Never knowingly undersolved
Simon Harding A rather interrupted solve for me, this one: initially tackled in two sessions separated by a week in Scotland, with the last two entries remaining unsolved several additional days later. I’ve reproduced the … Read more >>
This was quite an interesting one, with the left side feeling far tougher than the right, which fell into place pretty quickly. Many of the surface readings here seem remarkably smooth, though maybe … Read more >>
A fairly challenging but ultimately manageable themed puzzle from Eimi this week, published the day before the quatercentenary of the death of 1ac. I must admit I solved the whole thing without spotting … Read more >>
A surprise Thursday appearance from Phi, and I suspect that’s a straight swap, with tomorrow being something of a special occasion for Nimrod. Either way, this one was good fun and not too … Read more >>
Another relatively swift solve for me this week, with only 2dn forcing me to turn to Chambers in the hope that there wouldn’t be too many entries in there beginning with those six … Read more >>
I don’t tend to time these things, but this can’t have taken more than a few minutes. Definitely at the easier end of the Phi spectrum, but no less entertaining for that, with … Read more >>
Either I’m getting the hang of things, or this was a relatively straightforward week. I think I finished mostly unaided, just checking a few of the more obscure terms in Chambers before writing … Read more >>
An all-too-rare visit from Math today. I’m not sure if the date carries some significance, but there’s a strong theme here, based around 1/4 and of course 4dn. I must admit I missed … Read more >>
Despite a good crop of longer entries, I seemed to find Beelzebub relatively straightforward this week, making my way through unaided, with just the one slip at 5dn. *=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic … Read more >>
Always a pleasure to tackle a Wednesday Dac. I made pretty swift progress through this, though with a few down clues, such as 1 and 13 taking longer than I should admit. 6dn … Read more >>
A tough week, I think. I haven’t been able to pull together all the elements in the wordplay for 11ac just yet. *=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. Across 1 DESPOILMENT … Read more >>
I had just been thinking we must be due for a Saturday Anax, and here we are. I wonder if being able to predict setters several weeks running is an early sign of … Read more >>
This seemed like a bit of a classic. Unfortunately work issues and inopportunely-timed fire drills meant I couldn’t really give it the attention it deserved, and had to cheat relentlessly. There’s some great … Read more >>
After the first four across entries fell straight in, I thought this might be an easy one. Not so, but I got there. In two clues the wordplay escapes me, however, and I’ve … Read more >>
An enjoyable and fairly challenging Friday Phi. The grid seemed to fill from the bottom up for me, and I was perhaps held up by some unfamiliar terms, for example at 15ac and … Read more >>