smiffy

A paddle in the shallow-end today, with the waters only getting above knee-depth with the slightly obscure – but readily deducible – answer at 17D.  Puns and cryptic standalones seem to feature more … Read more >>

Something of a class reunion for a lot of old friends here today (10A, 12A, 23A, 1D, 15D, 19D). On a related note,  I did feel an unexpected twinge of childhood nostalgia courtesy … Read more >>

My first encounter with Hamilton, although our search archive suggests that he/she has appeared at least a couple of times before in previous months (perhaps Gaufrid can induct Hamilton into our setters’ Roll … Read more >>

Bradman seems to be cropping up quite regularly in the Thursday slot of late, which is fortunate for me from a blogworthiness standpoint.  14A features a potentially new clue type (the subjective &lit), … Read more >>

A new(ish?) setter –  Styx seems to be very fastidious about the surface reading of the clues, as these are universally “natural” and concise.  However, this flawlessness is almost to a fault in … Read more >>

Good stuff, as usual, from Mudd; including some decent treatment of rather mundane words or devices. I also liked the grid design, which allowed for a nice balance of checking patterns. I don’t … Read more >>

Nothing to frighten the horses here, but there are a couple of clues that just seem flawed or – at best – clumsy to me. I couldn’t help but feel that this was … Read more >>

This was something of a rope-a-dope experience for me, as I played Foreman to Bradman’s Ali. After charging through the first half – thinking the setter to be unusually tame today – I toiled … Read more >>

Christmas Prize Puzzle on 24 December. “Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the grid.  Geographic isometry the Reverend had hid.” Thematic clues are denoted below as “grid entry {correspondingly-clued city/country}”. Of … Read more >>

A bit of a doddle today, but with some fun elements – and a few items that piqued my quibblesome side this morning. Across 9 ORIGINATE – I + GIN (“mother’s ruin”) in … Read more >>

A little bit of everything in here, including an admirable “path less travelled” at 7D, and a Daliesque departure at 22A. Across 1 TACKLE – (elk + cat)<.  Somewhat surprisingly, I cannot recall … Read more >>

Far from a desperately strenuous challenge overall, but that doesn’t detract from the fact that there were plenty of well-rounded clues in their own right.  It’s always something of a nebulous thing, but … Read more >>

I found this something of a Jekyll and Hyde puzzle.  Plenty of easy, familiar fare but interspered with a smattering of much trickier obscurities. I benefited from a couple of pieces of lucky … Read more >>

This one was something of a ripper (see 19D) in terms of trickiness for me.  Probably one of my slowest solves this year.  I found the NE-corner particularly tough to gain a toe-hold … Read more >>

Much like yesterday, a mish-mash of the hackneyed and the hand-crafted. There seemed to be a plethora of “remove a letter” devices today (e.g. 15A, 24A, 28A, 3D, 22D, 25D). Across 1 OVERWROUGHT … Read more >>