Pete Maclean

For the second week in a row, I completed the FT Weekend puzzle very quickly. In this week’s case, it helped that all the words are common — or at least ones I … Read more >>

This is one of those characteristic Cinephile puzzles with a theme that carries through the longest entries and into a few of the short ones. Spot the theme quickly as I did and … Read more >>

Yet another beauty from Cincinnus. This one had several words/terms that I did not know but they all proved fairly easy to figure out. My favourite clues are 12A, 24A and 25A. Across … Read more >>

I quickly finished the left half of the grid. It then took me a couple of days before I got a good start on the right side. Once I did, I finished it … Read more >>

Tougher than usual Cincinnus perhaps with some challenging clues (for me 1A, 1D, 17D and 25D) and a couple of beauties (28A, 15D). Across 1. LOBELIAS – ELIA (essayist) in LOBS (throws). It … Read more >>

Actually for me the difficulty of this puzzle was fairly average, leavened a bit by a typical kind of Cinephile theme, fiends. I have enjoyed puzzles by John Graham (Cinephile/Araucaria) for many years … Read more >>

Another beauty from Cincinnus. Across 1. ARTIST – anagram of TRAITS with slightly cryptic definition 4. SCOTTIES – SCOT + TIES 9. CIGAR – C.I. + GAR (fish) 10 BANKROLLS – BANK on … Read more >>

Mudd provided what proved to be the hardest, longest-time-to-solve puzzle I have done in a considerable time. There were several clues that I completed only thanks to my dictionary. I like a good … Read more >>

Another elegant puzzle from Cincinnus that I found a bit more difficult than most of his. Across 1. TERMINALLY – TALLY about ERMIN[e] 7. SURE – S[nake] + URE, the Ure being a … Read more >>

Across 1. BACKFIRE – BACK + FIRE 5. ARCTIC – C in ARTIC (artic being an abbreviation of articulated lorry) 9. PECTORAL – anagram of CLEOPATR. One of the breast anagram indicators I’ve … Read more >>

Are you impressed with Cincinnus? I am more and more mightily impressed with Cincinnus. I find my view of various compilers being deepened and refined by the task of blogging their puzzles. What … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of June 23, 2007 A tiny bit of a theme here: beheading for crimes against the state. For me this puzzle proved a little easier than most … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of June 16, 2007 Across 1. ENGLANDER – *(GREENLAND) 6. TORCH – double definition. 9. STAID – homophone 10. NOTEPAPER – reverse(ETON) + PAPER. Very clever! 11. … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of June 9, 2007 Across 1. PAWNSHOP – PA*(SHOWN)P. I had to look up “uncle” in a dictionary to learn that it has a slang meaning of … Read more >>

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of June 2, 2007 This puzzle struck me as a classic Cincinnus, fairly easy but very elegant. Across 1. APPENDIX. Figure it out; it’s lovely. 5, 26. … Read more >>