Guardian Quiptic 1,102/Carpathian
A carefully and concisely clued Quiptic from Carpathian, with nothing to frighten the reindeers. As it should be. It only remains for me to send my best wishes for 2021 to fellow Quiptic … Read more >>
Pierre
Independent on Sunday 1,609/Tees
I’ve been saying for years that there’s far too much football in the Indy, but no-one – least of all the editor and the setters – has been listening. It’s got to stop. … Read more >>
Everyman 3,870/13 December
I found this puzzle unsatisfactory on the whole, mainly because of some dubious definitions and unclear wordplay. Your experience may have differed. Abbreviations cd cryptic definition dd double definition cad … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 1,100/Beale
Beale was one of the original setters way back in the day when the Quiptic launched over twenty years ago before disappearing from the scene, but has reappeared recently. Whether he or she … Read more >>
Independent 10,662/Brunel
A new setter added to the Indy stable for our Monday morning pleasure. I thought this was a sound puzzle, with some very carefully crafted surfaces and a good range of devices. But … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 1,098/Hectence
Hectence has given us a lot of bra-stretching this morning. An interesting Quiptic, probably on the hardish side (at least from the parsing point of view), and a pangram to … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1,605/Tees
Tees is becoming quite the IoS regular. Another sound puzzle with a good range of subject matter and clue types. Those who get anal about cryptic grammar might not like a construction that … Read more >>
Independent 10,644/Vigo
A pleasing puzzle from Vigo this morning in the ‘doesn’t have to be hard to be enjoyable’ category. Brava. The only other thing to add before I hand over to you is … Read more >>
Everyman 3,866/15 November
I think we need to give credit to Everyman – and I don’t at all mean this in a ‘faint praise’ way – for producing a tractable but entertaining puzzle week in and … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 1,096/Matilda
A sound and entertaining Quiptic from Matilda this morning, with a good variety of subject matter for our delectation and delight. As always, if there is something that I haven’t explained properly or … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 1,094/Anto
Anto divides his time these days (or the editor does it for him) between the Quiptic and the daily Grauniad cryptic. This was a fine example of the former, with some pleasing anagrams … Read more >>
Independent 10,626/Alchemi
Alchemi is not a regular visitor to the Monday Indy slot, but he has turned up today with an intriguing puzzle for us. Maybe it’s because I only ever blog … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1,601/Peter
It’s the Peter and Pierre show this Sunday. At the risk of repeating myself, we are not related; as far as I know, we are not even the same sex. The IoS puzzle … Read more >>
Everyman 3,862/18 October
My sense when solving and blogging this one was that it was rather clunky, with some overlong surfaces. Your experience may have differed, of course. Abbreviations cd cryptic definition dd … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 1,092/Hectence
The usual sound and pleasing Quiptic from Hectence this morning, but with a rather unusual feature. Which is that there are no full anagrams in the puzzle. Some beginners (and … Read more >>