Never knowingly undersolved
You always know you will get a sound, fair and no-bells-and-whistles Quiptic from Pasquale. I’d be specially recommending this one to those who really are newish to the art of cryptic solving. … Read more >>
The words “Genius puzzle” and “Vlad” are a scary combination for a blogger, but this one turned out to be “only” moderate-to-hard on the Genius scale. My way in to the theme was … Read more >>
This was a good challenge for the Bank Holiday weekend from Maskarade, with an impressively constructed grid The theme of the puzzle is RING CYCLE, referring to Wagner’s four opera cycle, Der Ring … Read more >>
Thanks to Nutmeg. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 1. Drive bishop away from bumpiest ground (7) IMPETUS : “b”(abbrev. for “bishop” in chess notation) deleted from(away from) anagram of(… ground) “bumpiest“. … Read more >>
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28540.
Another cracker of a puzzle from Picaroon to brighten yet another dull morning. There’s the customary wit and elegance in the cluing, with some great definitions and surfaces – and one or two … Read more >>
A tough challenge – my favourites were 13ac, 17ac, 3dn, 13dn, and 14dn. Many thanks to Brendan.
As usual Hectence gives us a slightly tricky Quiptic, but an enjoyable one.
A typical Vulcan for this Bank Holiday Monday (a rather grey one from where I’m sitting), where most of the clues should cause very little trouble. Thanks to Vulcan. Across 7 FRACTIOUS … Read more >>
Some subtle definitions and self-referential clues in this week’s “Prize” puzzle.
As has been my experience with many of Paul’s recent puzzles, this one started out feeling quite hard, but yielded satisfyingly in the end. I was helped by guessing the two long acrosses … Read more >>
Thanks to Crucible. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Let’s talk about the weather … and the climate, and things to do with them. Across 1. Hot dish, then cold, very cold (6) … Read more >>
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28533.
Boatman sets today’s challenge with an unmistakably themed puzzle. It’s a fairly typical Boatman offering, with the theme word repeated throughout the clues – which can get rather tedious, although the theme is … Read more >>
A delightful puzzle from Matilda this morning, which hits the spot for a Quiptic perfectly, I think. Abbreviations cd cryptic definition dd double definition cad clue as definition (xxxx)* anagram anagrind = … Read more >>