Having prepared myself for some serious lateral thinking Paul plays it straight this week. Thanks Paul, always a pleasure to solve and blog.
PeeDee
Financial Times 15,659 by GOZO
Hats off to anyone who could finish this without resorting to aids! A tough challenge, thanks Gozo.
Financial Times 15,653 by ALBERICH
Alberich was on top form when he compiled this. There are many great clues in here, too many to even think of picking a favourite. Thank you Alberich.
Financial Times 15,647 by Aardvark
The puzzle has not appeared on the FT’s website today. Here is a basic explanation of the solutions. Thank you to Aardvark and to Stephen for posting a scan of the printed version … Read more >>
AZED 2,359
Another very enjoyable excursion through the lesser-visited areas of the dictionary led by our expert guide Azed. Thank you Azed.
Financial Times 15,641 by DOGBERRY
There were a couple of classical references in here that I did not understand. Normally I manage to guess what to do from the rest of the clue but this time I needed Wikipedia to come to my aid. History and Classics are not my strong point but I’m certainly not complaining as one of the things I enjoy about crosswords is learning all that new stuff along the way. Thanks Dogberry.
The PDF version of this puzzle did not display correctly when I opened it on my PC. The numbers in the grid were replaced with a seemingly random selection of symbols found on the top line of a keyboard: &, ( and * for example. There is also a typo in 6 down dipomatically, I don’t know if this is related.
Independent 1,435 by Raich
Another lazy Sunday lunch type puzzle, in the old tradition of the IoS. Thank you Raich.
Guardian Prize 27,280 by Paul
Great fun. As usual with Paul I found this difficult until I got my mind into Paul’s way of thinking. Then the previously intractable solutions started flying in. Thank you Paul.
Financial Times 15,635 by ARTEXLEN
I found this tricky. I thought Artexlen has been going out of his way here to deliberately obscure as much of the puzzle as he can, or at least as much as he can and still getting it published in the FT. Thanks Artexlen.
Financial Times 15,629 by GAFF
Fab puzzle from Gaff. It is a shame that I was very late starting this blog and I didn’t have much time to sit around and appreciate the quality, but it stood out regardless. Thanks Gaff.
AZED 2,356 – Payfair
I had heard of Playfair crosswords but had not seen one before now. I found Azed’s instructions comprehensive but not very easy to understand so I looked up Playfair on the Web. Also a few typos have crept back into the on-line PDF which did not help matters. Fortunately another quick look on the web turned up what has to be done: the clue text for 1, 19, 23 and 37 across needs to be italicised; the clue for 23 across is wrongly numbered as 22 across; the letter count for 16 down is 3 not 4.
Financial Times 15,623 by MONK
It is always a pleasure to get a Monk puzzle to solve and blog, he never disappoints. Thank you Monk.
Financial Times 15,617 by JULIUS
Julius is up there at the top of my favourite setters list but unusually this one I found this a bit of a mixed bag.
Independent on Sunday 1,431 by Peter
This would be a good puzzle for a lazy Sunday breakfast or lunch. Sadly I no longer get to solve them on Sunday mornings any more as I forgot once too often, so now I have to solve and write them up earlier in the week, which may be efficient but misses the point somewhat. Thank you Peter.
Guardian Prize 27,256 by Paul
I wasn’t getting anywhere with this, so I put it aside and opened the rather nice bottle of red wine given to us by a French couple in whose house we were staying last week. An hour later I was absolutely whizzing through the puzzle. I believe this is known in the trade as “getting on your setter’s wavelength”. Thanks Paul, for the puzzle and for the excuse.