’ seems appropriate for a puzzle published on 1st January. Will the theme at least be more apt than last week’s war-based Christmas offering? Once again, we’ve to resolve clashes by substitution … Read more >>

The preamble doesn’t give very much away: 12 normal clues, the answers to which require ‘adjustment’. The other clues must have a letter removed before solving. The last sentence includes the always-worrying “numbers … Read more >>

Hey, boys and girls! Do you like shameless cross-promotion? You do? Well, that’s just great, because I was about to tell you that you should listen to Mighty Mighty Mix Tape on www.oxideradio.co.uk … Read more >>

I found this an enjoyable little number. A certain amount of cold solving required for the thematic clues, but it was helpful that they were listed in alphabetical order. No word lengths given, … Read more >>

On a first reading, the preamble doesn’t give one a lot to go on: “Though they’re far from alone, seven unclued answers according to two others (taken as a pair) 9, which might … Read more >>

Balancing Acts, eh? What sort of acrobatics does Nudd have in store? He/She/It tells us to highlight “the work in which the quotation was originally attributed”. That’s an odd instruction – what can … Read more >>

Ah, forgive me. Once again, the days run away from me and you are left without your due, a run down of EV972. I read somewhere that Oxymoron was considered “scrupulously fair”. I … Read more >>

This was my favourite EV for some time. It was also one of the easiest, which – I insist – is entirely coincidental. Who would have thought that any language needed a word … Read more >>

I found this rather tougher than some of the recent offerings and even thought for some time that I might be forced to throw in the towel. In fact, there were two clues … Read more >>

The last few EVs have been pretty tough, so I was glad that Salamanca’s offering was on the easy side. The main bulk of thematic material was found in ten undefined entries. Once … Read more >>

I-I-I! Mea culpa! The piercing eye of the acute observer will have noticed that I’m a tiny bit late with this post. Sorry. I was obsessively cataloging my alphabetti spaghetti. I’m sure you’ll … Read more >>