Quirister

I learned to do crosswords from my parents, who also introduced me to choral singing and classical languages (they met in a choir while studying Classics / History at university). Perhaps not the most obvious background for an Engineering degree, but the language and problem-solving skills turned out to be useful for working as a technical author in the software industry. Meanwhile all the fun stuff (sewing, cooking and various crafts as well as the singing) gradually took over more of my time . . . so eventually I decided that 30 years’ working life was enough. I now do a range of different volunteer tasks and need a good diary to keep track of it all. As they say: once you retire, you wonder how you ever found time to go to work.

Guardian Prize 28,225 by Maskarade

Sat September 5, 2020 at 9:53 amSat September 5, 2020 at 12:01 am by Quirister

Maskarade’s traditional Bank Holiday weekend giant puzzle – but one of the less complicated versions. The preamble says: The wordplay of 29 clues lack a theme word to reach the required solution. These … Read more >>

Quiptic 1,085 by Carpathian

Mon August 31, 2020 at 5:32 pmMon August 31, 2020 at 11:02 am by Quirister

An excellent Quiptic as always by Carpathian. This puzzle is full of surfaces that immediately conjure up a mental image, which of course is there to mislead the solver: “police got a criminal” … Read more >>

Independent 10,566 by Gila

Mon August 24, 2020 at 9:30 am by Quirister

Quite a tricky puzzle today, but an enjoyable one. I think the trickiness comes mainly from some tenuous definitions (mentioned in the notes below), though the hardest bit was probably the rather indirect … Read more >>

Everyman 3,853

Sun August 23, 2020 at 12:06 pmSun August 23, 2020 at 12:01 am by Quirister

Another fun weekend challenge in Everyman’s recent run of good form. Some have complained about Everyman’s rather loose definitions or vague indicators in the past, but I thought everything here was clear; a … Read more >>

Independent 10,548 by Tees

Mon August 3, 2020 at 9:00 am by Quirister

Tees on a Monday for the third time in a row. Enjoyable as always, and mostly straightforward, though a few references may be unfamiliar to non-Brits. Tees always provides some amusing surfaces; 12/11 … Read more >>

Quiptic 1,080 by Matilda

Mon July 27, 2020 at 10:13 am by Quirister

One of our regular Quiptic setters with another enjoyable (but occasionally tricky) puzzle. Most of the standard clue types are here: simple block constructions, insertions, anagrams, reversals, double definitions, and combinations of these. … Read more >>

Everyman 3,849

Sun July 26, 2020 at 12:05 am by Quirister

Yet another puzzle in Everyman’s distinctive style. The standard Everyman features are all here: a related pair of long entries (when I got the solution to 11a, I had a pretty good idea … Read more >>

Independent 10,530 by Bluth

Mon July 13, 2020 at 9:00 am by Quirister

Another very witty puzzle from Bluth, who first appeared as an Independent setter a few months ago and seems to have settled in as a regular contributor. The clues range from fairly easy … Read more >>

Quiptic 1,077 by Beale

Mon July 6, 2020 at 10:56 am by Quirister

I don’t think I’ve met Beale before – he/she seems to have returned to the Quiptic slot recently after a break. Nice to meet you! This was perhaps not the easiest of Quiptics … Read more >>

Everyman 3,845

Sun June 28, 2020 at 12:01 am by Quirister

Everyman’s recent run of slightly harder puzzles continues – but it’s an enjoyable one. As usual some of the definitions involve a bit of lateral thinking, and the wordplay in 25a is not … Read more >>

Independent 10,512 by Tees

Mon June 22, 2020 at 9:30 am by Quirister

Tees makes his regular appearance in the Monday slot, this time with (I thought) a tougher puzzle than usual. A few references might be unfamiliar to some readers. I wasn’t entirely convinced by … Read more >>

Quiptic 1,073 by Matilda

Mon June 8, 2020 at 10:26 am by Quirister

Matilda is always a good name to see in the Quiptic slot. This puzzle had its tricky moments but was a lot of fun. There are a couple of slightly awkward clues such … Read more >>

Independent 10,494 by Shabbo

Mon June 1, 2020 at 9:00 am by Quirister

I think this is Shabbo’s first appearance in the Independent, or in any of the papers covered by Fifteensquared. Always good to meet a new setter, especially one who can produce a puzzle … Read more >>

Everyman 3,841

Sun May 31, 2020 at 12:01 am by Quirister

Everyman’s distinctive style continues with another reasonably straightforward crossword. A good range of different clue constructions here, including a few examples of clue-as-definition (though I thought these were somewhat contrived; perhaps Everyman did … Read more >>

Quiptic 1,069 by Hectence

Mon May 11, 2020 at 7:10 pmMon May 11, 2020 at 3:22 pm by Quirister

(Apologies for late posting: there have been some issues with Fifteensquared’s website hosting today.) As usual, Hectence gets the level just right for a Quiptic, and many of the clues are good examples … Read more >>